Originally posted by mikeak:
Hi Bruce,I'm hearing they won't spawn,no rock and gravel bottom,other people have tried and failed,waters too warm,they just won't make it.
As soon as I tell people I don't want any cc they start looking at me kind of funny,like, what do you want a pond for if you don't want catfish?By the time I start asking about smallies they figure I'm over the edge.
I'm hard headed and will try anyway if I can find some fish.I really hav'nt heard anything that will keep me from trying.Getting fish is prob. the biggest problem.
I was a plumbing contractor in another life and was involved in setting up several catfish tanks for the environmental science class at the local J.V.S.,if I can't get the fish I might try to grow them myself.
I was thinking put some SM in this fall,if they make it ,great,if not I can still stock the lmb.next spring.
Thanks Mike
You heard that they won't spawn:
That could be used very much in your favor. Supplemental stockings are very feasible. My friend NEDOC has some of the most beautiful smallies I've ever seen in his pond. Their coloration makes them look like they were grown in an aquarium.
No rock or gravel bottom:
Doesn't matter--smallmouth like good water quality a lot more than they need gravel as a substrate.
Other people have tried and failed:
You have Pond Boss, they didn't.
Water's too warm:
Smallmouth do fine in warm water if it doesn't get too hot and if it's managed for optimal oxygen levels. There's some great smallmouth waters in Texas. Just ask George Glazener.
You don't want channel cats:
They're a nice fish, but I know just as many people who want to get rid of them as I do who want them.
They think I'm over the edge:
So?? Everybody KNOWS I'm over the edge.
You were thinking of putting in smallies this fall:
I've never heard of anybody who had regrets over a population of stunted smallies that they couldn't get rid of.
GO FOR IT!
