Fellas, I have been contacted by Scott Rakers in Southern Illinois. He is a future Pond Boss Subscriber and followed Kens advice to a tee. Although he has grown some nice fish relatively quick, he is not happy with the results so far.
Just wondering if anybody has some time to dissect his situation, give some recommendations, or share any experiences, or scrounge up some search results. Scott will be chiming in shortly.
This is from Scott:When I purchased the property the lake was shallow (average 4 feet deep) and full of lilly pads. I drained the lake and dug out 30,000 cy of dirt in August of 2006 and with heavy rains it filled up quickly, even though only 15 to 20 acres of drainage area drain into the lake. With guidance from Ken at Ken�s Fish Farm in Georgia, the lake was constructed 14 feet deep on dam end and 7 feet deep on shallow end. The sides are all steep at 3H:1V slope. Ken said by leaving the slopes steep, the vegetation growth would be minimal and he said not to place structure or vegetation in the lake and these allow for small fish to escape/survive and could result in small size fish being overpopulated. In May of 2007 I put 15 lbs. of fathead minnows in the lake, on October 6 of 2007 I put 5,000 Georgia Giant Bluegill in the lake, in May of 2008 I put 300 largemouth bass in the lake and on October 6 of 2008 I put 300 catfish in the lake. All the fish were fingerlings (1� to 3�) when I put them in. During the warmer months of 2008 I ran an aerator during the evening hours, I had 3 bug-o-matic lights working which cripple the bugs which fall into the water for fish food and I also fed the fish twice a day. I also use blue pond dye.
I would appreciate if you read the last paragraph closely and advise if what I am doing is correct. The reason I ask is I am very disappointed in the fishing results. Last year we could catch the bass, but hardly any Georgia Giants. I tried to contribute this to maybe there were plenty of fathead minnow baitfish and the Georgia Giants weren�t hungry. But, when I fed the fish and even underneath the bug lights at night, I never observed any fish coming to eat the feed nor the bugs. This year thus far, fishing results are not any better. We have caught a total of 5 bluegill in 3 outings. The bluegill we caught are nice & fat for only 1.5 years old, but I do not understand why we aren�t catching a lot more (I put 5,000 into the lake) and I don�t understand why I don�t observe them eating crippled bugs off the surface under the bug lights or eating the fish feed.
In closing, I am scared something may have happened to the Georgia Giants, with putting 5,000 in the lake, I would think I would catch them A LOT more easily. Any thoughts or suggestions? What is easiest way to determine how many Georgia Giants are still actually in the lake?
Again, thanks for your help!
Picture of Ryan his son:
