Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations HSB likely to escape out excess spillway flow?

I wasn't sure what category to put this question in, but I am hoping someone has had a similar situation and can share their experience.

We recently had a huge rain that caused our 2/3 acre pond to flow out the emergency spillway. The flow was approx 18 inches deep and 8 to 10 feet wide. It was fast enough to wash out a very small, unsecured footbridge I had put over the muddy spot (the spillway usually has a trickle coming out).

I had stocked the pond with a large number of HSB last summer and am worried I may have lost a lot of them. I did catch one very nice specimen in a cast net after the flow stopped, so I am hopeful some are still here, but they are very hard to catch on hook and line.

Does anyone know how likely these fish are to go downstream at events like this? When I stocked them, they fought the outflow from my transport tank and I had to net them out of it, again, a hopeful sign. Thanks for any and all input.

The state of Nebraska stocks HSB in some of the lakes around here and some of them do end up getting caught in the creeks and rivers after high water events. Hard to say how many you might have lost but I'm sure it was at least a few. I would do more cast net sampling or use some other type of sampling method to see what you have left and then go from there. Sampling will be the only way to know for sure.

Not sure on HSB, but I do know forage will aggresively follow the outlet. I've caught and restocked hundreds of BG in 3" of runoff. The sunfish I let go with the flow.

Do you feed your fish? If so, the fish numbers at throwing time may give you an idea of what you may have lost.

I have a pond that floods into a nearby flat area before it starts using the overflow pipe. It recently flooded, and I was amazed at how the regular BG fry (up to 1/2")was eager to go with the current into the flooded area instead of fighting to keep out of it. Not a single big ones though. Larger GSF ( up to 1.5")seemed eager to do the same.