Bill, what u did is similar to my adding the Tp each yr. Takes pressure off the Bg and maybe the TFS. Also similar to adding crawfish to the pond because I see no survival after a month or so after stocking. Cost for the crawfish was $100.00
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Thanks for the input Tracy. I have a lot more vegetation for cover in the pond now so I'm hoping, if I get brood SFS and BNM to make it thru the winter, they will stand a decent chance of getting a sustainable population going. The SFS and BNM were not easy to source and were not cheap. I figure a $100 worth of FHM is a low cost way to try to maybe sway the odds a little in my favor. Guess I will find out.
Thanks guys! I will try to post some pics of some minnow trap samplings in the next couple of weeks to get opinions on what kind of Mutts I've got!
Here's a few pics from the traps. I THINK the potential parents are limited to BG, PS or HBG. I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts on what these are. (Not the best pics but maybe good enough for some opinions). The second fish had a little orange on the opercular flap.
closer and better focus would help for the pictures. The fish are a little small for good identification. My best guess is the 1st & 3rd fish are PS and the 2nd fish is a BG. Did you ever get a chance to make the study of comparing the catches of a bare wire minnow trap versus black coated wire trap?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/05/1609:33 AM.
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Did you ever get a chance to make the study of comparing the catches of a bare wire minnow trap versus black coated wire trap?
I did, but I'll wait for Bill D to answer first.
Esshup,
Carry on please with the report of your study.
My study is on the color of minnow traps, not the type of coating. I have a lot more to do to have any definitive results. I was too busy with "have to" projects at the new place this summer. I'm hoping for more time for "want to" projects like this next summer.
closer and better focus would help for the pictures. The fish are a little small for good identification. My best guess is the 1st & 3rd fish are PS and the 2nd fish is a BG. ...
Thanks Bill!
I had guessed the same on the first two pics. I caught lots of both of those. The third pic had me scratching my head. I caught several that looked like that (not near as many as the other two). They seemed a little more disc shaped and I could not see any orange/red on the flap. I suspect you're right that they're PS, maybe just a different spawn and too small to really identify anyway.
Placed 2 traps side by side. One galvanized, one black.
3 days in a row, galvanized had 20-30 FHM/GHS in it. Black = 0
Definitely an interesting result. Obviously, I have a real interest in this so, of course, I have lots of questions!
Was the black trap one of those "plastic" covered ones? Were the openings the same size and config. in the two traps? (The black traps I've seen have a ring at the opening while the Gee traps I use have exposed wires.) Did you run your tests during the day or night and do you think it would have made a difference? If daytime, sunny day or cloudy? If you trapped in a stream, was one trap always place "upstream" of the other or were they alternated. ..... Any details you can remember would be of interest to me.
Thanks!
Last edited by Bill D.; 11/07/1607:44 PM. Reason: Typo
Multiple days in a pond. Daytime use sunny/cloudy made no difference. Exposed wires at mouth. Lightly coated wire. Same food as bait in all traps. I even bent the mouth to a slit on the black one and still no takers. Traps set at same depth, parallel to shore.
Latest test was today. Same results while the Gee traps had 15-30 FHM/GSH each.
Taking your and Esshup's experience into consideration suggests a hypothesis that a shiny galvanized trap works better as an all purpose trap for all species.... may be worth investigating.
Ewest,
Do you remember anymore about the old article or do you know if there is a way I can find or order a copy? I see no value in me repeating the study on trap color/finish if it has already been done.
Last edited by Bill D.; 11/09/1606:23 PM. Reason: Clarification
PBoss Mag Sep-Oct 2012. 15. Science & The Cutting Edge. BITS AND PIECES. E.West summarizes four articles: Catch efficiency of black vs galvanized minnow traps; Electrofishing effects on bass feeding behavior; Effects of suspended sediments on streams; and Training stocked predator-naïve fish to avoid predators.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Taking your and Esshup's experience into consideration suggests a hypothesis that a shiny galvanized trap works better as an all purpose trap for all species.... may be worth investigating.
Ewest,
Do you remember anymore about the old article or do you know if there is a way I can find or order a copy? I see no value in me repeating the study on trap color/finish if it has already been done.
Thanks to a thoughtful PBF member for sending me a copy, I read the old Cutting Edge article on trap color today.
To paraphrase.... The article supported the hypothesis that a galvanized trap works better as an all purpose trap for all species than a black one does. In their study, the galvanized caught more of every species tested (up to 5 times more of some species) than did a black vinyl coated trap, with the exception of redbelly dace. The article did not go into detail on the testing with the redbelly dace so it is not clear if the black trap was better or equivalent in performance of trapping that species.
A question not addressed was whether it was the black color or the vinyl coating or both that made the fish less likely to enter the black vinyl trap.
My conclusion after reading the article is, if given the opportunity to buy a galvanized trap or a black vinyl coated one, buy the galvanized. This is also supported by Esshup's tests.
The jury is still out in my mind on whether galvanized is the absolute best finish. I think I might still do additional testing using a galvanized trap as the control and evaluate other colors against it.
Last edited by Bill D.; 11/10/1607:27 PM. Reason: Clarification
I've also noticed my Gee traps catch more fish than my black ones. I do have a large black one (4 feet by about 2 feet)that I bought from Dunn's IIRC and that thing catches a lot of fish, even some YP. I don't have a galvanized one that size to compare it to though.
A study of painting several Gee minnow traps each a different color would make a very interesting study to write about for Pond Boss magazine. Many people would benefit from the results.
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