Hi Bill,
Due to my stocking plan, I thought this might get your attention so I'm glad you responded.
First, let me update the progress of the pond. With a good shower saturday night, the pond is now full which puts the waterline about 6" below grade. Since this is an excavated pond, the outlet being the original stream bed, my initial thoughts were to build a 4-6" dam (raise the stream bed) thus bringing the water level up to ground level. Because of the amount of runoff we receive from snow melt, I've decided to wait until next spring and let mother nature dictate whether or not to the raise the level. The 6" "reserve" may just be insurance against any flooding.
Bill, someone on the board posted pictures of your idea about using an old saucer or tire for a diffuser base. These are certainly options I will give thought to.
The question about using cats with BG was one I pondered for a while. With my goal being BIG BG, I know one option is to go bass heavy, something I learned here. However, the various conversations of cats, as potential predators, has piqued my interest.
Here were my "positive" thoughts.
1. Given the small size of this pond, its offers a good opportunity to experiment. If the experiment fails it would be easy to correct, drain and start from scratch if necessary.
2. Cats would make a nice addition to the table, on occasion.
Now for the concerns.
1. Will cats "only" be able to control BG numbers? My license includes seining so that option is also available.
2. Given the soil types here, I'm concerned about turbidity and what effect it would have. From past experience, I had a couple of snapping turtles in the stream and just their moving about the bottom would result in some cloudiness to the water. This is one point you mentioned.
3. We talked awhile back about male BG only but I'm not confident of my ability to sex out male only. In one of your posts on the subject, you mentioned that if one female gets in, it will have a major impact. I did plan on talking to the hatchery about male only BG though.
Another thought I had was to go bass heavy with a few cats (to satisfy my palate). The cat, BG scenario is not, cast in stone, so I'm open to any and all responses.
Russ
