Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Disposable Pond

Well about ready to seine out my first disposable pond attempt. Water is getting very low with late rains keeping it this high for this long. I put in gams and 15 5-7" fla lmb. Results not what I expected at all. Gams all but gone, saw zero yesterday. LMB good at hiding, but they pop the surface at dragonflies. Might have a few weeks before crash. Not sure if herons got any or most. Many 1 1/2 - 2" lmb. Maybe I put in some around 8"? I think those will slip through my seine, but I should be able to get them out if they survive longer. So instead of a growout pond I also have a brood, really did not expect that with zero gravel and size of fish plus late plant.

Going to seine out nowhere to run pond today and report back in that thread. But this does open many possibilities, even though it was an overabundant year for rainfall. I kind of half assed this and did not take good measurements or record dates, as I thought I would be feeding birds. I'll do it much better next season. But I have a exact count of what I put in, a rough estimate of sizes, I know none over 8". And approx date. This pond goes dry anually, no matter what. It's not even a fire pond, just a mini dam on a stream.

Don't you ever take a day off?

Plenty of them in rainy season, Nov thru Feb. And starting two new businesses for those boring times. I have enough jobs now though I could work every day and not get caught up. And probably will take on a new very big one on Monday. I'll be booked through October. Besides, taking the boys out to seine a pond and save stranded critters is a day off. I could get a jackpot fish if that koi is anything. One thing about my business, it does not even seem like work.

Well this produced some good, some bad and some ugly. The good was all of the fish survived the move and they bred to my surprise. The bad is pretty much a hassle timing the removal right. I have to be there at the exact right time, and not even before a crash. The ugly, just fed the freakin herons. They came in and cleaned out the pond as all that is left is gambusia. I am not going to do that again. No fish in these drawdown ponds, or ponds that go dry during the Summer seasonally.

I think these are best suited for lilies. I can do a lot more and not have to worry about getting the fish out before the birds do it for me. I can put in multiple strains in different parts of the pond, growout a lot, take most out and see which survive completely out of the water in the soil when it goes dry. Better bang for the buck, neither the fish or lilies cost me anything, but I'd be better served just throwing lilies in there and getting them out at my leisure, or maybe not at all if I get several droughtbuster species in there.

I have to make brood ponds and growout ponds where they have year round water and cover from the birds. There were or are still a large amount of surface weeds on this pond but that did not deter the birds. Was a fun experiment but I just cringe losing prime lmb. They deserved a better fate. Learned a lot though, so loss not in vain. Plenty where they came from.

Seems I recall a line from a movie like -- "Man I tell ya , I tell ya -- its tought out there". Such is the life of small fish and the guys that raise them.