Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Getting ready for a new species!

I'm getting things ready to collect some pumpkinseed sunfish via hook and line from one or two local lakes to spawn in one of my small production ponds. I have two locations recommended and just need to clean these tanks out, get a fishing license and get some free time! One location I can fish from shore but the other I will need my boat.



Unfortunately I will have to quarantine them in these two tanks until I can get a negative back on the VHS virus. I also need to do a dip of 3 percent salt to kill any potential veligers (larvae form of zebra mussels) and other parasites. One of the lakes has a zebra mussel population the other doesn't but I will treat the water as if it does.

I'll shade part of the tanks and put netting on top to keep out any predators especially since I had a mink within 25 feet of this spot the other day.

If anyone is interested I will keep you posted.

Here's the species for those of you that may not be familar with them:

go cecil go.....this will be fun to watch.

sorry i dont live closer, i'd help you get yer first stockers in a heartbeat.

Yeah it's too bad Dave. I'd enjoy your company.

Quite the pretty fish... They are quite tolerant of higher salinities. I catch them quite often in the lower Potomac River in salinities upwards of 10 ppm.

I'd buy some from you if I was closer. I dont know of any fish farms near me that are carrying PS this year

How many do you have to sacrifice for the VHS testing?

Wow that's pretty cool Cecil. I would definitely like to be "kept in the loop" on those fish. Any idea on determining males from females? Colors, markings, scale napping, etc?

That's good to know as I will keep them in .8 percent solution and as I said dip them in a 3.0 percent before they go into the tank and before they go into the pond.

I may have some fry for sale later in the year and the fry will be VHS tested for interstate transport if Bruce Condello still wants some. If he wants to wait I will test next year.

No set amount for self testing, however if and when I want to sell or give any of the offspring away interstate it's 60 fish.

Well I'm no expert but from what I've seen in literature the males just as in bluegills are more intense in color and more on the orange side vs. the females which tend to be more yellow. I have also read the females are more prone to have a bar pattern but I'm not sure if that is really the case. I can't verify that.

I'll be testing for milt by the ol' squeeze test.

The males definitely get much brighter during the spawn and stay as Cecil said a more orange color while the females are a duller yellow. The males tend to have more red or orange on the operculum flap as well. After you have caught a few, they are usually pretty easy to tell apart, but with any fish just looks alone is no 100% guarantee 100% of the time.

Very true! A biologist by the name of Bobby Glennon at one of the big fish farms in Arkansas told me he NEVER EVER leaves sex identification up to appearance only with sunfish, and ALWAYS checks for sex products.

I know I have also found that out the hard way from my own scant experience.

Cecil do you have a boat? If you are fishing a smaller body of water then I'd suggest getting a float tube. You can just throw it on your back and launch where you want and its a good work out as well.

True but where do you put the fish? Surely you're not proposing I put them on a stringer?

Yes I have a boat. Going to get it out of mothballs. I haven't used it in several years. Going fishing on the local lakes got to be too much trouble and too much of a circus to me. The overpowered boats and jet skis are horrible here. It would be O.K. if they would stay away from your fishing boat but they don't.

I know what you mean about public waterways. The local lake near me has some fat 12" perch and they are of course located at the "water ski course" so if you are fishing anytime of the year except winter you are likely to get capsized by a wave.

I don't use a stringer. I take a 2 buckets one with holes in it and another without. I leave the one without holes on shore and the one with the holes I add the fish to and just drag it with me.

I use an older inner tube with a laundry basket stuck in the hole. I built a lid over it. I tie a rope to it and attach it to me... I use it when I am wading, but I am sure something like that would work for a float tube as well.

Also women dig men in float tubes. Guys with boats are obviously compensating for something

That makes sense!

Another good idea!

Sounds to me like RB is a big proponent of float tubes.

RB truthfully I'd probably get run over in a float tube. We've had divers get run over here even with flags etc. Some of the boaters and jet skiers are total idiots.

Ouch. Nevermind then, safety is always first. I look forward to reading more about this new adventure of yours. Oneday I'll be there.

Idiots on boats and jet skies is a nationwide thing... Another reason to own your personal fishing hole! Or fish lakes that only allow electric motors like I will be doing for the next 3 days.

It gets pretty interesting around here. I know of a guy that shoots at boats that get to close with bottle rockets. Another old fart gets out a surf casting rod and starts swinging around a huge lead weight to give them the message. And my cousin was on a friends boat for the first time and asked him why he had rocks stacked in side compartments. The reply was, "I throw them at boats that get too close."

We had kid yanked off a jet ski a while back by a musky plug. The kid was harrassing the guy as he cast for musky and wouldn't get away from his boat. The guy lost his temper and of course it ended up in court.

I also know two bass fisherman that got fed up with a jet skier and chased him down until he ran out of gas in a backwater area. They both jumped out of the boat and beat the heck out of him.

The sad part is there would be an easy solution to the fisherman boater conflict but our DNR and legislators are not willing to do it. That is an idle speed limit in both the morning and evening to give an angler a chance. When I wrote an outdoor column I pushed for it and was ignored.

It probably doesn't help that 90% of those boaters are drunk. With that said watch out for divers when you go out for your new guys