Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Protecting my fingerlings

So, if I want to add some new fingerlings in order to get some new blood in my used pond, what are the best ways to protect the little babies from the big bad LMB and gray crappie(don't know yet if they are black or white)who would have them for lunch?
Last night I was messing around with some pvc and plastic snow fence I had sitting around, and came up with a cube shaped object with 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch holes in it. If I sink that thing in the backwaters and pour my new fish in near it, will it protect at least some of them?

The BEST thing would be build a cage they cant get out of and feed them, until they are larger in size. If they are a feed trainable species.

You could put up a blocking net to grow them out before releasing them.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=2075&Number=22246

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=68480&fpart=1

I like your pen idea in the second link. My pond has plenty of little bays where I could do something like that.

Bullhead I have done the blocking net method (as has Shorty) on many occasions. It is not perfect but works well enough for what you need. I have done it with BG , RES and LMB from 2 to 8 inches. You will need to feed them if you are going to do more than just a few.





CNBG that went in




LMB that went in

I have a 1.5 acre pond that is healthy but full of bullheads. A chemical kill or drain is not an option ( I share the pond with a neighbor ) I would like to stock this with bluegill and bass. What are my options to try and curb the bullhead population ? Will the bullheads feed on small Bluegill or bass ( 1-2" ) ? I assume the bass would feed on the small bullheads after a year ? But would they do enough to impact the population much ?

Welcome to the Forum, mgs7!

LMB will indeed eat smaller BH and help control their numbers once the Bass are big enough. I think you would probably want to be bass-crowded for at least a while, regardless of your long term management goals, to knock the BH population down in numbers as quickly as possible.

Are Bullheads all there is in the pond? How big are they?

1"-2" BG/LMB stockers might indeed be in danger from BH of any size, or other large enough fish if they are present. You would probably be ahead to stock larger BG & LMB. Let us know about the physical size of the existing BH (and other ???) fish population, and we can recommend stocking sizes and numbers for BG/LMB.

Welcome to the forum mgs7. I am assuming the bullheads somehow got into your newly built pond before other fish could be stocked. How big are the bullheads now? Bullhead catfish are not nearly as piscavorous at channel cats are, but they will none the less feed on some of your 1"-2" fingerlings, particularly if the bullheads are particularly large. You may want to consider stocking a slightly larger sized fingerling to cut down on losses to predation. As the bass grow, they will definitely start to thin out the bull head numbers, but many factors will play into that. The density of other prey species the bass have to feed on, the density of bass themselves and the size structure of the bullhead in your pond...

Here's a question for the experts here.

What about stocking a couple of flathead cats? Would they live that far north, and would they prey on the bullheads first before turning their focus on the other fish?

They would live that far north without issue... The challenge is getting them out once they go in. Flatheads love to eat bullheads though!

Here's a discussion about flatheads versus bullheads.
Flatties versus bulls[/url] http://www.nefga.org/forum/nebraska-pond-management/19271-looking-flathead-our-pond.html

Daryl Bauer had the best anwser on page two.



(Daryl must of had one really good teacher Dr. Willis)

Lets just share it here.

"Have seen a lot of things in the thread about stocking flatheads in ponds; let me ramble for a bit and see if I can address several issues. First of all the easy one, we have lots of flathead catfish reproduction in Branched Oak Reservoir. Flatheads can reproduce quite fine in lakes, ponds and reservoirs. In fact that is true for the other catfish species as well; reproduction of catfish in those habitats is common, happens all the time. The question is whether those small catfish will survive to recruit to the population. In waters with abundant predators the small catfish do not survive--they are produced, but they are all ate up.

Repeat after me, largemouth bass are THE KEY to controlling panfish numbers in small waters, and that would include bullheads. What can happen if bullheads get ahead of the bass is that they can impact water quality, making the water dirty, and they can inhibit largemouth bass reproduction. When it gets to that point, additional bass stocking may not do any good. When it gets to that point a chemical renovation and re-stocking may be the best management strategy.

If the bullheads get "out of control" would stocking additional predators help? Maybe, maybe not. How much muskie habitat is found in most small waters? Especially if those small waters have dirty water? No doubt muskies, like most predators, will eat bullheads, but if you already have too many bullheads the muskies may not do any better at getting on top of the problem than largemouth bass. Flathead catfish may be a better fit if the water quality has already been degraded, but again it would probably be easier and quicker to chemically renovate and start over. The concern about having too many big flatheads in a small body of water, so many that they start eating all the bass, is a valid one, it can happen. I would point out though that if one had "too many flatheads" in a small body of water that should be relatively easy to remedy with some harvest.

Lastly let me say this; if bullheads become a problem, I would wonder if there were not bigger issues? Let me explain why I say that. I have already stated that largemouth bass are THE KEY. So if the bullheads are out of control, what happened to the bass? Were they overharvested? And if they were are they going to be protected if you remedy the situation? Did the bass take a hit from a fish kill? Bullheads are able to tolerate poor water quality, water quality so poor that it may eliminate other species. And if that is the case, then a chemical renovation or other management strategies may do you no good unless you fix the water quality problem. The pond may need deepening or it may need better management practices in the watershed or a sediment/nutrient dike.

Hope that helps."

Daryl Bauer
Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov

P.S. Please feel free to share this message with others.
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Shorty where did you get that French version of the following you posted on the Neb Forum ?

I have read the article and emailed Rob Neumann (Fisheries Scientist and writer for In-Fishman) about the article. Are you looking for the AFS study ? I have access to that also. Is this a test ?

BTW In-Fisherman donated some nice auction items and they might send a rep to the convention. Great Guys - you guys should get the mag as it is full of great articles.

Here you go.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management
Article: pp. 198–202

Gape:Body Size Relationship of Flathead Catfish
Joe E. Slaughter IVa,,1 and Brad Jacobsonb
a) Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, 2065 U.S. Highway 278 SE, Social Circle, Georgia 30025, USA
b) Arizona Game and Fish Department, Region IV, 9140 East 28th Street, Yuma, Arizona 85365, USA

Abstract.

The flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris is a highly piscivorous ictalurid native to central North America whose range has been extended throughout much of the United States. With this range expansion, many populations of native fishes have experienced declines in the number of individuals due to direct predation by flathead catfish. Previous evidence suggests that flathead catfish are opportunistic feeders and may be the least gape limited of North American freshwater piscivores. To better understand the size of prey vulnerable to flathead catfish, we measured gape dimensions for individuals of various sizes to determine the maximum size prey a flathead catfish can kill based on its gape limitations. Our results show the relationship of total length to horizontal and vertical gape and the relationship of flathead catfish total length to the total lengths of ingestible-sized prey of different body shapes. Furthermore, comparisons of the body depth of three common fish species to the gape dimensions showed that no size of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, or gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum would preclude predation by flathead catfish. Our results support the assumption that the flathead catfish is one of the least gape-limited piscivores.

Received: January 31, 2006; Accepted: May 4, 2007; Published Online: February 11, 2008

DOI: 10.1577/M06-033.1
North American Journal of Fisheries Management 2008;28:198–202

Here is one of several PB threads on the subject.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=123793&fpart=1

Ewest, the French version was the first thing that came up when I googled flathead gape size. Dang, I didn't even notice it was the French version until you pointed it out. Yes, I was looking for the AFS study.