Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishin' 2009

Tastes like chicken.

More coffee?? I was going to turn it over, but as soon as I did it wanted to get back into the lake.

It's the other "other" white meat!

thank you for the pictures I feel better already.

Fish'in in the pond yesterday only caught brookies, the Browns and Rainbows weren't interested.
The BRKT in my pond all come from the stream that flows thru my property, and they fatten up in the pond.

Here's a BRKT from the pond


Here's a couple just out of the stream.

AP - does my soul good to see fine squaretail specimens like these. Did you tempt them with your flyrod? If so, what did they take?

What kinda growth rates are you seeing on your BRKT after you put them in the pond?

TJ, I'm gonna start practicing with the flyrod tomorrow while I'm watchin the grandkids, they'll get a good laugh.
I caught the brookies on pieces of nightcrawlers, that always seems to work, but I'm looking forward to trying them with the flyrod.

CJ, I can't tell with the BRKT cause I get them all sizes in the stream, but the biggest one I put in this spring was 8 inches and this one was 10. I've gotten 29 BRKT from the stream since April, and I probably should tag some to check growth.
I was hoping to get some BRNT and RT so I could check their growth but no luck, I'm really not a very good fisherman, but there's plenty of time after the hordes of bugs die down.

Give me GPS coordinates, I'll gladly come test my fishing skills... HAHA

When you're ready and do try to fly fish your pond, try a scud pattern. One of my favorite patterns for trout in ponds and even works well on sunfish too. Try a light split shot to get it to slowly sink and just twitch it ever so slightly with little strips of the line.

CJ, if you want to travel your welcome to fish the pond anytime, just bring plenty of bug repellent.
The guy on the fly fishing video recommended a black gnat, so I picked some up, have you used them?

Yes, an excellent dry fly pattern. Adams is another all around work horse for ponds. If you can, try to start out with a bigger fly pattern. When I was learning, I found larger patterns easier to learn with.

And far easier to see...if you're fishing the stream a "parachute" pattern is very helpful if you have trouble tracking your fly like myself - its an extra tuft of white or pink hackle on the top of the fly. It's critical for me or I lose sight if there is any glare on the water, which there ALWAYS is.

I don't know about East Coast flies, but out here an Elk Hair Caddis catches trout in all water...we also use Adams, Wulff and Ant patterns effectively in almost any water.

Travis is right, if you can get away with fishing something in the 12-14 range it makes hooking up and casting a little easier.

Good luck AP - have your Gkids send us a video of your fly fishing exploits...I want to see you nail some!

Had a pair of firsts in the new pond last night! (drumroll)

Despite a complete lack of evidence from direct observation and seining last year, I DID have a RES spawn in 2008! The 5 1/2" evidence shown below is the first fish caught in the pond which was hatched there (not counting FHM). Perhaps even small RES enjoy eating the Gambusia I was trying to match with the curlytailed grub.


Secondly, this is the first of the YP stocked last October to be caught. It's huge bulk measures almost 6" long.


I also landed three SMB, the biggest was a fat 10".

RES reproduction!!! Cool!!!

BTW, I had YP reproduction in my Dad's pond last year!

Free fish!

Success feels good - cheers for Theo !!

Nice work and next time, try and land the fish by hooking it inside it's mouth.

Can I help it if the Perch has astygmatism?

I'm excited to hear about the RES spawn - gives many of us hope - and that's a nice YP. Congrats!

I got some 1/64 oz jigs and some tube baits in the mail today. Even though it's 90 degrees out I thought I would tie one on my ultra light rig and go out to the pond. After a short time I caught the biggest LBM to come out of my pond to date. Stocked spring of 07 at 2-3 inches. I keep a 5 gallon bucket out at the pond so I put some water in and brought her up to the house for a pic. Hope it wasn't to hard on her.

WOW! What a beauty, the Wr on her must be great. That is a healthy looking fish! What is she eating that she got so fat???

As far as I cant tell she eating BG and GSH. The LMB that are eating pellets aren't near that size but they are from last years spawn.

Had a fun hour last night at my new pond. I caught two 6"+ YP, one of the Bonus Male BG (now 9"), and two 3" long RES.

Dang Theo you're growing some really nice BG.

Theo - you are raising the bar!!!!
NICE ...

What a brute! Looks like a Buckeye linebacker.