Another first. I was fishing with 5 inch shiner under a cork for CC and snagged this SMB. Haven't caught one since stocked. I didn't get a weight cause I wanted to get it back in the pond but seemed to be healthy at 14.25 inches. Great fighter and I'm looking forward to catching it again when it grows up to a nice 18 incher!
Lots of firsts for us this week with PS, SMB and a couple of 13+ inch WE as well. My bride also caught a nice 16 inch LMB. Nice to see the hard work paying off!
Your SMB are big enough that you now should have more than one dozen smallies. Look for signs of young ones. If you do fish trapping SMB readily enter fish traps.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Mark at Jonah's aquarium wrote the following in reply to my request for grass shrimp availability:
I have access to brood stock, but I don't currently have a pond I can harvest shrimp from. I've been talking to Bill Dill and he said there is some interest among the forum members in this species. Is there a thread on there that I should be following? Can you give me some info about what Fattigs and others have been charging for this species? I'm interested in growing them. Just need more info. FYI, the vegetation is very important for shrimps for habitat and for food. I make and can supply fine mesh dipnets for folks to use to sample their ponds to see if shrimp and other creatures are in there: http://jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite/netdipnet.htm Feel free to share that on the forum if you like. Thanks!
Mark Binkley
Can anyone answer his questions about how Carol Fattig used to price her shrimp? What PondBoss forum threads would we recommend he follow?
Good article in the latest PB Mag about grassshrimp.
You r right Dave, wished I had some vegies for them to hang around in and a place for them to grow. But only FA in my pond right now and too many bg and res in there and no place for them to hide. Kinda a sucks
Tracy
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Your SMB are big enough that you now should have more than one dozen smallies. Look for signs of young ones. If you do fish trapping SMB readily enter fish traps.
Have to laugh. A year or so back one of the pros told me that SMB would most likely not spawn in a small puddle like mine so when I had a chance to pick up a few SMB to ladder stock yesterday I put in 4 at 7+ inches and 1 at 10+
I hope you're right Bill. I only have minnow traps and haven't seen any yet. I still have at least 3 LMB as well but no sign of recruits. I wonder with the predators we have in the pond if there will be any significant number of recruits even if the LMB or SMB do spawn. We caught several 9 to 10 inch YP and a couple 13.5+ inch WE last week on 3 inch GSH. I would think those YP and WE would like small bass the same as GSH. I guess time will tell. If we have some recruits they should show up on a hook next summer.
PS - I know we had at least 3 mature LMB at spawn time this year as we've caught a 15, 15.5 and a 16 in the last couple weeks. We harvested the 15 and it was a female.
Our harvest 2016 update would not be complete without showing how the SF (other than the PS) are doing. We are catching several around this size with a few bigger. Also seeing at least three size classes smaller. Kept a couple as my bride needed them to barbecue for a Thai dish she was making.
As Hank Hill would say, "Dammit Bill" most of your post make me hungry. Nice FAT BG, congrats on a lot of diligent effort coming to fruition. Next yr will be better.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
Thanks for the encouragement Bob! We have taken a lot of Rw measurements this summer on our fish and they have all fallen within 97 to 108. I suspect that guy would have been in that range as well. I was pleased to see even the PS from a few posts back was nice and chunky. I only supplemental feed around 3 cups of food once a day for my own entertainment. The fish look healthy to this uneducated eye so I figure they are doing ok. I give most of the credit to the vegetation, rip rap, etc in the pond providing the habitat for the food chain.
I know my little Mutts can't compare to a lot of you guys with 130%+ Rw but I'm happy with them.
Last edited by Bill D.; 09/26/1608:44 PM. Reason: Clarification
Update....Harvest 2016 is drawing to a close on our pond. Still having the best luck catching the few remaining large CC on bait fish. My bride accidentally gut hooked a 4 inch BG yesterday. She put it under a cork, tossed it out and traded it in for a 24.5 inch 5 pound 8 ounce CC. Still have 4 or 5 more CC and at least one more LMB I would like to get out this fall.
Mark at Jonah's aquarium wrote the following in reply to my request for grass shrimp availability:
I have access to brood stock, but I don't currently have a pond I can harvest shrimp from. I've been talking to Bill Dill and he said there is some interest among the forum members in this species. Is there a thread on there that I should be following? Can you give me some info about what Fattigs and others have been charging for this species? I'm interested in growing them. Just need more info. FYI, the vegetation is very important for shrimps for habitat and for food. I make and can supply fine mesh dipnets for folks to use to sample their ponds to see if shrimp and other creatures are in there: http://jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite/netdipnet.htm Feel free to share that on the forum if you like. Thanks!
Mark Binkley
Can anyone answer his questions about how Carol Fattig used to price her shrimp? What PondBoss forum threads would we recommend he follow?
I was happy to see I still have several SFS and BNM this fall after my spring stocking. In an effort to help get them thru the winter till next spring's spawn, I dropped 10 pounds of FHM into my little puddle in the last week as easy catch diversions for my predator gauntlet to minimize the pressure on my desired forage. I have no idea if 2000 to 3000 FHM will help but I figure it can't hurt! My thinking is that I've read lots of posts about how hard it is to introduce a new species to a mature pond and thought I would try using cheap bait fish to "muddy" the water for the predators.
Anybody have any thoughts or experience on using a "diversion" strategy to preserve a species while trying to get it established?