I guess I will elaborate more about their descriptions and my concerns/goals. We can assume for now I will keep the layout the same.
Pond 1: Approximate depth is about 8'. I plan an taking my jon boat out in the next few days to verify. Very little cover in the form of small brush growing along the edges. As said above, I have already put 100-150 BG/SF, ranging from 2"-8". Most are in the 3-5" range. I plan to (for now, at least) keep this as bait tank, where I can catch/trap as needed. I would like to establish a breeding population. I have also added about 100 or so small red and blacktail shiners. There is already a big population of crawfish as well. I have trapped (and then released right back) at least 6-8 dozen very large crawfish up to 6" in length. Most, but not all were large and red, so I believe most are the Red Swamp Crawfish species. I don't mind them being in there and using them for bait, but they generally don't work as well as BG/SF for Flathead bait.
Questions on Pond 1:
The mixing of the BG/SF species....good or bad?
Should I remove the crawfish? Will them being in there still allow for a breeding population of BG/SF?
Just this week I began feeding.
This is what I bought from Tractor Supply. Thoughts? The fish responded almost immediately and have been eating quite a bit.
Should I consider adding any cover?
Pond 2: Pretty small, not sure what I will ever do here. It would probably be best to combine with 1. Both of these are about the same elevation, which are a bit higher in elevation than Pond 3. Combining all 3 would really take a lot of dirt work to make it all work.
Pond 3: When full, is probably at least 12' deep in the center, and gets shallower toward the east side where Pond 2 spills in. Again, I will plan on checking the depth very soon. There is no cover. It does have a very nice dock, but the PO never completed it. It has 12" concrete columns with a steel frame on top, but no wood was ever installed on it. It is very heavy duty. I have been reading about the Soilfloc suggested above, and may decide to go that route. Once I get it sealed (hopefully). I plan to eventually make this my main fishing pond. I definitely want to put in LMB and BG at least, where I can catch decent sized ones of each.
Pond 3 Questions:
How will the addition of channel cat work in conjuction with LMB and BG? Would it be best to leave them out?
What kind of numbers of each would be a max capacity for that size pond? I realize I have to account for forage as well.
I'm sure there a lot of factors that can play into how these questions are answered, but those are the first questions that come to mind.
Any other things I should consider?
Thanks
