Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishin' 2012

Great fish everyone!

Here are some of my modest fish:) I realize they pale in comparison to others but oh well.

http://www.connorkelley.webs.com/

sorry for your loss I have been missing seeing your posts

I was down at my dock earlier, and I saw something swimming on its side, in circles, near the top of the water. I grabbed a net and pulled this dude out!



Right at 12 inches.


Right at 2 lbs.


And over 2 inches thick!


He had rot of some kind on his tail and anal fins. He did have a yellow grub on his tail near where it was red and rotting. I haven't cleaned him yet. It will be interesting to see what he looks like inside.

That is a chunk Redear! Very nice.

Holy mackerel! Good job Ken...I can only pray for the days when I see these in my ponds! Any clue of the age? Tell us what you find in their stomachs, please.

Are you going to eat him? (OK....perhaps a stupid question)

I'll bet him is a her.......

NICE fish Ken!!

Great redear! What kind of grub get's in a fish?

Scott -- that's embarrassing. You are absolutely right. Plus she was full of eggs.

TJ - I couldn't identify what was in her stomach. It was dark grey mush. I have absolutely no idea how old she might have been. There were a few RES in the pond when we bought it seven years ago. I attempted to cage raise a 100 2-inch RES in the pond about 3-4 years ago, but they all escaped. I don't know if any of them survived the bass luncheon party that day.

Sunil -- the filets are vacuum packed and in the freezer. Each skinned filet was 6-7 oz. We would normally have served one up like this tonight, but there is a turkey and oyster all-you-can eat dinner at a church just down the road tonight.

Spinnerbait -- I think I was wrong about the grub. It may have been a seed or something that was stuck there. Most of us put RES in our ponds to control grubs, and I don't remember seeing grubs in other RES. The RES eat the snails that grow because of waterbirds pooping them out. The snail larva invades the skin of bass and bluegill, and I'm sure other fish. Some are "yellow grubs", some are "white grubs" and some show up like pepper in the flesh, and are known as "black spot." The white and yellow grubs are harmless to humans, but some people are squeamish about eating fish that have them. When fish have them, the grubs are small 1/4-inch worms that can be seen on the fins and in the flesh of filets.

The snails act as hosts during one stage of the parasite's life cycle. The snails themselves are not the parasites. I believe the eggs of the "black spot", or Uvulifer Ambloplitis, parasite are deposited in bird feces, while those of the "yellow grub", or Clinostomum Marginatum, are deposited from the bird's throat, while it feeds.

I think that's correct?

I shot a cormorant with a valid texas permit and it was full of nasty worms in its stomach all just wriggling around. I buried the bird according to state law. Thats where those nasty worms are coming from.

Ewww!

I sure hope those birds can't find their way to WV!

What a monster RES catmandoo!
I didn't manage any large HSB this weekend, but we did catch 127 crappie. When we started our crappie harvest four years ago perhaps 50% were large enough to scale and cook whole. The rest were too small. This year approximately 7% of our fish weigh 2lbs or more. Last year that number was closer to 2% weighing 2lbs or more.

Thanks Nate - love kids fishin'...

n8ly, you guys don't do anything 'small!'

So it is summer up there already as well I see. Nice!

we were warmer than san diego, cozumel, and the florida keys!! still got 3 more days in the mid 80's!

Sunil, we enjoy working and fishing one in the same. Every spare moment is booked up for the next 5 years...

I did some fishing from shore Wednesday evening.

The mosquitoes are terrible because the barn swallows haven't arrived yet. At least I hope that is the problem.

My right hand (after surgery) isn't quite ready for catching big LMB; some soreness afterwards.

I caught 7 LMB in the 2.5-3 pound range. One may have been 4 pounds. The smallest was caught on a Buzzbait and the other six on a Spinnerbait.

It was a good, first open water, 45 minute fishing event. OK, it was great!

This is the earliest ever open water fishing (March 21st) with water warm enough to catch some fish.

Dwight, make a slight modification and go with live bait to ease up on the casting pains.

Live bait is for ice fishing.

When I first started to read your reply, I thought you were going to get all Ho Chi Min on me!

It's not just for ice fishing!!

....and for women and children ....

Brutality!!!