Been trapping fingerlings out of this pond the last couple weeks. Been getting lots and lots of GSF. Looks like maybe next year might just be the time to pump it down, seine it and start over fresh. Was hardly catching any RES in the minnow traps.
Till yesterday. GSF go into the traps for feed much, much more readily. I get the feeling the RES go in more by accident than on purpose, though I do not know that for sure.
It has gotten cold and my propensity to check the traps has lessened. In fact I removed all of them today. But when I run the traps yesterday I had not checked them for two days (usually check them multiple times each day). The standard opening traps had a number of the usual 1-1.5" GSF. But lo and behold when I checked the trap with an expanded size opening, all the GSF had likely exited once the feed was gone (the trap having been there two days since baited) but the 2-2.5" RES fingerlings pictured below were there. So I did get RES recruitment in this pond. Just hard to tell how much without seining it.
I have noticed this in the past, that when I leave the traps sit longer, I tend to get more RES in them. I find that interesting. If I am trapping to try and get the GSF out, I bait and check 15 minutes to a half hour later and do it often. The GSF are chow hounds. They go right after the feed, and if the feed is gone are pretty good at finding their way out of the trap. It seems like it takes a lot longer to get any RES fingerlings in the trap.
Looks like maybe next year might just be the time to pump it down, seine it and start over fresh. Was hardly catching any RES in the minnow traps.
