In the process of draining my 2/3 acre pond for a re-sealing attempt. The pond is full of thousands of minnows I would like to save and transfer to another pond. Has the best way to do this been discussed here previously or if not, can someone point me in the right direction? I have heard of "cast nets" - is this what I need - and if so where does one purchase one and learn how to use it ?
I have been trying the wire minnow traps in order to get small numbers like I have in the past, but there are so many crawdads in the pond they fill up the minnow traps whenever I set them and no minnows are in the traps. Even if I get rid of all of the crawdads, this would be a painfully slow project trying to capture 1000s of minnows in traps.
Cast nets work and can be purchased a lot of places like sporting good stores or off the internet. I wouldn't try to start off with big one. 2/3 acre is a lot of water to cover. You can also use a seine with someone on the other end. But, I would wait until it is a much smaller pool.
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
A dip net on a long poll may be what's needed to get a large amount of the minnows out, but you won't get 'em all....
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
If your pumping the pond down, I would plan on seining them out towards the end of the draining process. This will be a muddy endeavor, but a fruitful one.
If your pumping the pond down, I would plan on seining them out towards the end of the draining process. This will be a muddy endeavor, but a fruitful one.
I drained and restarted my sediment pond last fall. I netted the fish out when it got down to a very small pool, and transferred them in buckets to the other ponds. What I wanted to tell you is to tie your boots on very tightly. I got stuck in the clay bottom in a few inches of water a few times, and it was exhausting to get out. If my boots had been tied on tightly instead of being slip on it would have been much easier.
Years ago when I was a young boy, we had a surefire way to net large amounts of shad and ninnows. Just before sunrise while it's still a bit dark, hold your lantern right over the side of the boat performing figure eights in a likely forage fish area.
One person on the motor/trolling motor and another at the bow of the boat with a large Dip Net. At a slow speed, preferably in an aluminum boat, head for a soft sand or gravel bank. The shad and minnows would ball up and give you a couple seconds to strike. Dip away and you get yourself a nice net full! It also worked when setting the lantern at the edge of a dock but didn't give as bountiful numbers. Later on I found a lantern holder and it turned into a one-man process. See below
