Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations I think I may have screwed the pooch...

Ordered fish for my pond. Last fall I stocked it with Fatheads and Golden Shiners. This year I ordered Yellow Perch, Red Ears, and HBG form a fairly local vendor who was doing fish day at local farm store. They boxed my order separately from rest of truck fish and had them ready when my son arrived to pick them up. I had to work today so he put them in the pond and took a few pictures of the bags before releasing them. Upon reviewing pictures I'm a bit concerned as to what a couple of the bags contained.











I think top picture is RES, followed by 2 pics of YP, I'm unsure of the last two pictures. Could someone help identify the bags for me?

The fourth picture looks like Largemouth Bass.

Yup!! Last two pics....LMB!! Looks like you're gonna have to get some larger HBG to compensate for all those bass.

Sadly LMB is what they looked like to me also. The question is what to do now. I sent pics to the vendor and am going to discuss the situation and the best way to move forward.
I put FHM and GSH in last fall, so there should be some forage. I assume regular BG should be added now. I ordered HBG but photo shows only RES.

What do you think, I’m just looking to explore options before talking to vendor.

I would add BG.

What were and what are your current goals?.? Also remind us how big the pond is. These will help a lot to determine your options and how best to proceed to achieve your goals.

If BG were on your no, no list then I would first try to manage the current situation. If nothing else it will be a good learning experience and one that involves immediate frequent angling; good for the young anglers.

First order of business would be to catch out as many LMB as possible annually during the next few years using live minnows (FHM) as bait. Minnows as bait will tend to select for catching lots of LMB. I would build or buy a live box to maintain a longer time span of having FHM minnows as bait. A live box 1/4" mesh about the size/volume of a 55 gal barrel should hold minnows for 4-8wks when FHM are fed daily or every two days.

If you target heavily to reduce the initial LMB population and also those there after the RES and YP will better thrive. You could also still add HBG. With a strong or concerted effort to reduce LMB numbers the current panfish community should grow well at least for the next 3-5 years or as long as you can keep removing significant numbers of LMB.

As Fish Farm compensation for correcting the problem, consider negotiate having them agree to provide free fish. Minimal amount would be the equivalent cost of the LMB, but I would try getting extra fish p due to your pain & suffering caused by their mistake. This "extra" could involve each year your adding more RES, YP or HBG as compensation. IMO as the LMB increase in size the YP offspring will take the biggest population decrease due to the big-wide mouth predation pressure. So to keep the YP population strong you will have to periodically add more of them YP 6"-8"ers.

You can at any later time add the BG, but use the current situation to learn about dealing with what you now have.

Another option solution would be to have the Fish Farm come (for free) and completely chemically renovate the pond (for free). I would at least mention this option when talking to them to emphasize the importance of their error! I think all fish farms have the required license to use rotenone, the fish killing chemical.

There are other management options that other members could provide. Keep us inquiring minds updated to your pond progress.

duplicate

I would catch some advanced size BG (5-8") from another source and stock them for nesting next year, then try to catch out the LMB.

You also penalized yourself for not being there or having someone with knowledge of fish species and your desires to stock them. Never trust "fish trucks" to give you what you want. Been there, seen that. My orders have been wrong more often than not.

My long term goal for the pond is family recreational fishing. I liked the idea of a non-LMB or CC pond but always figured it would end up that way eventually. So a bit disappointed at this point but not heartbroken.

Pond is about 2 acres and about 15 to 20 foot deep with steep sides. Currently has two large hedge brush piles is two shallower fingers. Plan is to add more cover as pond reaches full pool and add plants in two finger nursery areas.

Vendor is a reputable seller recommended by a well thought of member on this site. In fairness to the vendor I haven't talked to a decision maker yet. They have been very accommodating and helpful during the order process. I placed order directly with fish dealer, delivery was through local fish day scheduled. Items I ordered were not on normal sale and boxed at dealers operation.

I'm looking for a low maintenance pond as I live 30 minutes from pond and there isn't electric on the property. Currently the water is fairly muddy and never really cleared up in the past year. Though I have done some terracing and piping to get more water as my watershed wasn't adequate.

Probably the simplest solution would be to get the supplier to provide some free BG and HBG to put the stocking in a more balanced situation.

Another option would be to just put in the HBG that you originally wanted and as has been mentioned catch as many of the LNB out as soon as possible.

No expert here. Just the way I see it.

Ouch!

Just curious, what did the receipt that came with the fish say was in the order?

My idea should work well for family recreational fishing. If is were my pond I would put a bounty on each LMB removed regardless of size. For the bounty, you decide what your wallet will tolerate. This will encourage and create special interest in removing LMB. As the LMB encounter lower density the other current fish species will thrive. If you decide to add BG then allow the LMB to proliferate. However keep in mind the current pan fishes will tend to get crowded out once a strong BG - LMB brood stock becomes established.

I think I will add BG and HBG and just move on. Mistakes were made on both sides of the transaction. I said black and he heard white, with no written confirmation of order. I should have reviewed pictures before fish were added since life events precluded me from being there in person.

This two-acre pond was going to be my perch pond, but now it will be a gladiatorial arena to see who comes out on top. As long as the fishing is good, that's what important at the end of the day.

A couple weeks ago I talked with a contractor about putting a much simpler 1-acre pond on the same property to be a CC - LMB - BG traditional farm pond. If that project moves forward I guess I could shoot for it to be a YP only pond.

Live and learn... another diploma in my schooling by screwing up.

That sounds like a good plan to me roundy. Make the new pond the YP pond. Or maybe a YP and SMB pond.

In the mean time with help of the forum you could do what you could to encourage the YP you now have to do do the best they can in the situation they are in by providing proper cover and other management inputs.

Even a 1/3 to 1/2 acre pond can do very well for a YP pond, with or without predators depending on stocking plan of mixed sex or female only.

Once the ground firms up from all the dirt work this fall, I plan on adding more brush for cover around the pond. I like the idea of cutting a 15 to 20-foot slender tree then pushing it top first into the pond. Then staking the cut trunk end to water line with tree top headed to deeper water. My pond drops off quick enough I'm confident the tops will cover fine. I also have some larger Christmas tree size evergreens that should make good cover, but not as permanent as the hedge trees.

I have a couple nursery area coves that I would like to plant with something. Any suggestions? I had some volunteer cattails starting but the rising water level has covered them up now. I would prefer something you can fish overtop of and semi-controllable.

Thanks for all the input.