Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Placing branches down for YP spawn

I was using some trapped FHM for bait when I caught the 30. I was still thinking I had over 1,000 more YP in the pond, so I kept every one.
I continued to use FHM, and worms, but zero hits. Seemed fewer at the feeder also.
I can't recall the exact # of SMB, and HSB I added, but they were stocked October 10. The YP, RES, and GS, were stock back in April. My notes are at the pond. I went with pretty low #s on the SMB and HSB.
I'll look for ribbons pretty soon. After reading your comments, I'm thinking I'm missing about 1,000 YP. I've had kingfishers, GH, and GBH working the pond. I was thinking they were taking FHM, and maybe a few GS, but maybe they cleaned out my YP.

you went low...62 SMB stocked, but I don't recall HSB numbers...

I doubt Kingfishers got many, if any YP....YP like the deeper areas.

FWIW from the experience I've had so far, cormorants are the only bird I've had on my pond that would be a real threat to YP IMO. The GBH and GH seem to stick to shallow water and the king fisher sticks to pretty small fish. The cormorants dive to the bottom and can stay under water an incredible amount of time.

That's what I was hoping. If I'm missing a thousand YP, it'll be the mystery of the century.

Wonder if I had someone come by with a big net, stretched it end to end, and cleaned out the whole pond.

Your pond will be very difficult to seine due to placement of all your fish structure. You may have had poor survival of stocked YP who often sink when they die. I've had a cage of YP die and they were all lying on the bottom.

[quote=Bill Cody]Your pond will be very difficult to seine due to placement of all your fish structure. You may have had poor survival of stocked YP who often sink when they die. I've had a cage of YP die and they were all lying on the bottom.

Very possible. I might have eaten the few remaining YP I had. Oh well. It is what it is. Hate to think they all died after stocking, but that may be the case.
Interesting twist in this thread. I was concerned about too many YP this morning, now I'm hoping for any ribbons at all.

Don't throw in the towel yet. It's barely ice off, let things warm up a bit and I'm bettin you're gonna see some ribbons. They say patience is virtue.

+1

I should have trusted my instincts. I looked at 100s and 100s of dead fish when I received the fish, due to a water issue.
I kept hoping that the rest would be fine. I kept asking why only a few were feeding. I was reassured the rest were feeding below the surface.
Looks like the 30, I foolishly caught and kept, were the sole survivors. Works out to $66 a fish.
The worst part is I've got my grandson all excited to come up and catch 1,000 YP that are supposed to be 10".. I doubt there's 50 left..

Don't get to discouraged just yet. Our yellow perch will not bight through the ice. I do not know why or if we need to use different bait but no go from Nov to a week or two after ice out.

After the ice is out and the water gets warmer and after spawn we can't keep them off the hook.

Cheers Don.

Well, the fact that we were still seeing clouds and clouds of FHM right up until the pond iced over, means that they were not being targeted by predators. Which means to me that no predators were present. Hard to put into words how much this bothers me.
I've wasted a lot of time and money. My thoughts are now to just go to a BG and LMB stocking plan. Just like 99% of the rest of the ponds in Missouri.
I can buy the fish a few miles from the pond, put them in myself, and know they are healthy.

I know you are feeling pretty down man but hang in there. Even if you only have 50 or 100 left, they can spawn this spring and make an incredible number of newbies.

I am confused about the mortality you experienced at initial stocking. You mentioned a water quality issue. Can you provide some more detail on what happened?

Any sign of the HSB and SMB? If yes, are they big enough yet to prey on your adult YP?

I doubt that you caught everyone of the YP that were present in 1 acre. Some were surely in other areas of the pond away from those caught. One well fertilized egg ribbon will provide lots & lots of YP fry who should have high survival if relatively few predators are present. The YP fry will grow very good with lots of minnows present. The presence of lots of minnows means optimal food for remaining fish and new hatchlings. Allow the water to warm up to 50F then 60F. Resume light pellet feeding when water reaches 50F. Then increase amount fed as water approaches 60F or when fish are quickly consuming the initial offering. Build and use a larger fish trap. The number of egg ribbons, the feeding, and trapping will provide a good idea of what fish remain. Don't be discouraged until you are better able to assess your fishery. Don't add LMB until you are positive the YP are not present. A few surviving fish will grow very well and can quickly repopulate a pond that is full of small forage fish (FHM). Have some patience. Use restocking of additional species as a last resort until you can more accurately assess the current fishery.

I agree with Cody.

Cecil saw tons of FHM in his large pond with a healthy population of large YP in it.

Many times I field phone calls from people that fear that they don't have fish in their pond, or that they don't have enough fish in their pond. When the water changes temperature, or when they switch angling tactics, they start seeing or catching fish.

I received a phone call from a fish grower last year. He seined his pond 8 times and was sure that he got all the LMB out of his pond. His fish supplier said that unless the pond was killed with Rotenone, he would not furnish the LMB fingerlings to stock the pond (the grower was growing LMB on contract - he was just furnishing the pond and the labor to feed the fish).

Not only did fingerling LMB float up when I applied the Rotenone, (the LMB spawned at 1 year old, even when stocked at the rate of 5,000 fish per surface acre) there were 10" YP that came up, 3"-4" YP that came up, three 2# - 3# LMB that came up, and this LMB. Now, how did this LMB evade the seine that many times??





Pond owners have to remember, that even though the pond is a fixed size, there is still a LOT of area in a pond for fish to swim in, and then even if you find them, you still have to convince them to bite a baited hook. I can't tell you how many times I've sight fished, dropped a bait (either live or artificial) in front of a fish and they wouldn't open their mouth to take it.

It's my belief that there is no way that you fished all the YP out of your pond.

Regarding that LMB in the picture. Not only did it evade the seine numerous times, it was still able to swim fast enough to catch food, and grow. I think that the fish was stocked that way - the LMB were stocked in the pond 27 months prior to the Rotenone application. Previously the owner grew YP and did not rotenone the pond prior to stocking the LMB - he thought he seined all the YP out of the pond. There were maybe 10-20 YP that were 10"-12" that came up, and a couple hundred in the 3"-4" range when the pond was rotenoned. No other fish species besides those YP and the LMB.

I'll wait to see if I have any egg ribbons before I change any stocking patterns.
The SMB and HSB should be much smaller than the YP and RES, presenting no threat to them.
I'll start the feeder again when water temps hit 50. I never ran the feeder more than 4, one second runs. 90+% of the fish hitting the feed were FHM. They pushed the feed around until eaten, but lots of feed would end up on the bank.

I thought about going to 1 or 2 seconds per day, but there were some YP hitting the feed. I was told that the rest of the 1,100 YP were hitting the feed after it sank.

My perch are exceedingly notorious for not jumping on a hook. Either very hook shy, or they just seem to know. When it comes time for pellets near the dock, I see TONS of them. It is all very aggravating but fun at the same time.

Good call. Surely with all of the knowledgeable guys sayin it's more than likely ya have some YP left, as in Essups experience, ya only need a dozen or so YP ta have a nice spawn.
All of the guys that have encouraged ya ta hang will be expectin ya to have a PB gtg and fish fry July-10-18

If you are seeing floating feed along the pond edges you are feeding too much food. Wasted food usually deteriorates to eventually over fertilize the pond to grow excess FA. Shorten feeder times until no food ends at the shoreline. I don't believe rest of the YP were hitting the feed after it sank. Floating AM-500&600 rarely sinks as evidenced by feed floating to the shoreline. Uneaten AMax will float in my cages for 24 hrs.

Thanks Bill. When I resume feeding I'll try to shorten it. About the only thing I can do is go with one second per day. Either before sunrise, or shortly after sunset.
I was by the pond earlier today. The ice is completely gone. The water temp has climbed to 44 from 36 degrees. No ribbons on any branches. I will be back there on Wednesday, and check temps, and look for ribbons.
I'm still seeing 1,000s and 1,000s of bullfrog tadpoles. They never really hibernated, as I noticed them under the ice.
The pond is surrounded very closely by oaks, hickories, and hard maples. There is quite a layer of leaves on the bottom.
Thanks again

Bob-O, In July, if I have enough YP for a fish fry, I'm going to be one very happy camper, and I will gladly host a PB GTG!
I suspect I had a 90% mortality right after stocking. I'm going to hold off on why I think I had the 90% mortality until it's certain that I do.

Well, even with 90% mort and you hoggin down 30, you should still have around 70.

You still have a BUNCH of natural, easy to eat forage to feed all those YP in your pond also...

I have no doubt the vast majority are fine, and easily hitting that 10" mark, but if not, I'll replace them to your satisfaction!!! I'll be happy to come up there with the cast net and a pole to do a survey...GSH should be nice sized also now.

Seeing lots of FHM is normal also since YP are no where near as aggressive as young LMB. Your FHM will be around for years.

Rainman,

Did you stock the BNM and FHM mix at his place? If I ever get a big enough order for you to deliver to me, make sure you remind me to order some of those guys!