Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations May TGG Update

David, hypothetically, if Meadowlark, who enjoys and has had success with tilapia, and georgia giants, where to stock them upstream, or right above your pond, am I to take it as your position, that "he can and will do as he please on his land"?

I can tell you are torn, in your post. I would like more clarification. My brothers pond has been ruined by greenies/hsf, gg's. It is from his neighbor downstream. To my way of thinking, I would have a man to man neighborly talk with them on how to prevent this in the future. If that didn't work, I'd be talking to a commercial fisherman I know, during next flood(or low light) conditions.

It pays to be a good neighbor, and to have one.

I think the minimum bottom line, is that one must keep one's stock on one's property, and make every attempt to do so, whether livestock or fish stock. Maybe nets at the spillway could help.

Nevertheless, things happen. Cows, pigs, and fish get out. But when neighbors don't make every attempt to stop it, then there becomes real disputes.

I think Eastland has pretty well nailed it. See what fish are OK with your neighbors, before stocking. At least consider their thoughts.

Like I say, I have mixed emotions. I don't want to do any damage to a neighbor but I don't want to be constrained by my neighbors wishes for his pond. To do absolutely right by him, I would be limited to a fed catfish pond. I have no real idea where to draw the line. Obviously I'm not going to put a trash dump upwind from him. When I built my dam, I put an awful lot of brush below my dam to keep sand from washing onto his place. I'm actually providing all of his water. Six draws come off my land into his various ponds. Many times I've wished I had that water.

I have no idea how far upstream or downstream we ought to be concerned with when Mother Nature finally calls. If you think about it, every time we impound water, we cut off someone downstream.

ML, I'm also sure that I got Green Sunfish from the fish supplier. As I've previously posted on several occasions, I just don't see them as a problem. If you will recall, Lusk brought this up at the D/FW meeting and also stated that he didn't see them as a problem.

Dave like Bill reminds us "it all depends". If you have/want a LMB pond and have an established BG or BG/RES population then it should not matter if some (small %) GSF are there. If however you want a BG pond you would get a different answer. I bet Bruce would not want GSF in his trophy BG ponds. Ask him if he would mind if you put a couple dozen adult female GSF in his all male BG pond. :p Also if you were just starting your BG forage base I don't think you would be to happy if the hatchery gave you 25% GSF. Then you would end up with a substantial portion of your forage base being HBG which don't reproduce enough to sustain your predators. It would be like having a new engine with a couple fouled spark plugs. No matter if running at high speed or low it is not what you paid for and is not efficient.

I do think that it is not unusual for a few GSF to slip in via the sources noted above especially from the less careful hatcheries. I think unfortunately some growers/sellers will add HBG to an order to make up a load when they may be short on BG. Very hard for the average pond owner to tell them apart when small even if they take the time to look. As ML notes they will deny that there is any problem. I have seen a couple of new ponds at 3 yrs old where there is no up or down stream source of contamination who ordered BG/RES and ended up with a fair % of HBG. That did not come from a couple GSF slipping in .

Eric, Agreed, regarding Bruce or other "purists".

My statements pertain to average guys like me. I don't do a critical examination of each fish in a bag. I have always stocked 2 to 4 inch BG and most are a lot closer to 2" than 4". Even if I did look over each fish, I would probably make a mistake. I expect that I usually get about 95+% BG and that's all I can reasonably expect.

My PERSONAL observation is that a pond that is overrun with "trash fish" has not been managed and/or has a predator shortage. Nothing wrong with that; to each his own when it comes to the individual efforts regarding pond management. Pond management can cover a wide spectrum.

I have a seasonal creek that is loaded with Green Sunfish and Bullheads. It is unmanageable and that's OK with me. It flows into a 40 acre private lake about 2 miles downstream. After a heavy rain (rare) I see bass and other fish. The point is that when he impounded water from a creek, he could expect to lose any semblance of control. I doubt that he even thought about it. Had I built my pond(s) close enough to that creek to receive overflow, I could expect uncontrolled additions from it. I would expect no apologies from him. Simultaneously, if one of my ponds ever again overflow and add fish to the creek, I'm not about to go hunt up everyone downstream and offer an apology. I actually do have one forage pond about 50 yds from the creek. It is uphill and hasn't overflowed or even totally filled in years. Darn it!

Dave we have 3 oxbow ponds 400 yards south (below the control structure) of a 33,000 acre flood control Res. which is connected to a river which is seperated from the ponds by about 50 yards of river bank . No effective management. The river overflows and replenishes the ponds several times a year. Trash fish like you would not believe. Gators also and beaver and otter and water turkeys and trespassers and duck weed and milfoil ... every type of problem you can have. A real challenge. It is a great place but I don't want the other ponds to be like those.

Eric, I can't help thinking about trade-offs. In my arid area, just about any water would be OK. However, I gotta agree. I don't need those kinds of problems.