Originally Posted By: Bill D.
That is what I was thinking. I got my latest issue of PBM today and Bob L. makes a similar point. There is habitat and then there is HABITAT. I am thinking a lot of folks stock FHM and provide spawning habitat in the form of pallets, floating boards, etc. but do not provide the habitat for the spawn to survive once predators are in the mix. Is this why the FHM population disappears in most ponds? My FHM were almost extinct and now I have thousands again. I'm wondering whether my adding the broken concrete slab piles has now created HABITAT? If I got it correctly, Bob's point was we need to provide a suitable environment for every species we introduce to our pond so that all slot sizes of that species can survive and thrive.


After I had rip rap placed on my dam, I asked Bob about getting some more rock for habitat -- there is almost no natural rock at all on the pond site.

He said that would be good, but emphasized that I get a different size rock so that different size fish could use it for shelter. Never really thought about it that way before, but I followed his advice.

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