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
Topics40,900
Posts557,086
Members18,452
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
6 members (Dave Davidson1, Fishingadventure, PRCS, Sunil, Theo Gallus, BillyE), 760 guests, and 274 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
F
Flame Offline OP
OP Offline
F
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
Silly question but here goes. Pond newly dug 4 years ago and stocked 30 pounds of fhm in a 2 acre pond along with 2000 cnbg and 400 res. After about a month I never really saw fhm anywhere. Put 50 lmb in a year later. My question is...everyone seems to say the lmb will wipe out the fhm first and then feed mostly on cnbg. I get that. Here it is 4 years down the road and in the shallowest of water (2 inch) in only very protected areas I see what looks like some type of minnow about 1-2 inch range. These don't look or act like cnbg or lmb fry. Water is too shallow for a minnow trap. Could these still be fhm? When my net style perch trap worked I never ever caught a fhm in it. When I see these little fishes there is usually not more than 3 or 4 at a time and they seem to play a cat and mouse game all the time. Each trying to chase the other one off. Any ideas what these are? If I could ever catch one I could photo id it but having no luck.


Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 19
J
Offline
J
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 19
I still have a few FHM living in protected areas after nearly three years, and a very few 2" LMB were apparently (accidentally) stocked with the FHM. The largest of these LMB is now about 16 inches. Last year I stocked five more LMB at 5 to 8 inches. Also have LMB recruitment at almost 4 inches already.

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
T
Offline
T
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
Flame, if it's FHM's they will play soccer ball with fish food and will push it all around. I suspect it is gams. They pay very little attention to fish food and they like 2" water depths.


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1,220
Offline
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1,220
Hey Flame. If you can get a good look at some of those larger minnows, see if they've got a black spot on the back bottom of their abdomen, near the vents. It'll be very evident on a two inch GAM. If that spot isn't there, it's possibly some FHM recruitment. I have loads of GAMs in my pond and its easy to ID them by that belly spot.


.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!!
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
F
Flame Offline OP
OP Offline
F
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
Thanks guys, Tracy these do ignore any fish food so maybe gams. I didn't stock any though.


Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
S
Offline
S
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
Sounds like Gams. FHM will tend to school (unless a male guarding nest) and spend very little time on the surface. Will come to the surface to feed but will immediately revert to the safety of the bottom. Gams on the other hand lounge about the surface or near surface in very shallow water.

I did not stock gams in my RES pond but Bob Lusk spotted them immediately when we drove around the pond in the UTV. I figure I got them transferred through some water primrose with snails and associated algae I transferred to the pond from another pond that had gams. Maybe eggs or tiny fry. Otherwise they arrived by immaculate conception. That is my theory and I'm sticking to it.


John

I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,903
Likes: 109
Offline
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,903
Likes: 109
I went back and checked the common acronym post for GAMs. Couldn’t find it. Some kind of minnow?


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
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
F
Flame Offline OP
OP Offline
F
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,596
Likes: 28
Gambusia minnow. Commonly reffered to as "mosquito fish". Apparently they eat mosquito larva.And apparently I don't have NEAR enough of them!!!


Dear Alcohol, We had a deal where you would make me funnier, smarter, and a better dancer... I saw the video... We need to talk.
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 274
Likes: 5
R
Fingerling
Offline
Fingerling
R
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 274
Likes: 5
I have mosquito fish in my year old pond thick(no bass yet)!. They came from little pools in the ditch that I dammed up and have multiplied even more than the FHM from what I can tell. They will attack pieces of white bread like piranhas.

Note they don't lay eggs but the female gives "birth" to live young.

Last edited by Redonthehead; 07/19/18 11:18 AM.

[Linked Image]
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,861
Likes: 298
A
Offline
A
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,861
Likes: 298
i think Small fish of almost any type will eat mosquito larvae, including BG, LMB, etc.

Last edited by anthropic; 07/19/18 03:50 PM.

7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
T
Offline
T
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
Gams will show up here in E Texas when we get a good rain event. They will also show up in deeper tire tracks and ditches etc. around your property after rain events.


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952
Likes: 184
P
Offline
P
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952
Likes: 184
I stocked gams the first year and the LMB yoy had a field day on them, but they are still here at year 4

Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1,220
Offline
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1,220
Its too bad GAMs don't get much bigger than 1.5", at least in my pond anyway. They sure are prolific fish. No matter how hard my BG and GSF hammer on them, they always seem to be able to survive. The GSF seem to be done spawning now, with only a few BG still tending nests at the moment, and I have fry everywhere. The GAMs are mixed right in with them and seem to love the feed as much as the rest. I've been hydrating the feed and they gang up to chisel away at the soft edges.

Do GAMs feed on the smallest of the fry or are they primarily larval feeders? Either way, they sure do like pellets.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 07/20/18 04:04 PM.

.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!!
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 19
J
Offline
J
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 19
Gambusia will feed on anything living that they can get in their small mouths. They stay in very shallow water in warm months, so they are only a threat to fry in very shallow water.

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
T
Offline
T
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668
Likes: 57
My Gams like to hang around my water well additions to the pond. The water temp is near 72 degrees there and I will have a hundred or so Gams there when I am adding water to the pond. The water is shallow, only a few inches deep. I have been seeing some small 4" lmb moving into that water and feeding on the gams. I hide in the bushes, setting in the side by side and watch the small lmb run in and bust up the gam schools. Lots to see at the pond if you take the time to look.


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy

Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/28/24 02:50 PM
Working on a .5acre disaster, I mean pond.
by PRCS - 03/28/24 02:50 PM
1 year after stocking question
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/28/24 02:44 PM
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 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
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