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Mike, yes, there is plenty of rock around here.I got lucky when they built my pond, and they didn't hit solid rock, but they did dig up a few good size ones that went back in the pond for the fish.
Jeff, I'm guessing you did the rain dance.lol!I got another .85" of rain this morning, and they show more chances this evening.I got about .19" over the weekend from 2 small rains.The pond has come up about 12", in the last 10 days or so.Nice to see things go up for a change, even if it doesn't last.lol!


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Bob, I think we got .5” yesterday, and .4” today. I’ll take it. It sure is helping the guy that’s got beans planted up at my place. I was getting pretty concerned.
I’m hoping the pond can hang in there until we get a significant rain event up there.
Hope you are getting a bunch today. I just came up from Carbondale IL today. There are fields down there with lots of standing water, and the creeks and ditches are overflowing.
Northern MO, the drought continues. mad


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Bob,
We got 3.8" this morning! I have to say it was the quickest deluge since I built the pond back in '11. Blew out the ditches in the county road, went over the emergency spillway, and floated my wife's kayak that was high and dry all the way over to the spillway. Fortunately, the kayak got hung up and didn't go over. The pond was 5-6" low yesterday - flowing big time now and the next wave is rumblin'.

This gravel wasn't there in my silt trap yesterday:



East Central Missouri
1 1/4 acre pond, build fall 2011
1/8 acre baitfish pond build fall 2022
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Jimmi
You’re killing me. So close to me, and I can’t get a single rain since March with any runoff. Ha! Glad someone has water.
Jeff


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Jeff, glad to hear you got some.It seems like Illinois is always getting a lot.It seems like no matter how much rain I get, there is always somewhere close to me getting a lot more.lol!I checked my rain gauge a little while ago and was right at 1.7" for the day.It was still sprinkling a little but I think it has about stopped now.
Jimmi, WOW! I don't think I've got that much rain in 2 days (let alone 1 day)since the pond was built.Thats the stuff dreams are made of.lol!


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Bob,
Several years ago we got 9.6 inches in five hours. Bet that might fill your pond. LOL

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John, I can only dream of that.lol!


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I ended up with a total of 1.75" of rain yesterday. I had about another 6" in the pond this morning. Since June 14th, the pond has came up about 19 1/2". Now I have to hope it doesn't drop to fast.lol!

If it doesn't start dropping to fast again, I think I will go a head and try to add more FHM.


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I only put about 10 dozen FHM from a bait shop in so far, and I already have little ones of all sizes, everywhere you look. Right now my pond is only about 55'X80' (just guessing) and around 5 1/2' deep.I don't want to put to many in, but want to try not to get to far behind on stocking, while I wait for it to fill and see if it will hold. How many FHM do you guys think I can put in there? I'm not sure how easy it would be for me to get some by the pound right now, I may have to go back to the bait shop.


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As long as you do not have any other fish in there and it will be a while before you stock any more you probably have enough. If they are reproducing their offspring will be reproducing within months. If you had been stocking them with BG you would have wanted more, but where they are the only fish and they have some time before the BG or other fish are stocked you likely will have plenty.

Depending on how big they were 120 of them would have been around a half pound.

They only live about 18 months so they have to get with the program on reproducing.

When you get ready to stock your other fish if it looks like you do not have wall to wall FHM you could put some more in then. But I suspect by the time you stock other fish you will have five or ten pounds worth already there if they reproduce well.

Last edited by snrub; 06/27/18 03:06 PM.

John

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Thanks Snrub! They didn't waste any time.I think it was about 2 1/2 weeks after I put them in that I saw the first spawn.The first ones are already around 1 1/2" long or maybe more.They sure grow fast!I won't put anything else besides FHM in until I know it will hold enough water to winter ok.I don't mind taking a chance with the FHM, but I don't want to spend a lot of money stocking everything until I know it will hold enough water.My pond is pretty small now but I do hope it will be around 3/4 acre someday.lol!Do you still think thats enough in it?


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If you want them to really take off buy some fish food (catfish food or multi spcies 32% protein stuff is fine for FHM) and toss out about a cup or two cups each day.

Kind of fun watching them push the pellets around the pond. Where your pond is only partially full it may not be very fertile yet. The fish food will make sure they have something to eat and kick start the food chain process in the pond by adding fertility.

Don't worry about the pellets being too big. They will push them around the pond till they soften up and they can consume them. If they sink to the bottom the FHM will find them there.

I did experiments with snorkel and also scuba more than once and anywhere in the pond you go, as long as it is above the thermocline, the FHM would find me and be pecking all over my exposed body. Pulling at my arm and leg hairs. They will find feed anywhere you put it as long as there are not other predators in the pond that force them into cover. I dropped piles of feed on the bottom (sinking catfish food) and watched with an underwater camera. Within a minute or two a FHM school would find the pile and devour it. Two feet deep or seven feet deep, did't matter. They would find it in short order.

Once you get predators in the pond the FHM will be forced to find cover or stay around the shallows or get eaten. But early on, they will be all over that pond.

When you see them cleaning up that amount of feed you could increase it over time. Being well fed will help them have bigger spawns.

Last edited by snrub; 06/27/18 04:00 PM.

John

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Thank Snrub! I stopped at Farm and Home and picked up a 40# bag of fish food. I think it was called Sportsman's Choice or something like that. I threw some out but couldn't stay long. A few of them was hitting it already.
I've got a fair amount of what I assume is a light green algae floating on top. A few times there was some that was more of a brownish green. It's gone back and forth with the color.It may be new blooms starting out light green, then getting darker. Is this a good sign of it being fertile?


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I've been feeding the FHM for a little while now, and getting a fair amount of activity. I've been trying to feed in the morning and evening. As hot as it's been around here, they feed much better in the morning. The larger ones come up and hit real fast and go back down, and sometimes get a small boil going. There will be many groups of 20-100 of the smaller ones, with each group pushing around on one pellet. It is fun to watch them, and at least makes me feel a little more like a pond owner.lol!


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After gaining the 19 1/2" of water about 9-10 days ago, it did start dropping a little faster, but nothing like before and it seems to be slowing down again. The first time it was at this level it was dropping 3-4" a day, the last time it was at this level it was dropping around 1.75" a day. It's dropped a little under 3" total since it came up.I think it dropped a little over a 1/2" a day for a couple of days in the middle, but I think it is only dropping about 1/3" a day now. Still not great but as hot as it's been (90-100) around here, I figure it's not that bad either, and a lot better than it was.lol!


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With temps in the 90's and some wind you will get some significant evaporation.

Also as the pond fills to a new level the surrounding ground will soak up a certain amount of initial water. The better the clay and compaction the less effect there will be, but there will still be some water drop from this initial saturation.

Sounds like your FHM are doing fine. The feed will really help them have even more successful spawns.

As far as the algae, yes it will change from a green to a brown as a bloom dies off. But if I recall correctly from what I have heard on this forum there are also brown varieties of algae or maybe it was the critters that eat the algae...... I can't remember. Maybe Bill Cody or someone can give a quick explanation. I just know my pond color changes with the weather and other things I do not understand. Right now it has got a lot more clear in the hot weather.


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Sounds a lot better Bob. At a third of an inch, I’m not sure you aren’t losing just a little more than evaporation. We are up at our weekend. I’m down a few more inches, but we are still looking for rain. We’ve had a few .5” rains that have the crops looking good, but zero runoff, and not staying ahead of my leak plus evaporation.
Mowed for four hours yesterday, until the mowing deck of my old craftsman lawn tractor broke. Wish I had a welder, and some welding skills. Ha! Taking it off and hauling it to town.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Thanks Guys! I hope I didn't speak to soon.lol! It seems to of dropped a little more again in the last 24 hours, maybe a little over a 1/2".We've had a big temperature drop over the past 2 day, Thursday was near 100 and today it was only about 85 and I think it got down in the 60s last night. I was figuring that would help with evaporation, and it would drop less. Will water in a pond expand and contract with the temperature? I started wondering if that could explain some of the extra drop?We store oil in tanks at my work and they will read higher when it's been hot for a while, and when we heat barrels of wax they will come up several inches.
The brownish-green algae I was seeing didn't look like it was dying. It would start growing on the rocks and stuff around the edge of the water, and on my measuring stake.
Jeff, maybe one of these days we'll get a rain big enough to get some good run off. I'm at least lucky enough that I get a little run off from the area cleared for the pond, but not from the rest of my area. My old silted in pond hasn't got any run off since march and is getting real low.


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The pond was back to around 3/8" loss for the last 24 hours.It must of had something to do with the temperature drop.


Bob


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I got lucky and got right at 2" of rain last night. It gave me about 7.75" in the pond, that's more than I lost since the last rain. Which is nice for a change.lol! I thought I was going to get more today, but no such luck.
I saw a groundhog on top of my dam the other day, are they anything to worry about?I don't need any critters digging in my dam.lol!


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They dig Bob...really deep burrowed tunneling everywhere with multiple entrances. Get your varmint gun sighted in brother.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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They dig Bob...really deep burrows tunneling everywhere with multiple entrances like prairie dogs. Definitely not dam friendly if they decide to take up residence. They tend to like steep embankments and under barn foundations. They're everywhere in Tennessee. Get your varmint gun sighted in brother.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Thanks Mike,I knew they like to dig but was hoping they didn't like to dig near water.lol!I'll start looking around and see if I can find it's hole.Do you think a .17HMR will do the job, or do you think I need the 5.56?lol!It may be easier to try and trap it, since I don't live on the property yet.


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The 17 will work great. They trap easy, box trap with apples or carrots, some thing that puts out a lot of smell.


61 acre water shed lake. bass, channel cat, black crappie, wiper, walleye, redear sunfish, blue catfish and bluegill. To many bullhead and common carp
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Thanks Nehunter, I figured it was but can't say I've ever hunted them.lol! I probably haven't hunted anything in over 30 years.lol!I pretty much just like to plinker now a days.

I looked around some today but couldn't find any holes. Does anyone know how far away they'll go from their den (or what ever it's called) to eat? I'm not sure how big of a circle I need to search.


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