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I thought I might tell you of my pond stocking of a possible trophy lmb pond. So, I built this 3.5 acre pond back in Nov of 14 and after some researching I decided to do a stocking of 30 to 1 of forage cnbg and res. I also did 10,000 tfs and about 1500 1/3rd " crawfish. And I added 5 lbs of Tilapia in the 4 to 6" size or about 25 fish, and now I see at least a thousand of 4 to 6"er's, along with 120 lbs of FHM's. And then the spawning took place, lots and lots of forage fish to feed the lmb. Did I mention the Bull frogs that have taken up residency here? Forage frogs, yep !! I was looking for fast growth lmb reaching for those double digit fish. Will this past week I started to fish for an lmb to sample and record. Will, I am a pretty good lmb fisherman, and have won some pretty big fishing tournaments and won a boat at one tournament. So, I can fish, but not at my place, can't buy an lmb at my place smile I see where Bill Cody talk's of using night crawlers for lmb fishing, but what true BASS Fisher uses night crawlers for bait? That is cheating smile I might have to give a try smile Thanks Bill for your post on the other thread here.

Tracy

Tracy

Last edited by TGW1; 09/09/15 07:27 AM. Reason: additions

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TRACY
Sounds like they to well fed to bite something not real. I feel your pain. When there is no one looking slip some live bait on and see what happens.. Lol

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4 inch BG free lined. That always works; well, not always.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

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Tracy, welcome to the wonderful world of a 30 to 1 stocking rate. The thing you have to separate is sport fishing from assessment. Like you, I always use artificials when I'm sport fishing my big pond, but readily admit that live bait can be much better(read quicker) for assessment, and looked at as a management tool, and not recreation.

The really, really good thing is that if they're hard to catch, that means those babies are eating, and probably eating really well.

I'm really anxious to see where your pond is in a year or two. Your upside should be tremendous.


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It's impossible to catch yellow perch or bluegill in my pond unless it's close to feeding time. Ask Scott, Fatih, or Keith!

My really large trophy bluegill have to be seined to get a consistent number to sell.

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 09/09/15 09:07 AM.

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Yup I'm right there with you guys. My large BG get smart pretty quick! If I don't catch em in a frenzy I may not catch them at all.

I also have same problem with my LMB, but I can almost always get a bite or 2 with a 3 inch BG on the hook and a bobber about 2 feet up!

You may have to do this just to see what you got going!! I also have good success with a 4 inch plastic floating worm just kinda twitch it along!! I have caught some nice ones that way!!

RC

Show pics when you catch them I want to see these LMB!!!


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Even the HBG, with their supposed "always on" feeding response clam up tight after a few C&R episodes. No one said having a fed pond meant easy catching, but it's funny how the general angling public still equates it to shooting fish in a barrel.


"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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Sparkie do like Shorty suggested, wedge a pellet of fish food in the bend of a hook and hold on- that's catching fish in a barrel

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Believe it or not I have done that also and it does catch more fish but if a bobber is present larger BG will not touch it! I have to chunk it without a bobber to catch any bigger ones! I even tried using the small ice fishing bobbers and still no go sometimes. They are not stupid that's for sure!!

RC


The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
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Originally Posted By: sprkplug
Even the HBG, with their supposed "always on" feeding response clam up tight after a few C&R episodes. No one said having a fed pond meant easy catching, but it's funny how the general angling public still equates it to shooting fish in a barrel.



Spark you got that right! Here I thought when I bought my place I was gonna catch fish whenever I felt like it! Ha,ha!! NOT!! At first I did sure cause they were starving! But after I got feed going and BG spawning for the bass things got harder and harder! Heck I can catch fish on public waters easier then in my own pond!! smile

RC


The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
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To be honest I'm leery of using pellets, artificial or real, to catch my fish. I want them to readily consume the feed, not begin to associate it with getting yanked out of the water. I have no evidence that this happens, and I understand the need to evaluate the population, but I have seen with my own eyes how acclimated fish can become to a previously "hot" lure or bait, and start avoiding it like the plague. I'm sure there will always be eager biters, caught over and over again, but I'm not willing to chance it.

I'm in the "fish absolutely learn", camp.....


"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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Well this is not sounding good at all.Maybe we shouldn't feed our fish. Or maybe fatten them up for about 2 years and then cut the food off making them easier to catch.What is the big deal of trophy fish if they won't bite?


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Originally Posted By: sprkplug

I'm in the "fish absolutely learn", camp.....


No, say it ain't so! You mean that they can tell the difference between an AM500 and an AM600 pellet? wink


I caught a bunch of BG in a local lake a number of years ago on a white twister tail. The BG in that lake just hammered it every time I used it. I put a number of those fish in my pond after I had a winterkill right after I purchased this place. Guess what? Yep. I couldn't catch them in this pond on that same lure.


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Originally Posted By: Flame
Well this is not sounding good at all.Maybe we shouldn't feed our fish. Or maybe fatten them up for about 2 years and then cut the food off making them easier to catch.What is the big deal of trophy fish if they won't bite?


Tongue in cheek I know. wink

I can't catch LMB in my pond that have been eating AM600 after catching them a few times on imitation pellets. But, after seeing them chase after YP that were feeding on pellets, I caught many on a YP imitation jerk bait.

I've also noticed that the LMB in my pond are easier to catch after a 6 month period of no fishing for them under the ice, than they are to catch in the fall after seeing fishing pressure all spring/summer.


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They do learn..... I guess if you keep all the ones you catch it wouldn't be a problem unless one of the fishes buds see him get yanked out of the water...

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Originally Posted By: Flame
Well this is not sounding good at all.Maybe we shouldn't feed our fish. Or maybe fatten them up for about 2 years and then cut the food off making them easier to catch.What is the big deal of trophy fish if they won't bite?


That is the philosophical question we have debated here before. Look at it this way; learning how to fool these pellet conditioned fish is part of the challenge. Sure, you may need to explore different techniques, but that's part of the fun. If it were easy to walk out to your pond and have a 15lb LMB or 2lb BG on the end of your line with every cast, then those folks would be right...it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

I believe feeding our fish has helped to make me a better angler. And not just from throwing everything in the tackle bag at them, but also from watching, studying, and learning about them on this forum as well as the magazine. Pond and fish management is a package deal for me, not just a case of following a pre-set formula and reeling in giant fish. It simply doesn't work that way.


"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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Originally Posted By: esshup
Originally Posted By: sprkplug

I'm in the "fish absolutely learn", camp.....


No, say it ain't so! You mean that they can tell the difference between an AM500 and an AM600 pellet? wink


I caught a bunch of BG in a local lake a number of years ago on a white twister tail. The BG in that lake just hammered it every time I used it. I put a number of those fish in my pond after I had a winterkill right after I purchased this place. Guess what? Yep. I couldn't catch them in this pond on that same lure.


You of all people know they can.. grin I have some very particular fish. Standard practice is to feed by hand, once during the evening. I'm normally alone, and since I've been working I'm still wearing my grungy clothes. A couple years after starting the program I began to notice a pattern regarding feeding behavior. Even after ruling out as many environmental factors as I could identify, there was still an issue in play somewhere.

I finally figured out that the fish showed a markedly reduced feeding response when I had someone with me while feeding. I normally feed alone, and I'm quiet. When I had company there was not only an added body, there was also conversation. They don't like that.

The second issue is even more bizarre. I swear they prefer me in darker clothes such as what I wear to work. If I'm wearing light colored shirts, they shy away from the floating feed somewhat. They still eat, but I can see a difference. I put that one down to having good water clarity for much of the season. It sounds crazy, but I don't think I'm imagining it. confused


"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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Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
It's impossible to catch yellow perch or bluegill in my pond unless it's close to feeding time. Ask Scott, Fatih, or Keith!

Funny, but true wink

However, after visiting and fishing Fireishot's pond, he turned me on to using a Fluke which has now been the go-to bait fishing the LMB in my pond. And it's currently out-catching every other bait I've used. And I say currently because I know they'll get smart to it, as they have others.

This is what makes it such a fun challenge!

So Tracy, don't give up!

On Saturday I pulled out a 16" 2.75lb (122%), 16.5" 3.25lb (128%) and a pond-record 20.5" 4.25lb (.84%) LMB, all using a Fluke like the one pictured, but since I lost that one on the first catch and it was my last of that color, I put on a salt & pepper colored Fluke and pulled in the last two.




Special thanks to Al (Fireishot) on recommending the Fluke!!!

And on Esshup's pond, I was able to catch 3 LMB, all over 4 lbs on a Chatterbait, but have yet to catch one in my pond with one. Oh, and Scott, that Chatterbait may still be hanging on a tree branch on the island smile .

I'm sure like most, I have an arsenal of baits and tackle that I go through, for the sake of learning to use them, gaining confidence in them, and that one of them may just be the one they're going to hit on,,,,,, that day smile .

But as with everyone's experiences, each pond can be so different with what works. And like I've read on this forum, if you want to know how big the fish are in your pond, invite someone out who's not fished it!

Hang in there, Tracy and dig out that arsenal of baits!



Last edited by Lovnlivin; 09/09/15 03:56 PM.

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Yeah the fluke worked good on my pond too at first! Now I hardly ever get a bite on it! Except smaller bass that don't know no better....

lol

RC


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It's a shame that the fish are outsmarting us. Guess gonna have to resort to dynomite... Or something. Guess that's y there is so many new baits on the market

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Well it's like one said above you got to start keeping some of them so the new ones can grow up and they don't know any better.

C.


The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
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Originally Posted By: TGW1
I see where Bill Cody talk's of using night crawlers for lmb fishing, but what true BASS Fisher uses night crawlers for bait? That is cheating smile .....

Tracy


Guess I need to take that walk of shame. I have only fished with live bait (if chicken liver counts too) in my pond and it works great!


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I don't use a sling and a stone while squirrel hunting, but I also don't consider my use of a firearm to be cheating. I suppose it's a matter of perspective.


"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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I agree with Pat W. and Al (fireishot) with regards to fishing live bait. If I really really want to catch and eat fish, I fish with live bait. If I want to sport fish, I gravitate towards artificial...but I like hooking up either way. Ain't no shame in my game. I'll catch'em if I can find what they want...sometimes, that's the hard part. I've caught every thing in my pond except the CB LMB, but I don't worry about it. I still have too many FHM, Gambusia's, GSF YOY, and BG YOY. Time will tell. I'd just like to see the growth rate since I introduced them on May 31st.
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FWIW, I talked to my neighbor today. He said he lost a CC in my pond that was so big he could have fit his fist in it's mouth. The hook pulled out just as he got it to shore.

The bait?

A red and white #4 mepps spinner.............

Lovinlivin, I'll have to check the tree on the island. wink

Tony, yep, you are correct. I was really surprised that the fish wouldn't eat AM600 with AM500 floating in the pond.


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