When we seined this brood pond in preparation for the trout stocking, 90% of what we did worked well.
The seine itself was correctly sized for the pond, was knot-less to prevent damage to the CNBG, we had two 110 gallon tubs set up close to the pond for sorting, 150 quart aerated coolers were loaded in the Mule for the transport to the habituation area, and logistically, everything ran smoothly. Unfortunately, the other 10%, which was the most important part, was clean sorting tank water, and proper O2. That was where I dropped the ball.
The tub that we put the fish in immediately after they were pulled from the pond became muddier, and muddier, and at that point we should have stopped the process, drained the tubs and add clean water, and regroup. The larger CNBG did fine once they hit the second tub, and the vast majority of those fish did just fine once they were settled in the big pond. A few 2-4" morts (less than 30) were found the next morning in the habituation area, but very few in relation to the amount of fish that were moved. All these fish came from the second tub, which was much cleaner than the first tub. In the first tub, which was extremely muddy, and held more fish while the others were being sorted, the fish fared very poorly.
After a week of reflection, there are 2 things that immediately come to mind, and I can do better. One, slow down and only move as many fish as my tubs can comfortably handle, and stop if O2 or the water quality in the sorting tubs becomes compromised. And two, I need more O2 in those tubs. Because I have 2 remote ponds, I decided to stay with the 110 gallon tubs because each one can fit in the back of a Mule, go with salt and stay away from aftermarket solutions, and use Point Four micro bubble diffusers during sorting.
We have a cattle tank with GSF only that we’ll seine next month in preparation for future stockings, and get the process down better.
It's hard to see because of the light, but the banks in the brood pond were covered in CNBG beds. I have easy access to water from the big puddle, so this pond stays at a constant level. I have to admit I was surprised how shallow the beds were. Most were less than 18" from the surface.
The non-structured floating net did great. All the GSF went in here for easy retrieval during LMB feedings.
The tubs used to hold and sort fish.
This is our habituation area. It's 3' deep gut, and is close to the area I want the CNBG to stay. After 24 hours, I just pulled the end of the net back, and the newly stocked CNBG wandered out when they were ready. I don't mean to get off topic on my own thread, but I greatly underestimated the value of habituation in ponds that have large alpha predators. Over the course of 8 months, I released close to 100 single CNBG at the feeder, and easily 30% to 40% were singled out and targeted by my LMB. If it was panic, or a different colorization because of the difference in water clarity, I don't know. But even when schools of resident CNBG were present, these single fish were actively targeted by multiple LMB. Ewest and others have excellent documentation on habituation, and I thank them for that. If you have the time, and have an older pond with large predators, then habituation makes sense to me now. It took a while, but I finally got it.
Finally, a short video of CNBG ready to be sorted into smaller batches, and moved.
