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Joined: Feb 2017
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OP
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My pond is approximately 300' long and 70' wide. It's completely surrounded by trees. It's pretty old. It was a gin tank a long time back according to my uncle. I have fished it many times over the years, but never caught anything. There are no signs of minnows. The only thing I see are lots of frogs. I'm not sure how deep it is, but I'm guessing it's pretty shallow and maybe only a few feet deep, but I've never seen it go completely dry. I was babtized in it nearly 45 years ago, and a few years later so was my lil Sis, so it's a special place to me. I want to have a place we can fish, so I had Overton do a water analysis. The good news it's in good shape.
Ph 7.5 Alkalinity 100 ppm Hardness 84 ppm
The trees that surround it are a combination of hackberry, willow, mesquite, and black locust. When I was a kid it only had a few trees, but now it's a wilderness. I like the trees because they help with the highway noise. It's out in the middle of nowhere, but only 100 or so feet from a busy highway. So what's my goal?
Our family loves to fish. We fish several days a week. I was thinking of making it into a Bluegill pond. Not a trophy pond mind you, just a place to relax, pic-nic and fish. It does have vegetation under water. I don't see anything floating, but when I reel in my line, I have small amounts of stringy green stuff attached.
I'm not sure exactly how many BG or what size I should start with. I also thought about a few tilapia. What about FHM? Would they be beneficial as well? I will be getting them from Overton Fisheries. Let's say I start small with 5lbs of FHM and 100 BG. Should I hand feed them or let them survive on their own? Is this enough fish to start with? If so, At what point in time could we start to fish it?
Any and all thoughts and suggestions are welcome. I'm not opposed to other types of fish even catfish. We fish for whatever is biting. I wouldn't even mind stocking a bunch of rainbow trout next winter if I could find a place selling them.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I realize it was a long post.
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Joined: Sep 2014
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Joined: Sep 2014
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Overton's have a lot of experience with Texas ponds, so maybe ask them what they might recommend for that pond. As a new pond owner, I have been working with them for the past two and a half years, and they will make recommendations if asked. And Welcome to this place, lots of help here if needed, others will join in, I'm sure.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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Joined: Oct 2013
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Joined: Oct 2013
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If you want just a fun fishing pond hybrid bluegill might be a good option.
John
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Joined: Jul 2011
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Joined: Jul 2011
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Are you considering cleaning out the pond and making it a little deeper? If so, do you renovations first.
Todd and crew are the man! You can't go wrong with them advising you.
Once you know your goals, talk them out again. Mine have changed some over time. If I had to do it all over again, there are a few things I would do differently, like talking to todd first and getting his recommendations before stocking. Also, genetics matter. Todd's fish are high quality fish.
Keep us posted, and if you have any pics, please post them.
Best of luck.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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nevermind----I found the answer
Last edited by farmallsc; 02/11/17 11:54 AM.
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Talked with Todd and here's the plan.
5 lbs FHM 200 (1-3") OTS Bluegill 100 (6 to 8") Channel cat 100 (2-4") Redear
Oh and while I was there, couldn't resist some Redear.
Last edited by farmallsc; 02/11/17 05:10 PM.
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Beautiful cloudy cool morning. Made it home with only 2 minnows lost. I don't think things could have turned out any better. Todd and his staff were absolutely awesome!
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Joined: Feb 2017
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All I see here are Bass but its covered in duckweed so who knows?
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Joined: Feb 2017
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What is your FHM abbreviation? BG I assume is bluegill.
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Hey guys, yes Bill is correct.
I have a few questions.
Now that I have my fish, what should I avert my attention to? I was told to give them a few days befor I started feeding. I bought a #50 bag of Cargill Aquafeed 4512.
I figured on waiting a week then start with a handful per day. For the amount of fish I have, what would you suggest?
200 (1" -3") BG 100 (2"-4") Redear 100 (8"-10") Channel Cat 5# FHM
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Joined: Oct 2013
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Joined: Oct 2013
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Probably a small coffee cup full would be plenty for that number of fish to start.
The FHM will be the first you see start eating. Then the BG. My CC were very skittish and would hardly eat while I was around till the second year. They would eat, just not so much while I was standing there.
Then just monitor and increase feed as the other fish start eating and cleaning up what you put out in 10-15 minutes.
Last edited by snrub; 02/11/17 05:19 PM.
John
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Thanks Snrub.
What are your thoughts about training them to the sound of a bell?
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Joined: Oct 2013
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Joined: Oct 2013
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I feed from a Polaris 900 Ranger and that is the dinner bell for my fish. I never tried a bell, but I would gess it would work. Some of my BG will come when they hear my footsteps on the dock.
A half coffee cup feed might be plenty to start with. Just enough to get them started. No need to waste it if they are not cleaning it up. But it will not take long to get them started eating. Seems like once a few get the idea, the rest sense a feeding frenzy when they realize some fish are eating and they are not.
John
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Joined: Oct 2015
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It was 81 degrees today and windy, near 70 yesterday. My BG had not been fed since water got too cold late November. I gave them about a cup of Optimal Jr this afternoon. They gobbled it right up. I guess they have long memories. Footsteps will get them anticipating food. They sense the vibrations in the soil, I think. Sounds in air, not so much.
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I'll tell you guys, I haven't had this much fun since hatching chickens way back when. I can tell I'm going to enjoy spending time at this pond. I've been down there off and on all day.
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Given I have no known predators, at what time in the future should I begin to worry about over population. I don't think I need to worry about the CC or Redear, but from what I've heard the Bluegill will multiply. I only have 200, so I may not have anything to worry about. Just thinking out loud
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Given I have no known predators... IMO you just stocked 100 predators when you stocked the 8 to 10 inch CC. IME those CC can grow like crazy and will become apex predators in your 1/2 acre within a year or so. Hope you like to eat CC! Exciting times for you! Good Luck and please keep us updated. Bill D.
Last edited by Bill D.; 02/11/17 08:24 PM.
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
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Thanks Bill. Yeah we like Catfish!
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Thanks, I knew FHM just not by abbreviation. What eat them besides bass?
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On the advice of Todd, I put them in for the benefit of the Bluegill once the bg grow larger.
Last edited by farmallsc; 02/11/17 10:06 PM.
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Joined: Oct 2014
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Joined: Oct 2014
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... I knew FHM just not by abbreviation. What eat them besides bass? Pretty much everything including frogs eat FHM. IMO FHM are a great forage "kick start" in any new pond. They reproduce like crazy and are slow swimming easy prey for most game fish. Note I said "kick start." In most ponds they will not survive much past year two without great cover for them.
Last edited by Bill D.; 02/11/17 10:31 PM.
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
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I guess they would thrive with all the duckweed, LOL.
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Bait store sell them? How many to start? A few dozen?
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086 Likes: 93
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086 Likes: 93 |
On the advice of Todd, I put them in for the benefit of the Bluegill once the bg grow larger. Larger BG and RES definitely eat them, and I would guess even small hungry BG would eat the fry. Both my forage pond and sediment pond had sunfish only along with FHM. First year the FHM were thick. But over time as the sunfish population got larger in both size and number, the FHM population went almost totally away.
Last edited by snrub; 02/12/17 09:12 AM.
John
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