Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations An Awful day at the pond.

I thought that I'd present the counter point to Coach B's post. It could actually be titled " An Awful Summer"
Memorial day weekend was great. We caught some lmb up to 21 inch, nice eating sized crappie were darn near jumping into the boat, and the water was as clear as I've ever seen it. I'd planted some trees around the pond and built some new docks. My new TH feeder was working flawlessly.
A few days later we got heavy rain and some very strong winds. One of my new docks was crashed against the shore and my boat, the S.S. Caulky was swept out to sea and apparently sunk, as it couldn't be seen anywhere. The waves were high enough to throw FA on top of the cage that covers the overflow pipe which is about five feet higher than normal water level. The feeder was completely soaked, it was full of feed, and the timer ruined.

It's not much fun cleaning 50 pounds of soaked fish feed out of a feeder, especially after the flies have gotten to it, but I did so and ordered a new timer. I also bought a $250 boat to replace Caulky, because I badly needed to go out and spray coontail. The next week or so the weather was either rainy or windy or I had something else I had to do. I did manage to get the feeder running again before leaving on vacation.
Then on July 15th we had a replay. 2.5 inches of rain and high winds. It tore out another piece of dock though by some miracle the section with the feeder on it was spared. It did however soak the feeder again, though this time the timer was okay. On the bright side, the pond managed to regurgitate the SS Caulky, non the worse for the wear.
So, since the middle of June I've fished one day, lost a bunch of docks and cleaned out a maggot infested feeder twice. The water remains muddy and the coontail is growing unabated.
Gotta go, I'm going to go out and dig some holes for footings for some new tsunami proof docks.

15 acres can crank up some hefty sized waves! Sorry to hear about your trials... Hope this most recent blast was the last and your new work will solves the issues you were facing.

I wanna hear the details on this result

Hang in there we all have runs of bad luck.

At least there was a bright side with the SS Caulky.

It is kind of strange. Most of the shore line around my pond is fairly steep. However there is an area that is somewhat flatter and that's where I have chosen to beach the vessel. But since the area is flatter a lot of water runs through it during heavy rain. I used to always tie the boat up but got lazy and sure enough I paid for it. Caulky got washed into the pond with the plug out, where it apparently sunk. I walked all around the pond and couldn't see it. Then after Tsunami II, I found it sitting along the dam. How it was apparently sunk and came back up again is a mystery to me.

pirates

I thought that pirates were only after things that were valuable.

Only Ewest, Theo or Bruce can accurately answer that one. They have insightful background into how pirates operate and think.

There are a lot of pirates here - just look at the thread.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=141236&page=1


One pirate in your area was known to do midnight raids to check on YP populations under the ice. Kept getting is bare feet stuck to the ice.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=61774&page=1

Stupid pirates! They probably took the boat out and caught all of the HSB I stocked last fall. I have yet to catch one. Another reason why I'm generally bummed about this year.

How many did you stock in your 15 ac lake? What size? Don't you have a healthy population of LMB? Could have been an expensive snack...you should consider getting your 2 ac pond cleaned up and use it as a grow out pond. Could get 2" HSB to 18" in 2 years with good water and lots of AM.

Well, if it makes you feel better, when I got home after my "beautiful day," I found that the dogs had busted out of the crate in my room (thunder scared pups). The door was closed, but they had free reign of the room. The pooped a couple of times, ran through it, and then wrestled on the bed. This is why it was labeled "a beautiful day at the pond" and not just "a beautiful day."

Hang in there.

"They pooped a couple of times, ran through it, and then wrestled on the bed."


Otherwise, how did TJ & Sunil enjoy their visit???

WWLJSPD?

They were this big.
I suppose the lmb could have gotten some of them, but don't you think some would have survived?
The trouble with my 2 acre pond is it is now full of bullheads.

How many HSB did you put in and what was the existing population of fish?

I think it's feasible they were hammered, especially considering their pelagic nature. Imagine a school of 6" HSB out in the middle of the lake, no cover, high sun silhouetting them - field day for the LMB. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, and I am rooting for your HSB survival!

My point is supplemental stocking of ANYTHING in a fishery with an existing population of LMB seems a difficult and expensive process. One has to stock advanced fingerlings or adult fish to help ensure their survival considering the gape of the LMB.

I would like to come out and spend some time at your place and check out your potential 2 acre experimental pond. I understand your fishery is dominated by BH - is that because there's a live creek feeding it or they were accidentally introduced? If you can prevent that from happening in the future I'd recommend draining and seining or even rotenone. Once they're gone you could stock YOY BG, SMB, YP, HSB...whatever you want and employ an aggressive pellet program. I think you could see remarkable growth in two years - definitely large enough to stock into the main lake. I know Bruce has grown CSBGs to 8" in 21 mos...Just a thought for a grow out pond - sounds cool.

It depends on the facts. Survival could range anywhere from 2% to 80% based on stocking studies with 6 inch fish.

Sorry to hear about your pond problems Bullhead. But then again you do have a 15 acre pond so I envy you as well. Hang in there.


You know what they say, what doesn't kill you...


...hurts like hell.

2% ! Well at least I should still have four of them in my pond.

2% would be the very low end if you had a lot of 15 inch and up LMB and low prey numbers. What is the pond population like? My wag assuming a normal LMB population is 25% left after predation.

OK Bullhead I found the info you need. Look at this link and go down to you get to George's data on HSB survival using different size stockers into existing ponds with adult preadtors.


http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=22246&page=1

George's data is very depressing.
I'm going to start a new thread on converting my trash fish pond to a grow out pond.

I think that's a great idea. I'd like to learn more about your grow out pond if you want some help or opinions.

TJ