Originally Posted By: canyoncreek
SetterGuy, DING DING, here comes the next generation of striped fuselage YP!! Way to go!

I wonder if the oak leaves do something to get the perch to spawn early. I know they are brown and probably attract heat but so are the maple leaves. I have heavy layer of oak leaves in the shallows of my pond and they tend to put the eggs right on the oak leaves way in the shallow water and swim right by the branches that I nicely left for them.

We have had very nice sunny days, a bit brisk with the wind and cold nights. I'm hoping the YP will hold off a bit yet but I expect I'll see a ribbon in the next 7days if this weather holds up. We would be early too if we get them before April 1st.


CC, I hope I'm getting good recruitment from these YP ribbons. I'm a little concerned that the fry really get hammered by the GSH. Would it be a good idea to put screens around the ribbons for a while? I've just been letting nature take its course for the last three springs. Seems like I'm getting more HBG (which I hoped wouldn't reproduce) and GSH, than I am catching YP. I remove every HBG I catch.
Just wondering if there's anything I can do to help survivability of the YP fry. Unfortunately they are laying these ribbons as far as they can from all the structure I've put in the pond.

I have a digital thermometer at the farm. I'll lay that in next to the ribbon and see what the water temp is right there. I'll bet it is warmer on those oak leaves. They ignore my branches also.

Ewest, I got my latest issue of PB mag yesterday. I hope to have time to actually read some of it tonight.

Thx,
Jeff

Last edited by SetterGuy; 03/20/18 11:16 AM.
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023