UPDATE

Fished on Weds/Thurs afternoon from about 4:45 to 6:00 pm. Caught 3 fish Weds (1 3", 1 4.5", 1 6")[was just my two kids], and caught 16 fish Thurs (10 5-6", 6 3-4") [four of us fishing]. We caught more Thurs because I set the hook depth deeper (about 2 ft below surface) since we had a cool front bring a strong north wind and 60F air temp Thurs morning. We take them to a nearby creek and let them loose (dont have the heart to kill them, especially since the kids caught them).

I was planning on building my fish trap this weekend. I have some left over wire screen (lathe) that was used to make mortar stick to the exterior walls of my house before stone was cemented to it. It has very small spacing ( < 1/8" weave), and can make about an 18" diameter, 3 ft long cylinder. I was going to roll my end openings into a cone and trim off the tip to make an entry point, then wire that to the main cylinder.

How large (diameter) should the cone tip opening be ?

Thanks for the tip on depth placement.

I would have to assume that the GSF spawned sometime this year, as my wife hooked a very small GSF (would fit inside palm).

I would like to be able to gauge the numbers of my stocked 1-3" CNBG....will they enter the trap if larger GSF are already in there? And if they do, would the GSF eat them before I saw them?

I hope that all the fish I see in the shallows are minnows, as I never saw any fish in the shallows until I stocked FHM in Oct. The pond was almost full all summer, so the shallows were easy to see, but no activity.

As for how the GSF got there I am still head scratching. On an unfed pond, I cant see GSF fry growing to 6" in 16 months, and the first 3-4 months the water was very cloudy as new bank areas became covered or washed down due to rain. Unless you were walking through fenced fields that are private property, you would not know this pond was there, and I have only 3 neighbors nearby (which means at least 300 yds apart), but can't rule out just someone trying to "help" me out. The one thing I can guarantee is that it was not from inflow...that would require 2 ft of water across 100's of acres to get above my banks.

The Lord moves in mysterious ways...........

Thanks,

Darryl