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Jan 10th, 2023
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014  Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297 |
Here's one of JamesBryan's pics:  Note the friendly creeping into view behind the catfish...
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297 |
Here's JamesBryan's walleye smorgasbord... 
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267 |
I bet that was good eating !!! Nice WE !
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68 |
Popped a few 8" Male YP, a 14" SMB in good condition, a nice 8" RES, and a few WE up to 15" today - mainly on waxies. Ice was about 3.5 but we also received around 4" snow - this concerns me as it will significantly impede the ice growth. Hoping for some high winds to blow it off. I didn't get too much fishing in today - dealing with couple breakoffs and when fish are mobile it takes me a lot time to move my gearbomb and get set up again [Vexilar, Aqua Vu 360, Eskimo 6-12' tent, etc.]. Just trying to get my toys organized and in working order for the impending ice season - I'm a little rusty.  
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau ![[Linked Image from i1261.photobucket.com]](http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii582/teehjaeh57/I_subscribe_zps69249d43.gif)
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 475
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 475 |
Hey Sunil, thanks for putting up my pics. Someday I'm going to re-learn how to do that, til then I'll send them to you!
Ewest, they were wonderful. I have several more in the freezer for winter time blues.
TJ, nice catch!
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,314 Likes: 300
Moderator
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All nice fish guys. Everybody's ponds seem to be producing well. TJ, those aren't enough clothes. I look like Randy from A Christmas Story in weather like that. 
AL
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
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Way to go TJ! Glad you made it out and scratched the itch.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15 |
Here at the Livingston ponds we're in that dreaded transition period between open water and safe ice. Unfortunately, being this far south means this unfishable circumstance can last quite awhile, as temps tend to fluctuate a lot. I finally decided to just fish off of the swim platform in the HBG pond. It's not in a good location to hold fish, but I was hoping I could draw some in if I tried jigging aggressively. I simply kicked a hole in the 1/2" of ice and dropped down, feet dangling off the dock. I drew something in alright, but it wasn't at all what I had in mind:  Catching that second-rate species almost depressed me enough to just pack it in immediately. But I hung around, unsuccessfully, for another hour. Not a fish in sight: 
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,930 Likes: 2
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,930 Likes: 2 |
I caught this in the pond saturday.. 
Goofing off is a slang term for engaging in recreation or an idle pastime while obligations of work or society are neglected........... Wikipedia
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297 |
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15 |
I caught this in the pond saturday.. Man...kudos to you for enduring such brutal fishing conditions...hope you didn't get sunburned! 
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,314 Likes: 300
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,314 Likes: 300 |
...Catching that second-rate species almost depressed me enough to just pack it in immediately. But I hung around, unsuccessfully, for another hour...  Tony, sometimes I feel the same way.
AL
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,930 Likes: 2
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,930 Likes: 2 |
yep, the big pond to the east of us...It was a nice day offshore. Caught lots a vermillion snapper, red snapper and seabass. Broke off a real mule of an amberjack after a 20 min fight....
Ill have to get back to fishing in the pond soon for an update...
Goofing off is a slang term for engaging in recreation or an idle pastime while obligations of work or society are neglected........... Wikipedia
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,012
Hall of Fame
Junior Member
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Hall of Fame
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,012 |
Been fishing some in the last few weeks. Caught 25 BG from 8" up on crickets; here is biggest one... Weighed .6lb and 9.75" (Sorry for the pic being upside down... I tried to rotate it in photobucket but the link still produces the original)  Caught a HSB on small trap; I caged 20 4-6" in Dec. and released at 6-8" in late March. I did not have my scale/tape with me but estimate 14" and near 2lb. Also hooked several on crickets fishing for BG but broke off most of them due to fishing with 4lb flourocarbon:  Jodi and I fished out about 8 lbs of LMB trying to get close to our annual goal of 15lb/year as part of the plan to allow the size of the LMB to grow and the population of BG to grow. Seems to be working as I now seem to have a good BG population in all size classes and the LMB are growing. This guy was estimated near 2lb and about 16" and is the biggest LMB we've ever caught and we see bigger. As usual, Jodi outfished me and caught 10 of the 13 LMB we caught that day. Besides catching a few nice ones, she also targeted and caught about 5 that were 6-8 in. on a 7" pumkinseed worm; don't know how she does it. 
Last edited by djstauder; 12/10/13 10:05 AM.
1 ac pond LMB, BG, RES, CC 
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,753 Likes: 297 |
Love to see warm-weather pictures right about now!!!
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692
Hall of Fame 2015 Lunker
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Hall of Fame 2015 Lunker
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 6,692 |
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,505
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,505 |
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68 |
Been fishing some in the last few weeks. Caught 25 BG from 8" up on crickets; here is biggest one... Weighed .6lb and 9.75" (Sorry for the pic being upside down... I tried to rotate it in photobucket but the link still produces the original) Caught a HSB on small trap; I caged 20 4-6" in Dec. and released at 6-8" in late March. I did not have my scale/tape with me but estimate 14" and near 2lb. Also hooked several on crickets fishing for BG but broke off most of them due to fishing with 4lb flourocarbon: Jodi and I fished out about 8 lbs of LMB trying to get close to our annual goal of 15lb/year as part of the plan to allow the size of the LMB to grow and the population of BG to grow. Seems to be working as I now seem to have a good BG population in all size classes and the LMB are growing. This guy was estimated near 2lb and about 16" and is the biggest LMB we've ever caught and we see bigger. As usual, Jodi outfished me and caught 10 of the 13 LMB we caught that day. Besides catching a few nice ones, she also targeted and caught about 5 that were 6-8 in. on a 7" pumkinseed worm; don't know how she does it. Well done DJ! Awesome! That BG looks like all of mine caught in the last few months - a little on the pinched belly side. Maybe it's time to increase feeding times? I think my BG are being forced out of the feeding zones by HSB and SMB...I can't explain their deteriorating body conditions any other way.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,505
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hey TJ, when humans go to a nursing home, they have ample food to eat correct? Yet many of them lose quite a bit of weight and even get shorter...
Me thinks your original bluegill may simply be getting older. Fish don't stay in their prime on the other side of the hill...
The real key to a sustained fishery in a pond is always having the next class right there to take their place.... Many ponds can grow the originals good, but the 2nd and 3rd and subsequent generations that follow typically don't ever compare to that first generation...
That's where pond mgmt practices need to focus on is growing the fish born in the pond or continually stocking and nurturing.... Nobody really likes too manage for the little guys though...
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,012
Hall of Fame
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Hall of Fame
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n8ly,
This may be a "loaded" question but how should the management for 2nd and 3rd classed differ from the original fish?
1 ac pond LMB, BG, RES, CC
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,505
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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real quickly before i head out:
for a fish to grow large you have to make sure it stays alive and has more than enough food to eat from the moment it is born all the way through its life... most folks like to focus on feeding and managing for their bigger fish and then once those bigger fish live their life they are left with nothing much desirable...
could be a good discussion, hopefully others chime in... Ill be out for a few days..
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,548 Likes: 846
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Good point Nate! I agree with what you said. Many people don't think about the upcoming "crop".
Think "nursery". Cover for the little ones to hide in. Plenty of food lower on the food pyramid. If you are relying on angling to catch adult fish to look at their condition, do some angling for small fish to check them too.
While that BG in the picture looks good, to me it's eye looks a little bit big, and the body is a little bit thin. Possibly a "shooter" that only had regular amounts of food, not enough to let it grow to it's full potential. But then again, like Nate said, possibly a fish on it's downward slide due to age.
I know the fish in our ponds are like pets, but one point that is overlooked a lot is that fish harvest is a very important part of the management plan.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68 |
My take is DJ's fish is on the decline, maybe - after achieving his potential. I caught several fish like that at Richmond Mill - ones that were 1.5# but seem like they easily could have been 2# at one time. I'm not a biologist and am not sure why they were in that condition - lack of food or just aging process - but they had the same pinch belly condition.
In my main pond nearly ALL BG I'm catching now, regardless of size, are pinch bellied. It's got to be due to lack of food - which has never been an issue before - so I'm not sure what the issue might be. Maybe my rising classes of BG aren't pellet training? Maybe I'm not throwing enough food to escape the SMB and HSB? Maybe I should be including some feeding times earlier in the day when SMB and HSB aren't nearly as active feeders?
Just saying I have this issue population wide. DJ's fish is outstanding - just noticed the concave belly and thought - wow, that looks familiar!
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
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How long have your BG looked that way TJ? Back in the warmer months also, or just the last few weeks?
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 68 |
I noticed it in my caged fish first - but I'm only feeding them every other day - but was super disappointed at their lack of weight gain - but blamed myself. I can't get out there every day living offsite as you know.
Then I started noticing it in fish caught around my dock - some very nice 9" BG which are huge for my pond were pinch bellied, then even smaller fish. This Winter it's even worse. Popped 2 BG over 10" with pinched bellies, but even the 4-6" BG too. Something going on...despite my harvest and feeding, these BG aren't getting enough nutrients.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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