I ended up connecting with Bob Lusk on this topic, which proved invaluable.
We did fertilize last Tuesday and it appears we have a decent bloom started.
We have some tilapia that should be showing up soon. This is not from Bob but another biologist who does a good amount of work in this area. We are following his suggestion of 40 pounds. I have treated the FA with Cutrine Plus to the point that the surface FA has mostly disappeared.
I have not pursued grass carp as it did not surface in my discussions with Lusk; however, I have heard recommendations for adding up to 20 (max allowed by TPWD for a 2 acre pond). I just cannot recall a good lake with grass carp, though I've personally seen more than one ruined. I am biased by a small sample size but I just don't see us doing this unless things get way out of hand - no reason to believe that will happen.
We ordered a feeder that showed up today. Will be feeding Aquamax 500 2x per day. The bluegill are plentiful and healthy already. Will be interesting to see what happens.
I have stopped bass fishing the pond. I saw some decent bass on beds (3-4# range), but I did not see as many or the size of big fish I expected. Next spring we will probably shock the lake.
My fishing is focused on removing catfish. So far I've taken out two CC that look like clones. The one I weighed went 9.8. I hope there are not 100s of them as I really don't have a way to dispose of them. The only way to make this fun would be bowfishing, but I suspect they would wise up to that game quickly.
We don't have a strategy yet for removing crappie. I saw a thread here about fyke nets which was fascinating. I've caught very few crappie so far on a jig. A project for another day.
Last edited by flippinphil; 04/30/14 04:55 PM.
