Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Fail....Disgusted

Justin, how are you calculating relative weight?

The way I calculate it, that 13", 1 pound 5 ounce fish had a relative weight of 119, so it isn't under weight.

http://fisheries.tamu.edu/files/2013/09/...h-Condition.pdf

Here is my chart....



My local fish farm says my original stock should be pushing 3 lbs. and the 15-16" range.

While that would be possible, I don't think that without supplemental feeding and stocking BG/CNBG/RES at a rate of 3,000 fish per 100 LMB per surface acre it would be possible.

And even if it was possible, I don't believe that level of production would be sustainable long-term.

Those 200 bass that you stocked would have had to consume approximately 6,000# of fish between June 2015 and Feb, 2017 to be pushing 3 pounds each, which means that your pond would have to produced well over 6.500 pounds of fish in 20 months, which is 325 pounds of fish per month.

I didn't see if you were feeding and aerating. Even with doing both of those, producing that kind of biomass takes intensive management. LMB producers here feel good if they produce 5,000 pounds of fish in 24 months (i.e. 208#/mo.), and that is with intensive feeding, aerating and management programs in place.

Welcome

I do feed, but do not aerate. I actually just went and tossed some in to see what would happen, and 6" CNBG went wild.

Justin,

If you have a lot of 6 inch CNBG I would consider that a very good thing. IMO then you probably have the CNBG brood stock you need at a size big enough to avoid predation by your LMB. I agree with what Tracy posted earlier, I think adding 1 to 3 inch CNBG would be a waste of money as they would quickly become bass snacks. IMO you also need to be careful to not push the pond beyond its carrying capacity. Aeration would help. Lots of discussion...have you started to form your go forward plan?

Bill D.

I am working on that now. Here is one plan I had laid out, but now am unsure of...

- Harvest as many bass as possible, while keeping and tagging anything above 12" with a RW of 90% or better. I would like to get 120 fish tagged at some point (within a year or so) and cull everything else
- As soon as the water hits 60 and things seem stable, stocking 3000 FHM, 10,000 TFS, 500 3-6" CNBG, 50 lbs Tilapia ( I dont know abbr....lol).

This stocking should allow the pressure to be somewhat taken off of the BG spawn. Again, all of this would have to happen to where as soon as the stockings hit the water, they could start spawning. I would expect the FHM to be gone within a few weeks, the TFS to last 2 years (maybe), the 3-6" CNBG would establish good and spawn multiple times this year, and of course the tilapia breed like rabbits. I would plan to feed 4 lbs. daily.

Any thoughts?

I would add more FHM's 50 lbs worth in your mix. They are cheep when talking forage fish and will feed the new lmb hatch, taking pressure off the bg. I have read where some trophy raisers will add FHM's every year. But of course u will have to thin the lmb herd. And keep the best of the best.

Not a bad idea. I think I can get them for about $30 per 1,000. Im not sure how much actual weight is in 1,000 though. It would definitely keep the LMB hatch off the bream for a while. Good idea, I may just do that.

Im suppose to talk with the Fish Farm tomm. to discuss our path forward. Seeing all of the adult size bream yesterday made me feel better....but they need to have a fairly uninterrupted first few spawns....meaning I have got to get my current bass thinned and keyed in on other forage being FHM/TFS.

justin, post some pictures of your pond.

Nice!!

I can't seem to get the image to post in the thread.

Nevermind, I see you got it.

Ive added a good bit more cover than the aerial shows...that was what I put in as it was filling up. The aerial was with it about 50% full or so.

When things dont go right, you can sit and be ticked or put the frustration to work. Added more cover and limed a bunch today. This lime comes from a stockpile of limestone dust that settles in a rock quarry nearby. Its dipped out and sold as a waste product....but it doesnt get any better than 100% lime for a lake. You can see the 35 gallon lime bomb that went off in the last pic!...lol

Looks like the strategy will be harvesting as many bass between now and April, adding 10,000 FHM and 4,000 (1-3") CNBG, and transferring 175 8-10" CNBG from a friends lake (same stock of CNBG I stocked my lake with). The adult CNBG will be added between now and April and the FHM/CNBG will be added middle of April. Really hoping this will turn the lake around.

Have you considering netting off a section of the pond where you can grow out those 4000 1-3" CNBG?

If you did so, then you could feed them Aquamax Grower, or similar, and get them to 5" pretty quick.

I thought I was crazy for thinking that this morning....I do have a really good spot to do this.

What kind of netting would be best...any opinions?

Any ideas on type of netting and surface area that would need to be blocked off to raise 1-3" fish to 3-5" fish?

Justin,

IMO take a minute and recap where you are. What are your goals? What is the capacity of your pond? You don't have aeration and are planning on stocking and heavily pellet feeding a lot of fish. Is your current go forward plan within the capacity of the pond to support? Will you potentially be facing water quality issues in a few months if you follow your current plan? The forum is great on answering questions but your situation has a lot of variables to consider. Maybe time to hire a pro (and I don't mean the guy that sells you fish) for a consult?

Bill D.

Ive been talking to our local State Fisheries Division Director about my situation. He said my situation is relatively simple. It was way over stocked with bass in the beginning, and potentially had something that hindered bluegill reproduction....but most likely just too many predators. He says to continue to remove bass as I have been (10 inches or less). He said that a lake like mine needs only bluegill to sustain the bass population, so focusing on getting as many adult CNBG is a close second to harvesting the smaller bass. He thinks the idea of raising smaller CNBG in a block net area could be very successful for a quick turnaround.

In regards to goals right now, I want to be able to catch 5lbs. or better fish fairly regularly.

Another thing to consider is building a very small forage pond just above the current pond. This could give you a place to raise lots of fingerling BG to a size large enough to move to the main pond. Even a 1/20th acre pond either stocked with fingerlings or stocked with 5 adult BG pairs to produce fingerlings will produce a tremendous amount of BG if it is aereated, fed, and no predators present.

specialty ponds including forage pomds - lots of examples

In a 1.5 acre pond, those 5lb or better fish may become pretty hookshy after being caught a few times.