Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch help id

Seined this out this morning. Purchased this property and pond about three months ago and finally got time to run a net through it. Caught a million of these...any ideas?

Another against black background

Looks like something that should have a couple treble hooks and a KVD signature on it.

Gambusia - aka mosquitofish (female)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitofish

Trying to evaluate what's in this pond before hopefully stocking this fall. Its 1/4 acre and found crawfish as well. Would this fish be beneficial in my goal of stocking bluegill hsb and possibly cc? And ....dumb question....do they eat mosquito larvee? How big do they usually get? All I seined out were at biggest little over an inch. Does that mean bigger ones somewhere?

Thanks for your help
Randy

They get two to three inch max. They have live birth and are a good forage fish. The HSB will work on them hard when they are small, but will never wipe them out.

The fish that you caught are adult females and about max size. 2.5"-3" long is a 'fish' story. Males stay smaller than females. They are basically wild guppies.

Thanks for the help I appreciate it guys. Anyone know if stocking fathead minnows, which I plan to stock soon will have any impact on them positive or negative? Or rather if the gambuisa will impact the fatheads.

Thanks again

Up here I've had both in ponds and the FHM disappear first. The Gams move quicker and stay in shallower water. They also don't have to guard a nest, so they aren't as easy to pick off as the FHM.

The only downside I've heard of is that they are pretty enthusiastic egg eaters. All fish impact others and they will eat a lot of eggs. That said, everything eats everything in the pond anyway. I wouldn't sweat it.

Gams will work on the FH but I would go ahead with the FH if you are going to follow with predator fish.

I am debating a cnbg hsb combo. Or just a catfish pond but either way will stock with a predator this fall when temps fall a bit. How many fatheads would you recommend for a 1/4 acre pond? I have a fish farm nearby but everyone I know here and in Texas recommends Overton and I will contact Todd for procurement of cnbg hsb and cc... but when it comes to fatheads does it matter?

I figure whichever stocking route I go its good to get FH in now. Is it ok to stock now during summer heat?

It matters if you buy them from someone who has some foreign fish in the mix. A few baby LMB (or something else) that sneaked in to the FHM, and you have headaches later.