Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Seining pictures of my pond I'm draining down

I hope this doesn't come across as nosy, but I'm curious about the house pictured here...is it connected to the portion above the garage doors?

Looks almost like two separate structures.

We are well above $4/gal for propane down here. I put in a tankless hot water heater a couple years ago thinking it would save me money on utilities and it has ended up being remarkably expensive.

No problem. The garage and apartment above it are separate from the log home but on my property and owned by me. They are joined by a deck. That's where my parents live when they are not in Florida.

So much for passing on the savings for more plentiful natural gas. LOL

Mom & Dad had their propane tank(s) filled in the fall for $1.67/gal. They can run about 11 months on about 800 gallons of propane.

Cecil, now would be a perfect time to clean out the geo lines.

I had an old 40 gallon water heater and going to a whole house on-demand heater saved me quite a chunk of change. Putting in the fireplace insert saved more $$. I paid for the insert in 2 years by the natural gas savings.

The irony is I live where there is abundant natural "shallow" natural gas wells. Even have a gas leak/spring in the front of my dam and have it in my well water. Do you think we would have local gas lines to residences? Heck no. It is all piped off to suburbia and urban areas.

So I heat mostly with wood, and don't purchase enough propane to hit the magical "bulk" number. Every fall I have to shop and barter better prices, which I HATE doing, but always get screwed in the end.

The gas company won't run lines to my location as it's too far out and too few customers.

Worst part of it is that my contract with the propane supplier stipulates that they can come without letting me know and fill the tank.

I have a 1,500 gallon tank buried in they yard and it is a miserable surprise to open the mailbox and find a very expensive bill stuffed in there with no warning.

I am very strongly considering taking it out and going to a heat pump style water heater.

That hurts. I paid $2.36/gallon for Amerigas in January and then learned that the local FS was $.90/gallon cheaper. I booted Amerigas on Monday of these week and switch to FS. Only have a 500 gallon tank but get a $.15/gallon discount for allowing them to auto fill the tank. They typically do this in the summer when the price is the lowest.

I had a small gas tank installed to supply gas to our fireplace. The wife liked to crank it up in the winter to take the chill off etc. One day a gas guy shows up and says, "I've come to take your tank as you're not buying enough gas from us." Says there is some gas left and they will pay me for it. Then he comes back in before leaving and says he was wrong there was no gas left. Uh huh...

My dad who lives next door on my property was a big customer of there's and called them to come and get the GD tank as he would be going with someone else. He bought his own tank and buys from whoever can get him the best price now.

I told a lot of people about what happened to me and I wonder how much business they lost? It just amazes me how some overpaid CEO's come up with this stupidity.

That's just it. If you rent the tanks, you have to buy gas from whom you are renting from. If they pick up the tank, you are not reimbursed for the propane.

We (Dad and I) went to a local weekly auction and bought two 1,000 gallon tanks. I borrowed a trailer and they loaded them for us. A friend came over and unloaded the tanks, and put them in place. I went thru the tanks, making sure the gauges were good and seals were good. The propane company that we placed the propane order with came over before the first delivery, checked my work and then filled the tanks.

Yes, the tanks weren't cheap, I think they ended costing right around a dollar a gallon. But, for what the savings are for owning them, it'll pay off in the long run.

For some reason, Mom & Dad's propane usage dropped almost 50% the first year they owned the tanks and aren't using the first propane company anymore............. We bought two 1,000 gallon tanks because based on their propane usage with the rental tank, they'd need almost 1,600 gallons per year. The first year I shopped around for them, and found up to $1.00 per gallon difference in propane prices, depending on what company I called.

Nice Place Cecil.

Something I do when I drain is donate some of the fish for a tax right off. You can donate good wholesome food to an eligible 501(c)3 organization that will take them. You need to get all the right information and documentation you need about the organization and your donation. I also adjust my value to just under Fair Market value so the IRS has no issue with the price used to figure the donations. But this is only good if you itemize your deductions and need a larger tax shelter.

You can also get outside the box when doing this stuff. Sponsor say a Church fish fry and they generally supply most of the labor from within the church. You provide everything else and at the end of the day the money taken in is counted and you are handed a reciept for the total collected from the cash generated from your donation.

Good idea but I think I'll let them grow a little until this fall when many of the bluegills should be 10 inches and the perch 14 inches. I get up to $50.00 each for them at that size.

I could actually sell them under that size but I prefer to sell a unique product at a unique size to make me stand out from someone who just sells fish.

Cecil is that a 10" Northern BG that goes for $50 in your neighborhood?

Not my neighborhood although I have sold them to a few local taxidermists. Most are sold out of state and are sold frozen vacuum sealed to taxidermists all over the country as far away as Hawaii. The key is a taxidermy website I go to to sell them that is frequented by taxidermists all over North American and Europe. If I have what they want I've sold them as fast as 4 minutes from posting to Paypal.

I also have a good reputation I've developed over the years and freeze them a special way after several measurements are taken, any potential flaws listed, and weighed on a certified scale etc. Some esoteric knowledge I've learned being a fish specialist.

Fish are shipped in custom insulated boxes with a corresponding paper trail. I also know what states I cannot sell them to. There are some southern states that only allow the sale of gamefish for stocking. No exceptions. I've sent written queries (surveys) to all 50 states with responses in writing other than the ones that refuse to respond.

I had no problem buying the gas but filling up the small tank once a year wasn't good enough for them. I least I do have the buried gas line they installed and will be good to go when I buy a tank.

I'm one crazy dude. I ran out of gas for the pump and the wife has our only vehicle -- out of town visiting her mother -- who is in failing health. Anyway, she won't be back until tomorrow evening so rather than waste 24 hours not pumping I grabbed the 5 gallon gas can and hoofed it into town by foot. 2 miles there and 2 miles back. A cop with radar really looked me over as I walked past. I figured if he questioned me on the way back I'd ask him if he thought I was speeding.

Not bad for a 55 year old. I was really moving out on the way there but a little slower with about 3 gallons of gas on the way back.

Well, at least you didn't putt putt down the shoulder of the road with the garden tractor and trailer with a few empty gas cans in the trailer!

Though it doesn't feel like it when your walking it's good for you. Even I take daily walks through the woods around our house. MY best buddy Is 70 years old and I told him that he had to stay around awhile longer, that means getting a little more active and eating better. so now he, and I walk the rr tracks together every day. He's told me how much better he feels his back doesn't hurt and he has more energy.

Good work, sp. "You're wise beyond your years"...

Are you referring to the guy down the road that gets his groceries that way? Have you been here when he does it?

I can't remember what post but someone asked if you could tell if a yellow perch was close to dropping her egg strand. This one is as close as you get. Sorry it's blurry.



Unfortunately she didn't make it and will be sold frozen to a taxidermist. Apparently she was too far along when she was moved and the stress killed her. Or she may have been one of the few that die every spring at this time due to some problem with passing the egg strand.

BTW the perch and bluegill I moved to the temporary holding pond are feeding well even with the cold water.

Did you find anything unexpected in this venture Cecil?

Not yet. Deepest water is between three and four feet right now and I'm just seeing 2 to 4 inch bluegills with 8 to 9 inch yellow perch right underneath them -- mostly in the vicinity of the blue tank.

I know there are larger fish but they blend into the bottom quite well even with clear water. I'm hoping there aren't too many left so it won't be as much of a pain in the arse to lug them out.

Man I hope you find some kind of mutant yellowgill..

We did when seining. PVC pipe, a cylinder of cage netting, & a rotting YP. I was expecting to pull up a boot or 2 also!

Cecil I remember her. She was ready to pop when we transferred her out of the seine.

I really think you have more fish in the pond than you realize.....

Not a yellow perch expert but it appears to me like that yellow perch had some trouble trying to pass the egg strands.

It happens every year. I remove about a dozen of them like that.