Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Brassy Minnow?

oops...forgot the links.

Unknown 1: Possibly a bluntnose minnow?
Unknown Minnow 1
1 Again

Unknown 2:
Unknown Minnow 2

And the apparently impossible to photograph Blacknose Dace:
BND

Unknown Minnow 1: Is the beloved bluntnose minnow. Definitely an excellent addition to your pond. They are closely related to the FHM. I think they are a bit more predation tolerant. The one in this picture is a breeding male, hence the darker color and tubercles on the head. Check the top of the back just behind the head... You should see a light to medium gray patch there. That is what the male uses to clean and care for the eggs which are laid on the underside of rocks, logs etc...

Unknown Minnow 2:Johnny darter, which is actually not a minnow but in the same family as perch and walleye only it maxes out in size of about 3". They also can survive and reproduce in ponds.

BND:From that picture I would again say it is a blacknose dace...

Collect as many of the bluntnose minnows as you can. They are a great forage fish! The darters can be kept as well. Smallies love to eat them in rivers and I am sure would love to eat them in a pond as well. I just collected about 30 tessellated darters which are pretty much the eastern relative of the Johnny darter, they look exactly alike almost and put them in my forage pond today along with some banded killies.

I was wondering if the smaller guy was some type of Darter. I couldn't decide if that's what he was or a small Dace species. My untrained eye saw the head of a Dace and the body of a Darter. What was the minnow ID book you recommended again? I found that Bluntnose minnow under an overhanging rock in the water, possible nest site?

Definitely possible... I seem to catch about 5 adult females for every adult male BNM. I put a number of broken up cinder blocks in my pond which the BNM love to spawn on.

Petersen's Field Guide to North American Fish is a great field guide. Although does not contain photos but rather sketches and paintings, it is still a fine field guide. Make sure you read the beginning section that guides you on how to use the field guide. It helps a beginner out greatly! Some on-line guides that are good which contain photos:

Virginia Link
Tennessee Link
Georgia Link
Ohio Link

If there was any doubt, IMO CJBS has those fish names correct. Although the blacknose dace is probably correct, but it could be questioned due to the fuzzy picture. A clearer picture would aleviate doubt. Holding the camera a 1/2"-1" further away would maximize the close focus ability of your particular camera. Then just crop the picture to enlarge the image.

Thanx for the tip BC, I'll remember that next time I'm out and about. I'm pretty sure CJ is correct on the Blacknose Dace. Question for anyone: When you set slow moving or non moving water with a minnow trap, do you bait or try and find a natural funnel? If you use bait, what do you use?

You can use either method. The funnel method is usually fest or famine in my experience. When you hit the jackpot though, you hit it! Bait is a matter of what you are trying to catch. But for your average minnow species like BNM, I like to use cheap koi pellets or dry dog food. Put them in a mesh bag so they don't float away or come to the wire of the trap and allow fish to feed without entering. You can often catch a large number of minnows if left out for a day or so... Many times it is the only method to use in some places because they are so thick with rocks, logs or vegetation making the use of a net impossible.

That was the exact reason I need to use a trap. I found a bridge today that had a large population of some 3-5" minnow (just looked from the bridge so I have no idea what kind) that were schooled up in a large pool in the creek. The only problem is that the pool was filled with pieces of an old bridge pier. I'll try out one of the two baits you recommended, thanks.

lmoore, I would like to add to what CJ recommended, beef liver has worked well for me in fish traps.

Thanks AP, maybe I'll put 3 traps out net to each other with each of the baits reccomended in each one. If try that, I'll let you guys know ow it turns out.

Thanks AP, maybe I'll put 3 traps out net to each other with each of the baits reccomended in each one. If try that, I'll let you guys know ow it turns out.

Brassy Minnows might even be beneficial in a pond. The Brassy Minnow "is primarily a plant eater, feeding heavily on algae" (from http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/brassy_minnow.html)

Mimic Shiners might be worth a look, too, since "Entomostracans, algae and other plant debris, and midge adults and larvae are the most frequent food items" (from http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/mimic_shiner.html)

Such small fish might not be the next tilapia, but if they are more vegetarian than other forage, I wonder if they wouldn't direct some biomass back toward the predators I love to catch...

I'm going to experiment some, when my pond is built...

Both species mentioned have very similar diets to FHM. The biggest challenge is keeping as self sustaining naturally reproducing population under bass predation...

I have never found mimic shiners to be common anywhere I have collected. I have only been able to collect a dozen or so at a time and I was never able to get a self sustaining population in any pond I have transplanted them in.