Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New Pond in NC. Help...

Hello. I recently put in a new 2.5 acre pond in the foothills of NC; Wish I had known of this site before construction! This is a great place for information.

The pond is spring fed with a dam built in a large natural hollow. There is appx 300 acres of watershed that adds to the spring. The pond is surrounded by large trees providing shade for most of the day. I have a siphon in the dam that works wonderfully for the big rains. I limed the soil heavily before the pond filled. Although we are in extreme drought, we filled in 3 months. We use liquid fertilizer every two weeks since the water temps hit 60. The pond is 22ft deep in front of the dam. The sides of the pond on the dam side are cut straight down 9ft. deep. On the spring side there are shallows. We buried five cedar brush piles in the shallows. This is one area where I needed this website! Perhaps not enough structure and cover?

In late fall we introduced 2500 CNB and RES at an 80/20 ratio. They were Fed Ex’ed in from Mississippi. Soon after, 5K FH minnows, from a local provider in NC, along with 6 grass carp were introduced. The CNB were somewhat shocked from travel when introduced to the pond, but survived. The locally provided FH thrived. I kept a sack of mallard decoys on the pond to attract waterfowl in the winter. When gathering the decoys this sping, there were a pair of fish under each decoy and eggs galore. Needless to say I left the decoys in the pond. The pond is full of small fry. We are amazed at the numbers. We assume it is both FH and CNB thriving.

We began feeding Purina Game Fish food. After two weeks of nothing, things started to pick up. We have since added two AquaPro feeders. The fish eat 3 times daily from both feeders. The feeders are set to feed in times of shade. Morning and evening feedings are simultaneous. The fish are very aggressive at feeding times.

Two weeks ago, I stocked 225 LMB from the local provider. After weighing the info on different strains of LMB, I went with the local North Carolina LMB. The shock of shipping Florida Bass in the summer didn’t seem to outweigh the advantage of driving 30 minutes and stocking the local LMB? Too late now; they’re in the pond.

I’ve read a great deal on this site concerning aeration. Do I need it? If so, when and what type? Are my stocking ratios in order? I’ve read the Talapia threads on this site. Sounds interesting. Is this something I should consider? Last but not least; there is no shortage of Blue Herons in NC. Thanks for your time. Below is a recent photo....WS



http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l416/wsimanovich/72pond.jpg

Help? Why? Sounds like you have everything under control. When I saw the "help" I assumed you had some kind of problem!

As far the Florida largemouths are you sure they will make it through your winters up there anyway? Same goes with the coppernose bluegill. One fish supplier in Arkansas told me if they get even a slight freeze they loose them. You are farther north than Arkansas and although the coast might marginalize your winter temps if you're in the foothills won't that negate it?

As far as aeration it's always good but not sure you need to really worry your first summer. Hopefully the experts can chime in, especially those in your area.

Thanks for your reply. How far north is too far for the Coppernose?

Hello WS and welcome to Pond Boss. Beautiful pond and setting. I'll leave the questions to the experts. Thanks for jumping in and participating, that's what makes this forum work.

Oh and since you have photobucket there is a easy way to attach photos to your post rather than have a link to a photo. You will probably have to resize the photo somewhat.

Here is a link that discusses how to attach photos to a post.

From the archives, posting photos

Welcome to PB. What size were the fish when added? If they were all 2 inch + - when added you have what you need to produce a balanced population. BG and FH both produce large #s of offspring. The LMB will feast on them.

What is you elevation ? The northern LMB will do well. If you want you can later add a few Fla LMB (10-12 inches)to add to the gene pool.


Do you have a lot of water flow through ?

Our elevation is about 1000ft. As far as water flow, the spring is keeping up with the drought. The pond is down 2 inches, there is currently no flow. I also have a well that I can turn on if needed.

The CNB and RES were two inches, the FH were mature when introduced. The LMB were appx 2 inches.

IMO the north line of NC at low elevation is about the boundary for good growth in CNBG. I think you are ok. One way to spread the risk is to add a few regular BG to the mix.

Where did the CNBG come from in MS ? IMO you would be better off with northern LMB or F-1s. I would not risk pure Flas at your location. They would live ,they just might no grow to their potential.

I bought the CNB and RES from Suttle Fish Farm. They were shipped via Fed Ex. The FH and LMB came from a local supplier. No doubt the bass have plenty to eat. Minnows are in dark clouds all over the pond.

Stocked this bass on July 13th. It was appx. 1 3/4 inches at the time. All appears to be going well!! They are very aggressive feeders on the FH minnows. I stocked 225 LMB in the 2.5 acre pond. Is this too many? It appears that taking a few out would be no problem. We caught ten this size in two mornings using rooster tails as they ambushed the fatheads. Building a pond is the best money I've ever spent!

They look to be pretty healthy fish. But 225 for a 2.5 acre pond does sound a little heavy. I think 50 per acre is what should be stocked, so 125 bass should be plenty. I would say you will need to take some of those bass out at some point to keep them from stunting out.

That bass was stocked at 1 3/4 inches 30 days ago? That would be phenomenal growth.

wow that growth does sound phenomenal. Is that size LMB typical in your pond?

All bass were stocked on July 13th. We have caught ten and each were 6-7 inches. Each were fat and healthy. They are very aggressively feeding on the FHs. The FH are rarely at the feeders since the bass have started hitting them hard. When they are present during feedings, they are harrassed big time! I'll plan to pull out some bass. Thanks for the info.

The CNBG are also doing very well. I'll post a recent photo after today's fishing trip.

Was that bass stocked on July 13th this year or July 13th last year? If that bass went from 1 ¾ inches to 7 inches in a little over a month you might consider getting into the fishery business. If the bass were indeed stocked just over a month ago I would have to say this is not one of the original stockers. I don’t believe you put too many bass in the pond, it all depends on your goals. I personally would have went with 50/acre. With harvesting you need to try to remove the offspring from the original stocked fish. I would not harvest any of the original stocked fish (unless they are skinny) because they are the ones that are ahead of the curve and have the best genetics.

All bass were stocked on July 13th of this year. This is one of the original stocked fish. All 10 caught in the past two days were between 6-7inches in length.

Since I originally stocked 2500 CNBG and RES along with the FH, would taking 50 bass out be a problem for the overall balance?

If those are the original stocked fish (which I find hard to believe, never seen or heard of a bass growing that fast in little over a month), I would not dare harvest any of them. There is no reason to remove the original stocked fish because as of now everything is in balance. I would begin to harvest their offspring once they are big enough to catch to keep everything in balance because those original bass are the best, and in your pond those original bass are spectacular. You start to lose the balance when the bass begin to spawn adding more bass to the lake, among many other dynamics.

Has anyone else ever seen or had bass growth like this? The fish looks great by the way WSimanovich.

WS,

Just out of curiousity, did you have the local provider stock the fish? Were you there? I'm just wondering if they stocked larger fish than what was ordered. If not, then you have some extraordinary growth!! If you can maintain those types of growth rates then you are a very fortunate pond owner. Your bass would qualify as the fastest growing bass that I've ever seen. Good job and have fun browsing the years worth of info embedded within this site.

If you get a chance, post a photo of your pond. Sounds like it is a pretty cool setting.

2-4 inches is a common stocking size for bass. Especially for June 13th. Very easily could have been ordered at 2 inches and put in at 3-5 inches.

Keep documenting everything about your pond, especially the growth rates of those fish. Sounds kind of girly, but many clients have journals about their ponds all the way back to Day 1 and they record everything that goes on.

I picked up the bass from a local provider and put them in myself. None were even close to 4 inches. 95 percent were 2 inches and less. A friend of mine, another pond junkie, and I seem to attribute the growth to several factors. The forage base had a great head start. The PH in the water was 7.2 and the pond well fertilized. The FH were literally large black clouds all over the pond. The CNBG had spawned. Before the bass were introduced, most of the entire surface area was covered in YOY forage.

The pond is surrounded by mature trees. On the east side, mature hardwoods. This allows for multiple feedings in the shade. This makes a difference. When the pellets hit our sunny pond the fish would not feed. In the shade the fish feed aggressively. The feeders are used as late as 11:30am and as early as 4pm. Each feeder feeding 4 times per day in shaded areas.

The banks of the pond are cut straight down. On one side 9ft.; the other side 6ft. The shallows are appx 10 percent of the pond on the spring fed side. The spring is full of tree growth, ideal for the FH. They are thick in there. We have noticed that the cut banks make for easy feeding for the bass. They ambush the FH, then feed like crazy. I've seen the bass knock the FH out of the pond. When the cut banks are full of FH feeding on pellets, the bass are feeding on the FH. I'll try to post a few photos.

That's the good news. The bad news is we had torrential rains in NC last night. The watershed was more than the 4in siphon could handle! We had a 4 inch deep stream going over the spillway for a couple of hours. I'm certain the FH had a good ride down the creek. Hopefully some bass went with them.

Highs and lows of pond life.

I take exception to that "girly" comment, Nate. Let me quote an early entry from my pond records to prove how manly intensive data keeping can be:

"May 13, 2003. Dear Pond Diary: All ready to stock Bluegill and Redears, and I get a pimple. What will the fish truck guy think? This is the worst day of my life!"

Your right Theo, I was way off base with my girly comment.

W, you dont want your bass to go over the overflow. Sounds like you could use a few more. (I dont think many if any bass went down the stream)

It was quite a rain. Can't complain with our drought being so severe. It appears that for a short time the water was 6 inches deep over the spillway, all while the siphon is still blowing like 4 inch firehose.

Attached is the pond and the cut bank on one side. This cut bank is 9ft straight down. The pond in the middle is 22ft deep. There are feeders on both sides. We have clumps of large cedars anchored as cover on both sides.

n8ly posted:

n8ly, you have my admiration, you're a good man to realize you offended Theo with your remark & offer an apology.

I doubt you lost any bass, they will get away from the current. If all of your bass are growing like rockets (like the one in the picture) I would be out there in the storm trying to keep them in the pond because I would not want to loose a single one of those fish. Depending on your goals I would think about more forage fish to stock for the future. Those fathead minnows are not going to help any larger bass. Threadfin shad come to mine but you will probably loose them during the winter being in North Carolina. Another option would be gizzard shad (more cold tolerant) when majority of the bass are three pounds (which at the rate your fish are growing that might be next week). Also being in North Carolina you should not have any trouble getting some trout, that’s where we get ours. If you could stock some 6-8” trout during the winter when the bass are bigger you will give them an excellent forage item from fall to spring. Also if you feed the trout a high protein food they will grow like rockets and be fun to catch. The bluegill will provide forage to the bass but depending on your goals you might want to enhance the forage base. Also, the gizzard shad come with some drawbacks but if want some trophy bass they are the way to go. Thats a great looking pond!