Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Best type of gravel for LMB, BG , and GS spawning

Wondering what is the recommended type of gravel for making some spawning beds for LMB and BG. Have access to round smooth drain rock from 1" down- including pea gravel, also can get what we call 3/4" minus (grey chipped rock) used for final topping on road building in this area -- and the same question in regards to Golden Shiners.

If I don't put any rock down I just have a mud bottom - which from what I have read here may not be problem at least for the LMB and BG ??

Pond star,

Lm and bg may prefer gravel, I don't really know, but mine spawn just fine on a clay bottom.

Good luck

Cmm

PS, I think LMB and BG like pretty similar spawning soil. However, BG prefer to spawn in more shallow water.

You might think about setting up your BOW to enhance BG spawning while discouraging LMB spawning if the goal is big LMB. Do the opposite if the goal is giant BG.

What were you thinking in terms of setting up BOW to enhance either BG spawning or LMB spawning ??

I don't think it matters much what you use for spawning beds. As you can see in the picture I put gravel beds all around the pond and also put two dump truck loads of sand for a swimming beach,,and the bluegill used both of them for spawning. I also had two plastic laundry clothes basket tied together rim to rim and sunk in the pond for a structure for minnows and bass would spawn on top on it. So that tells you that bass will spawn on plastic.

PS, the real experts need to weigh in here. Bob Lusk told me that BG prefer very shallow water to spawn, as it enables them to escape from LMB that can't operate well in this environment. LMB prefer deeper water for spawning, typically 2 to 4 feet.

If want lots of BG to feed bass, have level shallow flats built for BG spawning. Shallow means maybe 6 to 18 inches. Meanwhile, deeper flats suitable for LMB spawn should be made into steeper slopes so as to discourage LMB bedding.

Result: More BG to feed fewer LMB, big LMB if nothing goes too badly wrong.

If you desire huge BG, don't offer much in the way of very shallow flats, but do make them in 2 to 4 feet of water for the bass. Lower BG reproduction plus high small bass population eating small BG should result in some huge BG, if things go right.

But you really should listen to the experts before taking action, I could be totally wrong and am certainly overlooking important details!

Mixed road gravel a little bigger than pea gravel is best.

8 - 32 mm is optimum

See this thread.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=199269&page=1

Role of Male Parental Care in Survival of
Larval Bluegills
MARK B. BAIN AND LOUIS A. HELFRICH
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science•
Virginia Polytechinc Institute and State U niversity
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Abstract
Mortality of larval bluegills Lepomis macrochirus from predation was measured in 56 nests
guarded by males and 21 nests from which the male guard was removed. Mortality was s ignificantly greater in unguarded nests(median= 68%)than in guardian nests (median= 14%).Fish
traps placed in unguarded nests captured significantly more predators than traps placed in
guarded nests. Bluegills( 3-12 cm total length)w ere the most abundant nest predators Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus (7• -11 cm),largemouth bass M icropterus salmoides(4- 5 cm),and whitefin
shiners Notropis niveus(5 -6 cm) also were nest predators. Nest preparation by male bluegills
exposed coarse gravel( 8-32 mm diameter)and pebbles(3 2-64 mm) in nest substrate and removed particles smaller than 2 mm. Particles larger than 8 mm provided suitable interstitial
space to accommodate bluegill larvae. Survival of larvae was directly correlated with the proportion
of coarse substrate in the nest.


Some points of interest:

Our data from
Virginia implicated juvenile bluegills as the major
predators on bluegill larvae, followed in importance
by pumpkinseed. Dominey (1981)
drew the same conclusions from a New York....


In addition to direct protection afforded larval
bluegills by nest-guarding males, nest preparation
by the male parent influenced survival
of larvae in Lake Caroline. The availability of
suitable nesting substrate has been recognized
as a major factor affecting reproductive success
of centrarchid fishes (Breder 1936; Kramer and
Smith 1962; Muncy et al. 1979).

In laboratory observationss,
coarse particles provided suitable interstitial
space to accommodate yolk-sac bluegill larvae.
That coarse substrate may function as protective
shelter for larvae was supported by field
data: ....


Although
other factors undoubtedly influence
mortality of tested larvae, our data suggest that
predation, particularly intraspecific predation
(cannibalism), can be a major cause of early
bluegill mortality.




Fishshocker
Junior Member

Registered: 20/03/06
Posts: 4
Loc: Ackerman, MS New to this forum, but let me put my 2 cents in. Have been placing gravel to enhance spawning for warmwater fish, mostly Bream/Bass for 25 years and this is what I have observed: A. Bream prefer gravel as a spawning substrate. Why gravel?? Gravel allows for water to circulate throughout the egg mass as the guardian male fans the nest. This in turn carries the oxygen necessary for the survival of the individual eggs. Better circulation = better hatch from each nest = better fisheries dynamics. Washed pea gravel is probably best, but also the most expensive. Washed river rock #57 grade is also good and less costly. Washed rounded rock allows for better circulation. Sand, "white" rock, lime rock all tend to "lock up" and restrict the circulation of water/oxygen to the bottom of the egg mass necessary for egg survival in that part of the egg mass.
B. Thickness of the layer of spawning gravel will thin or "pancake" out after several years and eventually becomes useless. The mechanical action of fanning the beds makes the gravel migrate out over time. Counter this by boxing in the gravel with 1x12 inch cypress boards, filling in the outside of the boards with dirt. Looks like a shaved off pitcher's mound with gravel recessed in the ground. Dirt shoulders keep the hooks from snagging as easily.
C. Avoid sloping ground, level sites have the greatest use.
D. Dispurse the sites according to depth and aspect to allow for greater overall use throughout the spawning season.
E. Avoid locating sites adjacent to incoming streams, or tribs, they end up being silted in.
Just my 2 cents, hope this helps.

See pics below.

now that is fun to see

Great info! Thanks!

EW,
Did you use some of TJs photoshopping techniques to make the ear-tab on the redear in the last picture look like it's on fire? Seriously, I really do like those pics, especially the last one.

No Photoshop only lightened the whole pic so the rock would be more visible.

Very nice article.

Great stuff here - wow ! So since I built my pond (3/4 acre) with steep sides to discourage weed growth, what is the best way to create some "level" spawning platforms ? block up one end of the spawning platform with blocks ?

Also - if bluegill prefer to spawn in shallow water - how do I keep the osprey off of them during spawning if I build the beds in shallow water ??

Pond Star - I had the same problem, really steep sides. I just dug in some pockets in various locations...seemed to work.