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Today was a red letter today for me!! Emphasis on RED!!

My in laws were in from out of state. Their young kids wanted to go fishing. I figured the perch would be up for it as they very aggressively will grab jigs, small hook and worm, or their favorite, green stubby steve pellets.

They did manage to catch the box spring and mattress triangular tent like contraption that I sunk for cover. I'm going to have to put some strings with floats on the 4 corners of that thing so we know where NOT to cast in the future.

Water continues to drop due to evaporation (I hope) and no rain.

I worked on my gold fish trap design. I'm putting a net across the shallow with one about 3' out from shore and the other end right on shore. The hope is that if I throw pellets between shore and the seine net that fish will learn they can't get to the pellets unless they do an end run around the open end of the net. Once they get used to going through that dangerous opening and nothing happens, then one day when a bunch are in there eating pellets, I close off that end and hopefully harvest a bunch.

The Frabil brand net had a poly netting which has a little bigger mesh size which is fine, but the poly will hold up better than the smaller minnow nets that have a cloth mesh that dry rots easier. But somehow the engineers messed up and the sum of the weights on the bottom does not equal or exceed the sum of the floats on top. It doesn't hold the bottom of the net down!

I thought about different things to attach to the bottom to weight it. Using washers or bolts came to mind but steel can get expensive these days. I could buy a bunch of fishing weights and put them all along the bottom, I considered trying to buy in bulk online. But then I figured the cheapest would be stone or concrete. I thought about tying stones in mesh sacks and cable tying those on. Then I wanted to pour concrete into some coffee cans for some anchors anyway so I bought the smallest bag they had of fast drying concrete (red bag)

I found about 30 small plastic cups and then I took some left over underground burial wire from my dog fence to make it work. I took the dog fence wire and started with a 3" tag, then looped the wire around a screwdriver barrel 3 times to make a coil then another 3" tag then snipped the end. I made 30 of these coils with 2 long tags. I then filled the cups about 1/3 full of concrete, pushed that round coil part of the wire down in the concrete to give the concrete some area of wire to hold on to and then let it harden.


Then it was simple to take a scissors and make a small slit in the side of the cup and peel the cup off the concrete weights. I had hoped that these weights would not grab too much on the bottom when seining and wouldn't rust like steel. If I didn't need them or wanted to add more weight or take some away it would be pretty easy to undo the twist in the tag end of the wire and take them off.

taking them out of the mold:



I didn't know how many to add, I have 2 25' seine nets zip tied together, adding 30 weights would have been too much. We ended up counting 2 of the factory weights, putting one between the 2nd and 3rd factory weights, etc. and then adding a weight at both ends to help hold down the ends.



I waded back in the pond and put it back in place. World of difference now with the bottom end staying nice and close to the bottom of the pond. Before the fish were sneaking under to get from the deep to shallows to sneak up and get the pellets, now they truly will have to learn to go around the side. Might take a little to train them.

It started to rain slightly. The kids fished away. One caught a goldfish on a tiny orange jig with worm, one caught a smaller perch, then the excitement of the night!!

I saw my little niece bringing in something that wasn't fighting like a perch or a goldfish. This one was making rapid darts back and forth and even some circles. That was a new pattern of fighting, very much like a BG or sunfish. I had stocked RES at about 1.5" 2 years ago and then restocked a few last spring but always wondered if they had survived the winter... The good news is at least one did!!

I'm pretty sure I was more excited than the kids were when I caught a glimpse of the sunfish type body and then the red spot on the ear tab!!!



I tried to get a picture of the underside but the light was bad and the pigments dark. There appeared to be waste coming out of the one hole obscuring it. The urogenital pore seemed to be small but very hard to tell on this small fish.



So geeked that the RES survived (hopefully a few) I imagine some may pull off a spawn this year too. What a great thing to discover today and to think they were hanging out all along, just playing hard to catch.

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Been two weeks since I was at property so wanted to make sure everything was ok after all the rain.

It was muddy muddy muddy...but everything seemed ok.

Thank God I think sunny skies are predicted next several days.

Also saw the new "Texas Flag" picnic table I bought from a guy that makes/sells them on Craigslist.

Wanted a faded/rustic look. The kid did a good job.





Fishing has never been about the fish....

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Got 1.2" of rain this morning. Pond is up 2-1/4" and creek is running very well.

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Glad u got it John.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Started the day out hooking up the generator and pump to water the grass clover mix around the lower ponds, it's about a four hour job watering it well. Rained last night and the forecast looks favorable for this week so I think this was the last time I'll need to. My daughter brought a friend out to hang out and float in the tubes. I took this as I left to go up and plant more chestnut trees... And to think of a plan for a spring house for refrigeration. There are numerous springs at the head of the larger pond. The water that comes up is perfect for it... I just need a good plan...


My pup loves to swim... He was in much of the time I was watering, the new steps to the dock worked great!



Set the girls to work on a plan for marketing the fine clay silt that comes up with the ice cold spring water...



My best friend came down for a four wheeler ride to scope out this seasons black berry crop, bushes are loaded with blooms, we will be filling buckets in August. Grilled dinner for her on the dock...



The deer flies sometimes get thick up top where the berries are. Not too bad by the lower ponds. She came prepared. I told her she looked like a confused gang member, blood or crip? Pick one!


The "shed" I ordered will be in by the end of the week.
View looking North...


View to the South...

Last edited by Hollywood; 06/05/16 01:18 PM.

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Hollywood, I never get tired of seeing your pond. The view is spectacular.


AL

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Originally Posted By: FireIsHot
Hollywood, I never get tired of seeing your pond. The view is spectacular.


Thanks!
That's probably a good thing... Because as a new pond guy... I probably post pics of them too much... I love em!


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Too much? Nope


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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There was this certain muskrat, there may have been this certain 12 gauge short barrel. SSS


"I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far." � Neil Simon,
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Originally Posted By: Bing
There was this certain muskrat, there may have been this certain 12 gauge short barrel. SSS


12 gauge short barrel....kinda' surprised the second S might've been needed. Hypothetically of course.


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Wife and I checked two of our feeders, refilled one, wiped Texas Hunter solar charger clean (it picks up dust fast). CNBG go absolutely crazy when the feeder goes off, or when hand feed Optimal. Great to watch! We also unloaded some stuff from our garage to a container sitting on the land at the pond, making it considerably nicer in our garage.

Button bush continue to flourish at pond's edge, reducing erosion. My dirt guy put some rocks in strategic places for the same purpose.

I got a spare wooden pallet for the FHM and small CNBG, tied on a piece of cement to make it sink, and launched it near one of the feeders. But instead of sinking, it floated away! Will catch and sink it eventually, of course, when I get a boat, but incredibly frustrating in the meantime. Always test floatation before launching!


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




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Well, after 4 or 5 days of cloudy wet weather with a rain of 1.5" the Bloom has gone from 18" to 13" on 1/2 of the pond. This took place after the sky's cleared and the sun came out. I reduced the feeder amounts @ the one feeder where the bloom is a thicker pea green color. Cranked up the water well @ 52gpm, shooting for some dilution of this heavy bloom. I am continuing the work on getting the 1500' of 1.5" air line to the pond where I will reduce the airline size and put out 6 diffusers, 4 in the deeper water and 2 in the shallower water. I hope to get in all in by this time next week. Hoping it will not be too late for aeration. Lots of work here.
A side note, I have seen a big reduction in numbers of large cnbg @ this same feeder where I have reduced the feed. lots of small 3 to 5" bg but the larger 7 to 8" ones have been missing from this feeder for a couple of weeks now. Not sure why, have seen no floaters on the pond and the two other feeders have seen no reduction of the larger cnbg.

Thoughts?

Tracy

Last edited by TGW1; 06/06/16 07:32 AM. Reason: sp

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Tracy, Am not catching ANY of my 7-9 inch cnbg way out where the feeder sprays but drop a bait right next to the pontoon dock and catch a big one almost every time. They do not seem to want to compete with the thousands of 2-6 inch fish. Maybe they are just a lot slower than the littler ones.


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Had over a dozen people visit our place this weekend since it's blueberry pickin season... Kids like to ride around on the mule and feed the fish. visitors seem to find fish feeding feeding (nearly) as mesmorizing as me!

Surface water temp about 82-84 so went for a dip... Have to feed the fish first unless you like getting nipped by BG which Jodi (aka the "Mrs") truly despises.


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I really see the fish taking to the optimal pellets. After discovering on Saturday that there are some RES in the pond I'm very curious to see if they can learn from the other fish how to take pellets. Once they get a taste of them, even sampling them off the bottom, I would hope they would take to them well. Hmm...

I see goldfish scooping them up and probably some perch that move too fast to see, zooming in from below and tail smacking on the way back down. But sometimes now as the water is clearing I can see the broad side of a fish that may be a sunfish.

The fish are more tolerant of me standing there while they feed and are also coming into shallow clear water with little fear. I figure in a night or 2 when they are going at it I hope to suddenly seine them in and then I can get a better count on what is truly showing up for a meal.

Anyone know water temps that RES make their beds at? We had cool days and nights so water temps dropped a bit. I know they tend to bed in a little deeper water so I hope the water is clear enough for me to spot the beds. Right now visibility is about 20-24".

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Originally Posted By: canyoncreek


Anyone know water temps that RES make their beds at? We had cool days and nights so water temps dropped a bit. I know they tend to bed in a little deeper water so I hope the water is clear enough for me to spot the beds. Right now visibility is about 20-24".



Not sure on the res, but our BG are usually well into the spawn here by now, but this year only very sporadic bedding taking place so far. Probably only about five percent of normal so far.


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Pond house came in today!
Being dropped on the pad Friday...




Last edited by Hollywood; 06/08/16 08:29 PM.

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Wow, Hollywood! How cool is that!

Just another piece of the pie for that slice of paradise you have there! Can't wait to see it in place!

Very cool!

What are your plans for the inside?


Keith - Still Lovin Livin

https://youtu.be/o-R41Rfx0k0
(a short video tribute to the PB members we met on our 5 week fishing adventure)

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Originally Posted By: Lovnlivin
Wow, Hollywood! How cool is that!

Just another piece of the pie for that slice of paradise you have there! Can't wait to see it in place!

Very cool!

What are your plans for the inside?



I found a flooring material that looks like cedar. I'm going to do the walls and ceilings in that with a wood floor to match the darker wood in the mix. Spray foam insulation, ceiling fan, gas fireplace, deck, some comfy furniture including most importantly a good card table... And... I'm done!


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God has blessed us with this day, what we do with it is up to us.
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Hollywood, Nice little house. I really enjoy a place after I have picked out the design or materials used for a hideaway or a place I use for relaxation. smile

Tracy


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Originally Posted By: basslover
Originally Posted By: canyoncreek
That's the problem Dono, if I google image search poison ivy I get hundreds of plants and all look different. Everyone posts what they think is poison ivy (or poison oak) and they all look so different. We need to find an objective way to identify, just like we struggle to find an objective, by sight features way to sex RES smile

I agree that my vines climbing up the tree look more like poison oak but it also looks like the stuff that when I clear it I get a horrible itchy rash!!



Sure looks like poison IVY to me.


You know there are different types of poison ivy, yes? Eastern poison ivy is a vine and Western poison ivy is a shrub.

Poison oak is typically in the West and the Southeast. You being in Michigan may not have that much in your state.

Check those leaflets up close - if you find hair on both sides you have poison oak, else it's ivy.

Poison ivy and I go way back. I once pulled the hairy vines from our pines only to coil them up and BURN THEM. Yes, burn them. As I stood 10 feet away tending the brush fire. Internal poison ivy is a treat.

Didn't learn.

Fast forward many years and while in the bush I had an opportunity to SELECT a leaf to use for wiping. Of all the leaves in the area I managed to pick poison ivy. And the proceeded to wipe with it. Then days later entered the dermatologist yet again to confirm I had poison ivy "down there".

Now I easily recognize it, suit up, remove it, bag it, and toss it.



You know how the saying goes right? Leaves of 3 let them be (another wards don't touch them) Leaves of 5 let them thrive!!

That helps me remember for the most part. A lot of stuff looks like PI but it's not....


The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
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Got er done tonight after work. In time for Dad's 84th birthday party Saturday!



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beautiful, what a great picture!!

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That pond house is great! Where did you get it?

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