Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait RES spawn but seems too early

I got lucky about two months ago and my pond cleared up where I could see maybe 3-4 feet. That is really clear for my pond. That is when I was able to observe the 8" BG and one 8-9" RES on nests. I went out last week with one grandson to clean air diffusers and we could only see maybe 18". Keep in mind, when the vis is 18" a person can only "clearly" see about half that. At 3' vis a person can only see "clearly" at about half that. At the edge of visibility it gets really fuzzy. I was taking video of the BG on nests within a foot of the fish and anything over about 18" all you can make out is a blur. So the fish I was taking video of were solid on the nests.

It is a real trick of patience to see any fish in water that has very low visibility. It was "relatively" easy in 3-4' vis. By relatively I mean I could very slowly crawl on the bottom in 3' of water till I ran across a nesting BG. Initially I would scare it off the nest but by backing up slightly and waiting, it would come back on the nest. There were likely eggs there, but I did not want to disturb things any more than I already was and to see eggs or fry a person almost has to get his mask right up in the nest. Remember, with 3' vis things are actually "clearly" visible at half that. And to see something tiny as eggs you almost have to have your mask 6-8" away. I did not want to disturb the fish that much. When I was snorkeling in a pond at Cape Cod with the LMB and PS on nests, we could see probably 10-12 feet. That allowed us to see the nests enough ahead to approach slowly and could actually see LMB fry above the nest with the nervous male LMB nearby and saw eggs in one PS nest with the male right over the top of them. But with the vis in most ponds you almost have to be right on top of the nests before even knowing they are there.

It takes a lot of patience to see fish in turbid water and the lower the vis, the more likely all you will ever see is the small ones. To see small fish, perch yourself along a bank with your hands on the bottom in about 2-3' of water. Put your hands in front of you so you have something to focus on. Putting some sinking feed or bread or something in front of you helps. Lay there (or sit) without moving and without moving your eyes. After anywhere from a minute to a few minutes (a few minutes seems like an eternity when you can't see anything) small BG will come around just barely in view. After a while you will fell them pecking on your arms or around your mask or hair. Keep still and eventually they will come right up to your face plate and peck on the glass. Anything that is big and round and has eyes (like your mask) looks like something that would eat them. So they are very leery of it. But if you sit there long enough, curiosity gets the better of them (especially small fish - that is why most small fish never get to be big fish) and they will look you over. I don't have any LMB fry yet that I know of, but LMB are actually very curious also. Back when we used to dive/snorkel in the lakes, we could get foot long LMB to come right up to us. But it takes patience. Fish can see you and know of your presence in the water LONG before you ever see them. Usually the only way to see them (in turbid water) is to let them come to you. The exception is if they are on the nest and do not want to leave. Then you can sometimes come upon them by moving VERY slowly. I'm getting long winded again, but it really does take some technique to see fish in turbid water. Much like fishing when the fish are not biting, trying to snorkel in turbid water has to do with patience and technique. Swimming you will never see a fish. It takes staying still and letting them come to you. Only way to see bigger fish in turbid water is if they will come to feed. I had 18" CC coming into within an inch of my go-pro camera by holding it almost on top of some fish food and waiting about 5 minutes in one spot. But this was with 3-4' vis. In the 18" vis we only were able to see a few very small BG. In the 3-4' vis I could dive down to the diffusers and see the bubbles coming out in kind of a "twilight" setting at 9' depth. In the 18" vis it was black, black, black. Had to follow the rope down to the diffuser and clean it by feel. Grandson did not go down there but once.

Differences between 1" RES and CNBG? Good luck with that one. No I can not tell the difference. Sometimes when I get say a dozen fish in the trap and one looks somewhat different, I "think" it may be a RES, but don't really know. When they get up to about 3", then it becomes easier. Still not foolproof (for me a novice), but easier. A lot of times by 2.5-3" there will be a tiny "dot" of orange at the end of the opercular tab. You have to look really close, almost needing a magnifying glass (I should carry one!!! but I don't). Once in a while at 2" you can see it. But at 1"??? Not me. I think it would get down to killing the fish and with a magnifying glass start counting spines and the like to get an ID. I've never tried that.

With the typical 1" opening minnow trap most BG or RES are going to be in the 1" range, maybe 1.5". Up to 2-3" with GSF because of their longer shape. If you clip the wire end out of the minnow trap and make the opening about 2" you can get some larger fish that are easier to identify. Or buy a larger trap or get a crayfish trap. But be advised that with a larger opening the fish get out easier so you have to check the trap 5-15 minutes after baiting. If the fish are attracted by the bait, they will be gone as soon as the bait is eaten. With this larger opening when I put 4 traps a few feet apart, I can almost keep busy just checking #1 and by the time I get done with #4, #1 will again be ready to check. Maybe every 5-10 minutes. I can waste the better part of a day just trapping and viewing small fish. And posting on PBF. Hey, whats retirement for if I can't have a little fun!!!! . "Need" to get out there now.