Standard TX summer drought combined with expansion has resulted in a 6ft water drop. Recently a pair of juvinile Roseate spoonbills has shown up to feast on the now puddle forage pond. They are WAY away from home at the coast. They aren't as shy as the GBH. I was going to siphon the forage pond but decided that would move any remaining BH into the main tank. I'm still catching loads of BH. 98 YOY yesterday... There's too much debris to seine the forage pond but since I don't have one I will just save some $$ now and restock it later. My Labs sure enjoy the water seeping into the expansion!
Edit/addition: Got a 5ft throw net today. 100+ dead bullhead, a few GSF and GSH (Gold shiners) around the forage pond. Threw the net 3x and caught 200+ BH. I'm just going to let everything in there die once it dries up by next week. Threw the net 2x near feeding area of main tank and caught 200+ GSH. Should be plenty of forage for 8in LMB being stocked this fall!
We're dry down here too although it is local. Neighbors have received lots of rain.
I envy your spoonbills. Beautiful birds. As close as we get to flamingos.
4 acre pond 32 ft deep within East Texas (Livingston) timber ranch. Filled (to the top of an almost finished dam) by Hurricane Harvey 9/17. Stocked with FHM, CNBG, RES 10/17. Added 35lbs RSC 3/18. 400 N LMB fingerlings 6/18
It's a Nice private lake for sure. In my minds eye I expected to see more vegetation, and maybe a few cypress trees in it as well. Thanks for posting the pic's Al. NICE !! I know it's a lot of work to keep it so nice with some good fish in it as well. How big are your Lonestar Legacy's getting to be?
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
It’s so hot that I ain’t gonna do anything at the pond so I’m sitting in my deer stand hunting hogs, tonight and last nite, two hogs last nite and so far tonight one coyote that came to the bait ( dead boars)......
Thanks guys. I love the uniqueness of my pond, but DD1 never typed truer words. It is a handful to manage by myself. Tons of help from the guys at Overton's to help steer me in the right direction.
Tracy, I've already planted 5 Bald Cyprus this year, and am about to plant 5 more. With the pond dropping to it's summer water level, I can put them out about a foot deep, and have them close to, or in water year round. Also, my Legacy's RW can't be close you yours. Proper forage is an ongoing issue.
Al, don't BS a BS'er. From what your better half told me @ Highflyers gathering, I know you have some really nice lmb and much larger than I have swimming around. And I think DD1 Dave most likely said it well, lots of cash and time spent. Ha! I have not found any cheep hobbies and chasing pretty girls is not cheep either. That's based on what I have spent and done and I don't have a grow out pond to throw more time at. Well Done !! The lake looking good.
Now, lets look into growing out some big prawns in that new revised grow out pond
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy, we may have bigger LMB, but I can say with 100% certainly that our RW's are not near yours. We've both handled enough larger LMB to know when a 6-7 pounder should be closer to 8-9 pounds, and we have plenty of those 6-7's that are under performing.
I'm in on prawns, but I've been told by experienced hatchery guys that they burrow and can be problematic to get out of the pond when the time comes. It might be worth trying if we can figure out an easier way to pull them.
Bob, sorry I missed your question. It's 12 acres at full pool, and can drop to 8-9 acres during late summer.
Last edited by FireIsHot; 08/21/1910:41 AM. Reason: AHDH
AL, have you ever considered freshwater sirens? Not the mythical singers, but the amphibians. I remember seeing & hearing plenty of them on the best big bass lake I ever fished in my life, and wonder if they might be part of the reason why 12 to 15 lb LMB were actually pretty common.
Oh yeah, I put out 140 lb of feed at my BOW today. Fish still feeding pretty well despite heat, though not as enthusiastically as they did six weeks ago. I have BG Jr. pellets at grow out pond, seems that YOY are beginning to eat them.
Water clarity, a slight greenish tinge, makes me happy. First time I've achieved a real bloom and kept it going. My wife reported seeing an awesome CNBG, "as big as a dinner plate." When the water cools, we are gonna eat some of the mid size panfish & skinny bass.
Frank, got any idea on when or what month those cnbg had their first spawn in the grow out pond? Did you have the breeder's in the pond during February?
Al, Since my retirement I am pretty busy, more so than what I expected to be. So maybe you have some extra time also? What about grow out cages? I'm sure you have already thought about such things. For me I thought of runways on the top of my hill that overlooks the pond and cold be drained by piping to the pond. But all I have done is think about it. If it takes 10lbs to make a pound then it might take a pretty good sized raceway and lots of fish food and raised in the same tanks with Tilapia for the prawns to clean up after. like I said, I have thought about such things.
Last edited by TGW1; 08/22/1906:39 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Anthropic, you talking about this bad boy? In 2014, I found this one in my hatchery pond. We've also seen smaller ones regurgitated by LMB during electroshockings. I never even thought about rearing them. My guesstimate is that the one in this pic was 8-10".
Tracy, a piped raceway would be nice for sure. I'm not sure I would mix tilapia and CNBG though. Tilapia are extremely volatile when crowded, and they'd probably beat the CNBG to death when they're pulled. A piped system might eliminate that problem. I'm no expert on all things related to hatchery ponds, but I know that there certainly comes a point when food costs let you know it's time to get fish out posthaste. Last time I raised tilapia I was right at a 50# bag of fish food every 3 to 4 days. At that pace, an extra month of growth could easily hit $400-$500.
Eagle checking out our pond this morning. Think it was a Bald Eagle but it might have been a young one because the head was not as pronounced white as I have seen some.
Used to be an extremely rare site to see one (although they migrated overhead high up in the air). Starting to become more common to see them.
Anthropic, you talking about this bad boy? In 2014, I found this one in my hatchery pond. We've also seen smaller ones regurgitated by LMB during electroshockings. I never even thought about rearing them. My guesstimate is that the one in this pic was 8-10".
Yeah, Al, I think that's the same critter. We would hear them when they swam to the surface, released a breath "cusshhhh" (or maybe took a breath?), then went back down. Not sure they really needed to do that, but it was pretty common. Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida back in the 60s.
I kinda wonder if they were part of the reason Lake Jackson was, for a time, the center of the trophy bass universe. Lots of meat on a large siren, and I'll bet they are easier for LMB to catch & swallow than a BG.
Tracy, I'm afraid there was no CNBG spawn until June this year. I'd drained the forage pond and it took time for it to fill. Didn't stock until May, and then only half a dozen. And as luck would have it, this was the TH feeder that malfunctioned so we had to dig out disgusting wet feed. But something is quietly nibbling on the small BG Jr pellets now, I'm pretty sure its YOY.