Snub - By my math 10 SMB into a 1/20 ac pond equates to 200 bass per acre in a RES forage pond. Does this mini-pond also have GSF it it? My math also suggests that your 1/20 ac pond is close to 45'x45'. What is the average water clarity in this limestone rock shoreline mini-pond?
It will be very interesting to see the progress for this pond. Keep us well updated.
Yes Bill that is too many for that tiny pond. I will not leave them all in there. But right now there are loads of GS and some late spawn RES and GSF. So should have plenty to eat over the winter.
My thinking was let a high density of them clean up the minnow population and the smallest of the RES and GSF fry, then move what I can catch out.
I fished this pond really heavy for a few weeks and removed all the larger GSF I could catch earlier this fall. Got to where I could not catch any, so I think they were thinned out pretty well. I did catch one 5" one with a cast net later proving you can never get them all. I also trapped with 4 minnow traps (two with larger openings) and caught what I could of the GSF fingerlings down to a point where I was hardly catching any. After having caught that many GSF I had come to the conclusion I was going to draw it down next spring, siene it and nuke it.
Then I remembered I had a cast net and started using it. After having caught hundreds of 3" RES (and a few smaller ones indicating the later spawn) I decided the GSF had not totally gained control like I had thought. It was about this time I found out I was going to get some SMB for my RES dedicated one acre pond. After having ordered 50 (what Bob had recomended) and thinking about the cost of delivery, I called the supplier and increased it to 100.
So what I ended up doing was purposely over stocking both ponds. Both have very good minnow populations. I will let the SMB grow to hopefully around a foot in length by next fall and catch the excess and transfer them to my main 3 acre pond and let them grow out there as a bonus pan fish, knowing they will not do exceptionally well or reproduce in that pond with LMB already there.
At that time of transfer, I will decide how many ultimately to leave in that 1/20th acre pond. If I can get my SMB sexing skills up to speed, ideally I would catch all I could, tag a couple of the best males and females, and just leave a couple breeding pairs in the pond hoping to raise some SMB fingerlings for supplemental stocking elsewhere. Hopefully the over stocked 10 6-10" ones in the mean time will utilize most of the mass of minnows in that pond and clean up the biomass a little more than my attemps at line fishing, traps and cast net.
At least that is the latest iteration of "the plan". Finding and removing hundreds of fingerling RES and getting the SMB this fall rather than next year kind of put my "plans" into advanced mode. Which is kind of exciting.
Water clarity ranges from 12" (VERY fertile) to its clearest this fall of a couple feet. Only cover is one very small cedar against the bank and 3 pallet structures for FHM, all removable. FHM pretty much gone though. Lots of GS.
I am fully open to suggestions. Nothing is set in stone. For me the journey is the destination so this little pond is just an experiment for my entertainment.
