Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain New .75 acre pond in Virginia, need help!

The zippered bait holder was a cool feature. I will be loading that up with some dog food and pellets on Saturday.

How long do I let it sit? I was planning on testing several different depths but if it takes 5 hours per spot then it will be tougher to get it all done in a weekend.

The trap will usually contain or hold fish well until the bait is gone then they fish start looking for exits. Soak time and catch success often depends on bait type, depth, type of fish, time of day and weather conditions. I've found that shape, and size of trap also have influence on catch success.

Here are the results of the water testing, it looks like I need aeration!

WOW, No O2 below three feet that does not seem very deep.

Be careful. That depth can move up with little warning in the heat of summer and when it gets much lower (0 or under 3 mark near the surface) you have too high a fish kill potential for me to be comfortable.

I wonder once your ell grass beds get establiched at deeper depths will that help with O2 down below..

Isn't that depth measurement in meters, not feet?

Yes stratificaton is at about 6.5 feet between 2 and 3 meters.

So getting an aeration system in is of utmost importance I take it... We are over 1100 feet from the house so trenching a power line is going to be a big undertaking, windmill aeration is also an option...

Ohh, Meters.

I'd trench in a airline, and keep the compressor near the house. I know of a pond that has an airline running 900 feet with no problem, and no icing problems in the winter.

Or at least get an emergency system (boat motor or paddle wheel) in place.

It is a little early for the thermocline to be at < 8 ft.

If we do not go with windmill aeration we will trench power to the pond so that we can put some lights in and be able to plug in a stereo. My concern with trenching an air line is that a cow steps over top of the trench and compresses the dirt enough to compress the line.

Solar lights and battery powered radio.

The air line is pretty stiff, and even 6" underground would prevent it from getting compressed by any animal.

The longer the run, the larger the wire has to be.

Good to know! I will see what we can come up with.

Well the minnow trap did not yield any results as both zippers on the trap were broken upon arrival. I caught some fatheads in it but most of the fish swam out of the opening before I could bring it in. I will either sew up the zippered parts to close them permanently or replace the zippers but it will be a little while before it is usable.

On the positive side I am 100% sure that the spotfin shiners are still going as I saw numerous 3-4" fish around the CD structures and I even saw them chase off some fatheads/rosey reds that were trying to nose around the structures. My eelgrass has not spread yet but the lillies are doing quite well. I have eight lillies that have pads on the surface, two weeks ago only one of the lillies had anything on the surface so this is good progress. Hopefully the lillies cover the shallow end and the grass takes off...

I had some friends come down to the farm on Saturday, we had tickets to an Iron Maiden concert that was taking place 20 miles from the farm so we got to the farm early for some swimming and other hijinks before heading off the the show. After we left my Dad went down to the pond and found a black bear that had knocked down the feeder and was jumping up and down on it, trying to open it up. When my Dad drove up with the truck the bear slowly wandered off and my Dad was able to reset the feeder. We are going to have to come up with some type of enclosure for the feeder as bears have been very common this year and I don't want them ruining my $850 feeder!

When does bear season open?

Two things to think about with the bears. One is to build a floating raft, such as with blue barrels. Anchor it away from shore, and put the feeder on it.

A less expensive alternative is an electric fence around the feeder area. Tractor Supply has a number of solar charged units which should work well. Here is what Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has to say about bears and electric fences.

Ken

I will look into the electric fence idea. Yet another reason to bring power to the pond!

Is there any way you can hang the feeder out over the water from a dock?

Never mind the bear.....

Iron Maiden is still touring??

Is this some watered down replacement band? Am I really that old?

Yeah, I read that comment on the Iron Maiden concert earlier today after coming in from some fieldwork and was just too bushed to give it much consideration. But now that I'm cooled off and thinking clearly I gotta know, how was the show?

This is a great idea. We have big wild animals on our property sometimes, too, not bears but meth addicts. They stole the air conditioner off of the house when my parents were away, presumably to strip for scrap. I've been worried about the same thing happening to a feeder should I buy one. But I've never known a meth-head that could swim, might just be too much hassle for them.

The show was fantastic! Definitely the same lineup from the 80's and they put on one hell of a show! Alice Cooper was the opnening act and he had a ton of energy for a 65-year old.

Happy Birthday RMDA!!