Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species 5 pound brook trout!

OH yeah but it didn't kill them outright. Several came to the surface and I netted them. Could have made it but I netted them up just in case they went didn't and went to the bottom and died later. Turns out come spring I had about 25 that weren't effected a all.

Found out later PP is a bad idea in really hard water.

Still don't agree I've killed "a lot of fish."

And yes what about all the fish you harvested? They are not still alive. You killed them, just not by accident. As always - It all depends!

I assumed we were talking about unintentional deaths when you said:

Assuming often gets one into trouble. You were assuming the negative. Sometimes one can learn as much or more by successfully raising a fish then harvesting it (killing) than you can by the unintentional deaths.

I agree Bill!

How many people take a dead fish and cut it apart (and really look at it vs. cutting it apart to put in a pan)? If Cecil didn't do that to his dead fish, how would he learn about fatty tissue build up, etc.?

Observation, and thinking about what you observed is a huge part of all aspects of pond management. Pond management is also fish management, and I think Cecil has a very good handle on that.

Of course you guys are right. However I have a long way to go until I've killed as many fish as some I know. I try and cover all the bases and anticipate problems. You've got to think like a fish. My wife says I smell that way at times too!

Cecil, do you think that the winter cage kill was due to the old fashioned square cages you insisted on using?

Yeah I should have listened to the perch. They kept telling me they wanted cages like Bill Cody's!

Bob, I've overwintered fish in non-trash can cages and haven't really seen any morts that were beyond what I'd expect.

I've only had it happen once in about 10 years.

How about the grass carp?

Bob-O likes poking with a 'stick'. LOL

Cecil, I had a few die in the cage, but nothing out of the ordinary. I expect to see a few morts here and there, it's the nature of the beast. Just like any species, some individuals die at all different ages, and I don't expect fish to be any different.

Honestly, I don't think we see many of the fish that die in the ponds due to the cleanup crew. We see more in cages because the cleanup crew is excluded.

Yeah, but Bob's stick isn't that pointy. (thankfully)

I guess my memory is faulty. I thought I saw not only several dead grass carp in the cage but several covered with fungus.

Cody said: ""Bob-O likes poking with a 'stick'. LOL""
Bill, in the eye if possible.

Cecil, there were a couple of dead ones. None had fungus. I've had a higher % of morts with BG in the cage.