Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Dang heron's

I am not thrilled with my local Heron's they have me wondering how many fish I have left in my pond. So far I believe them to have wiped out 8-12 nesting fish not sure if they were RES or HBG, there one day gone the next with tracks out into the water, All the gold fish which was OK and now they are killing the CC and leaving them lay on my dock, island, and dam, they are to big for them eat I guess.
I originally stocked 100 HBG and 50 RES and 20 cc if I remember right could be the other way around. I have noticed that there hasn't been too much of the big splashing going on at feeding time just millions of FHM.
I want to add more of them HBG and RES, will 3-5 inches survive in a pond with 14" CC and 5-8" HBG and RES.

How would I go about figuring how many to add?
I still plan on adding a predator this fall, after reading a post about biomass I am wondering about all the FHM I have, in the evening the surface of the pond just ripples with thousands of FHM in schools.

Those herons are fishing off my dock and off the island's feathers and crap all over them and they have ruined the vegetation that I had started on the island, turtles have helped in laying over the vegetation. I am seriously considering a rat or mouse trap on the island to keep them off of it, i would like to put conibears on them with a couple bricks but I think I might get into trouple for that.

TG, I think that you will be cleaned out until you take preventive measures to end the predation. I hadn't thought of mouse traps but they are cheap. No way you can know that a heron will blunder into them. However, I would keep my mouth shut.

10-4 good buddy,

Now on the thought of re stocking sizes with what I have already, any thoughts?

My pond is a 1/4 acre

I 'm not sure either one of us knows what you have left. Those birds are tough. It could be that your larger fish are staying away from predation and may be in good shape.

However a 5" sunfish has a good chance.

BTW, I have seldom worried about getting in trouble when my pond was threatened. I tend to take sterner measures than mouse traps.

Through various methods, I've eliminated the ease with which a GBH can access my ponds.

The end result.....

Millions of leopard frogs.

Anybody need any bait?

Bruce would you mind showing or indicate how you were able to block access so I can get some ideas that might work. my pond is only 650 feet away but the view is blocked by trees. unless I see them fly over I have no idea they are down there. They seem to be showing up after 8am and party till noon then leave then come back later in the evening. I was sitting on the pond dam the other night just enjoying the evening at the pond and a GBH flew right over my head and landed across the pond but just as soon as he landed he spotted me, didnt matter though, all I had was a small bowl of fish food and a beer, I yelled really well and he got the heck out of there. That scenerio will not happen again.

Can you see the electrified fence around the perimeter?

And MJ, keeping guard.

Haven't had any herons for awhile, and I feel really bad for any humans that would wander by.

Now that right there is a classic example of good quality pond bosser ingenuity, I am so going to build me a fishing man that I can move around the pond, thanks for sharing. I have a small electric fencer that pulses, I will try the fishing man first, then maybe wire up the pond

hah, got you, thats not your dummy, thats me, the dummy is back behind the hill, i really enjoyed the fishing, thanx