Theo,
Thanks for the quick response! I think you have my location pegged pretty good!!
My goals are to have a pond that we can swim in, but also enjoy the fish populations as well. This pond is very close to my back door!:)We have not fished it as yet, because I want the existing fish to prosper a bit longer. My dream was always to have a fishing hole in the yard, but for now, i am happy to just watch them. Once they take hold in good numbers, we will harvest them as required. By then, we should have Grandchildren!
| did see YP eggs this past Spring, but no fry to my knowledge. I was only able to identify these eggs from a post by Dr. Willis. I had never seen them before!There are a couple of bigger (8 to 10") YP and maybe a dozen smaller (3 to 4") ones.
I see many small 1-2" sunfish, but I believe they are RES, not true BG. I never see the fry from these guys either, but there are plenty of RES and RB nests each Spring or early Summer.
I'm assuming that the existing adult Bass (3 LMB and 2 SMB) are sustaining themselves on the young RES and young RB?
I don't think FHM are available in our area. I have no idea what type of minnows are in the creek, but I see them all the time.
The suckers we have are quite large (10" to 12") and I imagine they devour their share of eggs.These were already there, otherwise I would not have put them in!I think they do their share to keep the bottom grasses down.
As far as cover goes, we have two docks, a floating gazebo, some other floating wood piles,an old duck boat that is anchored and a few weed beds. The weeds die off each winter and are replaced with new growth each spring.
I have a bubbler pump in the south end and a fountain aerator in the North end floating.
The continuous flow of 46 deg. water all year keeps one area of the pond from freezing over.I shut the bubbler off for the winter and remove the floating fountain.
I hope this helps a bit with the scenario.
