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Well I didn't see any geese today when I went over, but a GBH flew off when I pulled up, and 2 ducks flew off from the sediment pond when I walked back to it. I just can't win. lol!


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Just watched a GBH snatch up a big BG or GSF and fly off with it in its mouth. I guess there's a new pond somewhere that needs stocking!!

I hope he doesn't get hold of my little buck LMB. I need him to do his job of raising yungins.


.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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I watched a green heron nearly drop a fingerling BG into another pond. It ended up back in the same pond but had his flight started 30 feet further east, it would have ended up in my nearby sediment pond.

Last edited by snrub; 03/16/19 08:19 AM.

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I remember you saying that in an earlier post about miraculous conception of fish in ponds!!

He didnt try to eat it here. Actually didnt appear to try to even kill it. Just held it in his beek for a minute or two before he flew off.


.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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All I have is FHM for them to eat right now, I'm not sure if those are big enough their trouble? I do hope to start stocking soon. I hope the GBH isn't trying to stock it for me. lol!
I got my first bag of Optimal yesterday to fatten up the FHM and get new stockers off to a good start. I hope I'm not just fattening them up for the GBH. lol!


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Actually Thursday, but we got our big puddle electroshocked. The goals for this one was a little different than in the past, with RW's, numbers, etc. not important. This one was all about removing male LMB just prior to any possible spawn. We timed it perfectly, as very few of the females had moved shallow yet.

We took out 124.5#'s of hand verified males, with some being close to 3#'s. We did throw one male back that was 3+. It's a tough cull here in Hooterville.


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Do you think you got all of the males!!?? If you did, that single you put back is gonna be one busy fella!!


.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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Mike, we didn't, but we did hurt them some.

The fun part of culling male LMB for me will come in a few weeks. I've got 6 brush piles placed on historical LMB spawning flats, and it's easy to pull the males out once they're guarding the nests. I just fan cast from the bank while paying close attention to the path of the ned rig I'm throwing. When I get a tick, I know where the male's are protecting the nest because they won't leave the nest to protect it. I just follow up that cast with a wacky worm thrown directly to where I got the tick. They almost always attack a bait dropping into the nest.

All the nests are within 3-5' of the brush piles, and I've seen them reload over the LMB spawning season. Good times.

Last edited by FireIsHot; 03/16/19 10:48 AM.

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FireIsHot, over 120lbs removed in one swoop! And all males, good start to the season.


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Al, got to ask. What method did you us to determine males? Squeeze test looking for spurt of fluid, catheter, or sight? I have not fished in awhile but earlier in the yr I was questionable when determining males by sight and up until then I was sure I could tell the difference.


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Tracy, no catheter, but yes on the sight and squeeze test. For us, I don't think any visual by itself would have been as accurate a few weeks ago, or a few weeks from now. I was just lucky that the scheduled date, water temps, and weather hit us just right. This was our 4th or 5th shocking, and we've never done it prior to any spawning. We've always had LMB in various stages of the spawn. I would think we'll be where you SE TX/LA guys are in a few weeks.

I did tell Todd's guys exactly what I wanted shocked up before they got started though. It's worth noting I struck out on 10" female CNBG for breeders, <>2# bull CNBG, or possible double digit LMB.

There were a handful of smaller 10-12" LMB that could have been females, but we gave them a quick look, and they were coming out anyway. I was extremely surprised that there were no more than that. What did concern me was that the CNBG that were spit up in the boat tank were all around 2". Just my WAG, but few small LMB, and only undersized regurgitated forage makes me think the bottom of my food chain is still weak, and the larger LMB are cannibalizing their own. Few of the LMB we took out would have hit 100% RW, so I've still got a ways to go.

Even with the condition of the LMB, I still think this might have been the most productive shocking we've ever had, and I'm looking forward to the next month or two. Every male I can pull off a bed is a small victory for the pond and my wallet.


Last edited by FireIsHot; 03/16/19 02:01 PM. Reason: afterthought

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The geese came back today, so did the GBH. The GBH took off as soon as he saw me. I ran back home and got the machine gun BB gun, and that did the trick with the geese. It took 150 or so rounds but they took off. I will take it with me for a while to make sure they stay gone.


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Bobbss, which Optimal blend are you using for forage feed??

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Al, when talking weak in the bottom of the food chain, I am thinking most all of us who have bg/lmb ponds(lake in your case) will be what we think of being weak in the two to four inch sized forage is due to the time of year. We are just now coming out of winter where the lmb feed on the bg during the winter and without bg production during the winter that would weaken the forage numbers I would think. My last eshock was done in the month of March and showed to have low numbers in the 2 to 3" bg. But the lmb were for the most part all in the 100 to 120% range. And I know I had a lot of the larger sized bg in the pond at the time.

So here is a question. Bare with me, I have three feeders where I see at least 50 cnbg sized in the 8 to 10" range. These are really nice bg. How many fry will be produced per spawn by these 150 large sized cnbg? And how many will make it the 3 to 4" range? And what about the other bg in the 7" size? They will spawn also? I am hoping these bg will produce my forage and will get my weak back up soon. thoughts?


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Tracy, I agree with all that. I just need to get the LMB/CNBG ratio to a sustainable number, whatever that is. I would really like for tilapia and winter rbt to be a treat, and not a necessity.

I'm sure no help on the numbers with BG. Now I'm thinking all the coontail I did have protected the fry, but it made the actual spawning more difficult for them. I never saw the numbers of beds that I had seen in the past. The coontail's pretty much controlled now, so this year could be interesting. I'm getting really, really tired of spending all my pond time spraying weeds, and fishing with small baits to cull LMB all the time.


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Tracy, according to Lusk only 1/2 % see 1 yoa. That is all fish.

Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 03/17/19 10:33 AM.

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Originally Posted By: Snipe
Bobbss, which Optimal blend are you using for forage feed??
Snipe, I bought the Starter Feed #4. I called Optimal and told the guy that I had FHM in now and was hoping to start stocking my other fish anytime now and that I may try to stock slightly larger stockers. He said the #4 is no longer slow sinking and is full float now. He said the #4 was probably best for now and then move to the Junior. I wanted to feed the FHM, but also be ready for new stockers. My FHM aren't eating much yet, but they are eating some so I'm feeding a little. I have a few pounds of cheep stuff left from last year that I'm mixing with some of the new to help get them use to the new.


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The geese came back again today. It didn't take long today, maybe 40 rounds or so and they was in the air. I hope they get the hint soon.lol!


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I finally got off my butt today and built the dock I've been thinking about for the last year and a half. Nothing fancy, but it'll get that cinder block I've been using to keep my paddle wheel pontoon tied off out of my lawnmower's way. [img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/GSGEPpnDY1ZQrkUr5[/img]

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 03/18/19 06:55 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!!
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Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
I finally got off my butt today and built the dock I've been thinking about for the last year and a half. Nothing fancy, but it'll get that cinder block I've been using to keep my paddle wheel pontoon tied off out of my lawnmower's way. [img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/GSGEPpnDY1ZQrkUr5[/img]


Very nice dock and pontoon.


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Sunday I mounted my solar maintainer/charger for the trolling motor battery, today I put a swivel seat on the minitoon and took it for a quick spin. Lots of turtles out sunning, the air is so thick with the songs of the peepers, you can almost touch the sound. Feeling pretty blessed here in Missouri while praying for so many North of me affected by the devastating floods.


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Originally Posted By: CMM
Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
I finally got off my butt today and built the dock I've been thinking about for the last year and a half. Nothing fancy, but it'll get that cinder block I've been using to keep my paddle wheel pontoon tied off out of my lawnmower's way. [img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/GSGEPpnDY1ZQrkUr5[/img]


Very nice dock and pontoon.


Thanks. The 'toon is a Michigan transplant we inherited from my in-laws. They're pretty common up there. The dock makes getting off the pontoon soooooo much easier!!

I transplanted a couple of young palmetto plants I found on my property today. They aught to dress up the dock nicely when they get bigger. You can kinda see them on the shoreline corners.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 03/18/19 08:50 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!!
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Had grandkids at the farm for the last two days. Caught a lot of YP on Sunday, and lots of HBG on Monday. No change in anything, time of day, bait, depth, etc..
Also saw the tadpoles come to life. No YP ribbons yet. We have green slime algae on the bottom and in the weeds that grew up last summer during the drought. Not liking that too much. Also when netting some tadpoles for my granddaughter I did catch one glass shrimp. Hopefully they will multiply in the weeds, moss, and leaves that are just beneath the surface, almost all the way around the pond.


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.
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Not Good News:

Overton's Fisheries came out this past Thursday and did an electro-survey. My worst fears were confirmed. The otters and water-turkey birds have eaten about 70% of my fish. Have not seen the report yet, but looking like a near start-over.








On a better note the trail-game my wife game me for Christmas finally got mounted and immediately started showing some animals. First night a raccoon was eating corn all night. Yesterday late afternoon the wild hogs showed up. Pretty neat to be able to watch this from my phone at work in Dallas.













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Sorry to hear bout the otters and cormorants Zep they are murder on fish ... otters are worse I think. How deep is your pond? Shocking only goes about 6’ right

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