Aside from getting forage minnows back in the spring, my local guy has been unable to broker the fish I want for my pond.
I fetched some RES back in June and hauled them home in a bag. It was a short trip but they suffered a bit.
Now it's time to road trip for YP, so I put together a semi-proper transport system. 275 gallon IBC tote with a pair of 800gph pumps for circulation and cooling, and a 125cu/ft tank of pure O2 for the bubbler. I'm thinking I'll swap in a bigger ice chest before I head out.
Finally cast a line in my old pond. Caught a 12-14" fat LMB and moved it to the little artesian pond hoping it will chow down on GSF that must have migrated in during flooding. Not sure it will survive the differences in water or the handling, but we will see. Took a minute to remove the hook, but was only in the bucket for 2 minutes, but it really did not fit either. Gills stayed under water though.
Went to my 7 yoa Great Grandsons football game. They lost.then we headed 2.5 hours North to my place. Got up this morning and went fishing for BG with Stubby Steve’s. Along with a bunch of BG, he caught a 10 inch HSB that I stocked a couple of months ago at 4 to 6 inches. It looked healthy and he got excited. He caught one last year, prior to the cormorants, that went about 8 lbs.
The boy does love to fish my ponds. Wish he lived closer
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
We've had about 60 Black Bellied Whistling Ducks spend the night with us all summer.
It looks like they flew South yesterday. All we have now is the Wood Ducks.
Anybody else's whistlers heading south for margaritas?
Anybody know when to expect their return in the Spring?
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
Wife and I started to go on a paddle boat ride. Started off then realized we left the fish food bucket on the dock. She pedaled up near but not as near as I thought. Stepped toward the dock with the boat rope in my hand and fell backwards between the boat and the dock.
Hurt my pride, but that's all. Well not exactly. One fried cell phone and one wet contents of billfold. And lost my glasses.
So went to the house and got mask, fins and snorkel. It was just dark by that time but since the visibility is about zero in that pond it did not matter anyway. Might as well closed my eyes. Did three free dives in about 7' of water and on the third dive down retrieved my glasses.
Ran across a mussel that must have been 6" long.
The pedal boat ride duration was about ten feet for me tonight. I guess I did get a little snorkeling in though.
Picked up a Great Grandson who lives about 100 miles South of me. Actually, went to his first grade football game on Saturday morning. When he saw me his first question was whether he could leave with me and go fishing after the game. You know the answer. So, we left and headed about 175 miles North to my place. Got up the next morning and went fishing before the water heated up too much for the fish to survive being caught. He caught some nice BG, a small bass and a recently stocked 10 inch HSB. The HSB had doubled in size since stocking about 3 months ago.
Then got on a 4 wheeler to check out deer feeders. After that, went to the back of the place to feed catfish and GSF in a small 1/4 acre pond. He wants to catch a cat and I bet I'll let him. That afternoon, he wanted to head back to my house to see Grandma. I talked him into spending the night and then go see Grandma. Yesterday back to his Mom.
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
Those weekends are priceless, David. Sorry about the dip SNRUB, Im pretty impressed tho that you were able to recover your glasses in 7 ft of water, Don't think I would have made that,, I find that a snorkel is pretty ineffective after about 3-4 ft of water.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
That is great Dave. Priceless time he will remember forever. Be sure and instill your appreciation for GSF in him. Our club is pretty small and needs all the members it can get.
A snorkel gets ineffective below about a foot. Lungs can't breath in below that depth much (because of the water pressure exerted on them) and if they can you just exchange old air in any longer length tube so get no new O2 and lots of CO2. So below about a couple feet, it is all up to breath holding and free diving. The snorkel just lets you breath easily while resting on the surface. Once upon a time I could free dive to 50'. Don't even try any more, although since I have lost about 90# I think I might be able to make it 2/3 that far.
I was trying to free drive around Cancun before. I could only make it about 15 feet and felt like my body was being crushed. It was totally different while scuba diving. I have no clue why it was different but my body felt it for sure.
Almost stepped on this fat daddy last night. Picked him up a scared my wife with him. She called me some names and ran. I can run alot faster than her so she meet him in person. Good night lol.
A first for me. I removed 2 14" lmb and one 15" for eating and cooked em up last night. I was sure they were males, and when I cleaned them there were no eggs. Fishing was good and the top water bite was on. The only bad thing was after catching around a dozen I had a nice 4 lb'er break me off and I hate that. I don't like leaving a lure in a nice 4 lb fish. I should have checked my line after each fish was caught. Dumb on my part! The other lmb caught were in the 16" size and were fat and sassy. I did not weigh them but am sure they were above the charts since a 16"er would not be in the 3lb range. I also discovered I have a lot more Bushy Pond weed than I thought I had. More than I want, so Grass carp and spraying weed killer will be needed. I also discovered my diffusers were not running, set up for midnight to 9 am. I know they were running a few days ago but not sure how long it's been since they were running and when of if they were running. Sometimes we will lose power at the farm and then when the power comes back on my timer starts back but starting times will not be where I want them, so I suspect the diffusers are running but not sure what time of day they are starting up. Will check on that today. It was a good day at the pond.
Last edited by TGW1; 09/25/1907:26 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
That is great Dave. Priceless time he will remember forever. Be sure and instill your appreciation for GSF in him. Our club is pretty small and needs all the members it can get.
A snorkel gets ineffective below about a foot. Lungs can't breath in below that depth much (because of the water pressure exerted on them) and if they can you just exchange old air in any longer length tube so get no new O2 and lots of CO2. So below about a couple feet, it is all up to breath holding and free diving. The snorkel just lets you breath easily while resting on the surface. Once upon a time I could free dive to 50'. Don't even try any more, although since I have lost about 90# I think I might be able to make it 2/3 that far.
50ft is extremely impressive, Ive never been able to get half that deep, but I can appreciate the pressure gradients at that depth, I did commercial diving, surface supplied, for a company out of Lafayette LA for a short period of time back in the day.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
Poor man's chiller. I replaced that 48 with a 150 before I made the trip. Coiled up 50' of garden hose connected to a bilge pump. Circulates the tank water and helps a lot to keep the temp down.
Worked great to keep cold the case of Shiner Bock I bought in Ogden.
Well hopefully she made room for even bigger ones. Fellow who caught her is gonna eat her. He was so excited. He just took up fishing this year and has watched YouTube videos to learn.
Thank you for being a group to share successes (and a few failures) with. I'll post a pic with the happy fisherman holding the fish once he sends it to me (those were taken with his phone).
Thanks go to my neighbor for keeping the BG in check, and to a nice bit of plant cover. Really like that my friend was so happy. Looks like my genetics are OK.