Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,899
Posts557,080
Members18,451
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,414
ewest 21,474
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
14 members (jludwig, Donatello, catscratch, DrLuke, esshup, Requa, Shorthose, Blestfarmpond, JasonInOhio, H20fwler, Theo Gallus, Justin W, LeighAnn, Bob Lusk), 844 guests, and 210 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#461804 01/11/17 10:13 AM
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
OP Offline
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Hello everyone
Long time reader first time posting. I’ll start off with saying I love this forum. There is a VAST amount of knowledge here. My pond was built in 1977 by my Grandpa. It has roughly 7 springs running into the pond and water continuously flows out. I have an automatic feeder set to feed twice a day with AquaMax 500 or 600. The pond is also fertilized and aerated. It is stocked with LMB, BG, CNBG, CC, and BC. (One of my great uncles put the BC in about 15 years ago before I managed the pond.) So far they haven’t been a problem but fear that day will come. Never really catch many BC but the ones you catch are around 12 inches and fat. The pond has been bass heavy for many years now and I decided to take about 150 out last spring. The bass size has increased as I knew they would but now I have started catching smaller BC. Since the BC are already there and I can’t undo that, I would like to try and manage them the best I can. I love to eat and catch them. The pond gets fished fairly regular, it just seems that fishing is poor most times and at times I have no problem catching a mess of fish. I know that my BG numbers are extremely low and there isn’t much forage fish for the food chain. I have been reading up on Tilapia and plan on trying to buy about 20 or 30 pounds total this spring. My hopes are this will replenish the food chain and relieve some pressure off the BG and hopefully get their numbers back up as well. I also plan on stocking a few adult BG over the course of this year and might even do that over the next few years depending on their numbers. I also plan on fishing very heavy for the BC and have ALWAYS kept every single one. Anyways I said all this to ask if anyone has ever tried raising tilapia over the winter in tanks then releasing into pond in the spring. I just wonder if it’s cost effective by the time you heat the water all winter and the maintenance and all that goes with it. If anyone has done this I’d love to hear the cons and pros on this and any pointers you have like your setup of tanks how big they are and how many fish they hold. Thanks


Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,026
Likes: 274
D
Moderator
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Lunker
D
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,026
Likes: 274
Welcome to posting on PB. What size is the pond?


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.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
OP Offline
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Sorry I meant to put that in there. Its roughly 2 or 2.5 acres.


Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
B
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
IMO your first error was removing 150 bass. They were your eating machines who controlled your crappie(BCP). I always figure that each bass will eat around 200-250 appropriate sized fish each year. If we use the lower predator number or lower it to 150 this means those bass were eating around 22,000 to 30,000 small fish. Those removed bass puts a big predation pressure on the BCP & BG & other small bass.

Now that you've removed "foxes from the hen house" you have more BCP surviving. If you value the quality of the old crappie angling I would stock more foxes (LMB) or protect them rather than adding more chickens. Lots of young tilapia will deter predation of the BCP by the bass. This will result in more crappie at less than the old 12" average size. Realize this before stocking more forage fish.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/11/17 01:18 PM.

aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
C
Offline
C
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
Trent, do you have crappie in your pond?

Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
OP Offline
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Yes there is black crappie in the pond. Bill I see what you are saying and never really thought about it taking the pressure off the crappie as well. I've never been able to catch large numbers of crappie in the pond. So I'm not thinking they have large numbers in the pond yet, but I also know this can change quickly. I have a guy that is wanting to electro fish my pond this spring for a study that he is doing. I'm hoping that the guy comes through and then I can gain a better knowledge of what I actually have in the pond.


Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
C
Offline
C
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
If you could get a free electrofishing survey that would be spectacular. Especially since your pond would be one of the few ponds that have only small numbers of BCP. Maybe you could figure out what ratio of the other fish and predators you have that allow for the control of BCP numbers and others could learn from that.

You also would have to wonder about tilapia survival when CC and LMB are in place. Probably depends on stocking size of the 40 pounds of tilapia and the gape size of your LMB.

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
B
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Moderator
Ambassador
Field Correspondent
Lunker
B
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 478
Since you "Never really catch many BC(BCP), this is a good indication but no guarantee, that there are not very many in the pond. Electrofishing survey should provide some insight into the current crappie population. Angler catch rates over time usually closely reflect the numbers and types of fish in the pond assuming there is varied types of angling methods. The higher numbers of bass were keeping the numbers of BCP to a minimum. Your angling results of "now I have started catching smaller BC(BCP)" is a strong indication that the BCP population has and is changing toward more and smaller BCP after the bass(150) were removed. Removing 150 bass from 2.5 acres is 60 LMB/ac. The current and next crop of BCP may not be in the uncommon numbers. IMO the smaller harvested bass were significantly cropping the smaller crappies. Your future management and harvest methods will steer the fishery. After your electroshocking survey please post the summary or results.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/11/17 01:33 PM.

aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
OP Offline
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Thanks for all the input. I think I will hold off on the tilapia for now and I wont harvest any bass. I will definitely post the results of the electrofishing survey (if the guy actually does it). Maybe then I can have some insight on what needs to be done. Maybe it be best that I try to stock some adult CNBG or BG or should I do nothing until the survey is completed? The guy that contacted me about it was suppose to come this fall but never made it out, he always had a reason that he couldn't make it so I'm afraid he might never show.


Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 224
B
Offline
B
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 224
Trent- what are your goals for the pond? You stated that fishing is poor most times but sometimes you can catch a mess of fish? What fish are you targeting, would you rather have larger bass where you might only catch 1 or 2 an hour?

Another option for BCP control could be HSB, they will grow quickly on the pellets and should help with the BCP. Also add a bonus fish that you could ladder stock over the years.


I Subscribe!
3/4 Acre Pond: HSB,SMB,YP,HBG,RES
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
C
Offline
C
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,892
Likes: 144
I think in regards to your first question that there are a few here on the PB forum who are quite versed at raising or at least over-wintering tilapia in tanks and several here would like to hear more about the challenges or successes of doing so. Hopefully one of them chime in.

Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
OP Offline
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Beastman- I have never really came up with a certain goal for my pond and I have learned from here that I really need one so I can manage my pond. I'm not big on the bass fishing, so I can rule it out as my goal. Me and my dad have been talking some about this and I think we are leaning towards the crappie now. I know this isn't an ideal goal for a pond of my size but since the crappie are already present I'll never be able to get them out unless I start over from scratch and really not wanting to do this unless I have no other option because of over population. I don't know the exact date the crappie where stocked into the pond as no one lived around it until about 3 years ago when I put my house there. It was always a hangout for all my great uncles and their friends. I'm just guessing that within the first couple of years of them being stocked I filled up a 64 quart cooler of huge slabs. But ever since that fishing trip I don't think I've caught over 20 crappie each year now I don't know if anyone else was. I do know for a fact that over the last 3 years there hasn't been a large number of crappie a year caught. We fish fairly often for them. Now that I took a large number of bass out last spring I have started catching smaller crappie over the last few months. I'm still not catching them in large numbers Like I would think I would maybe 10 in the last 7 months. This weekend I'm sinking more Christmas trees in hopes that will give me a better chance at having them in a concentrated area.



Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by Donatello - 03/28/24 11:35 AM
1 year after stocking question
by esshup - 03/28/24 11:01 AM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 AM
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Theo Gallus - 03/28/24 10:27 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by Freg - 03/28/24 09:42 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by esshup - 03/28/24 08:36 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by Justin W - 03/28/24 08:19 AM
Reducing fish biomass
by FishinRod - 03/28/24 08:18 AM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Freeze Danger? - Electric Diaphragm Pump
by esshup - 03/26/24 09:47 PM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5