If you aerate 24/7 through the winter, might want to check out some of the old winter aeration threads concerning super cooling your pond. Some move the diffuser to shallow water in the winter to keep water open but to leave a warm water refuge in the deeper portion of the pond. You may already do that.
Now that's what I'm talking about and something I would not have known about. Great point and very much appreciated. Thank you for the tip. I will definitely research this.
Originally Posted By: cb100
Good to see another retired ibew electrician I am a member of ibew#180 I also got my property with pond as a place to enjoy our self. But my place is not quite as beautiful as yours. But I am working on it.
I'm a member of local 665 and it served me well as I did it. A well paid job, with the added benefits of pensions and health care.
Food plots made a big difference on the numbers of deer we see. My neighbor has a hay field next door that he cuts 3 times a year for his beef cattle. In the winter months when they are "yarded" up, we have seen as many as 60 come out of our woods and gravitate toward the hay field every evening. The food plots I put in just slow them down a little on their way to the hay field. It lets me take some great photos of the deer, and decide all summer long which one I want to harvest once hunting season begins. I usually take my time and pass on many before I finally take one. I use to take two, but we do not eat enough to justify taking two, so one perfect sized doe without a fawn that is one and half years old. Finding one without a fawn is the tough part. It makes them tougher to see than nice bucks. I let bucks walk and passed on both of the bucks above, although my neighbor could not resist the 10 point who was 3 I believe. It would have been nice to see what he would have looked like at age 5 or 6. Oh well, I can't really blame him as it was a very nice buck.
This pic shows 12 of 20 and was taken on Jan 2nd, one day after 3 months of hunting. The field the other side of the pine trees is the hay field they feed in. This spot in our yard is where I planted a bunch of different sweet clover and perennials they like. Almost as much fun watching as hybrids feeding.
The smaller food plot on the back side of the pond. This pic was from last year one day after hunting season closed.
Originally Posted By: anthropic
Wonderful pics! I've got deer too and hopefully will get them in close by planting rye grass.
Have you had any issues with Canada Geese and/or cormorants?
Yes on the geese, and no on the cormorants. I've had 2 varieties of mergansers I've chased off which also works on the geese. There are huge numbers of geese that winter on a nearby river/wetland area, and we have the occasional pair show up now and then in the spring. I nip it in the bud, by chasing them off as soon as they land. My constant view of the pond out the window of my man cave lets me see the entire pond and though the geese are fun to see. One pair, will lead to a few dozen making the shoreline a proverbial slip and slide. I just go out the door and holler at them a bit, and sometimes have to walk toward the other end of the pond, but they get the idea.
The prior owner had told me of an otter that he had, that took some patience before he was able to shoot it. I've not seen any or signs of any yet, but I'm aware of them and just like the blue heron, it will not be allowed to set up shop.
Muskrat were a making a mess of the pond and in 17', I trapped 15 of them out of the pond from late spring through fall using colony traps. I've caught bluegill, perch, and bass in these same traps and all are very happy when I release them when checking the traps. I even caught a 20 lb. + snapper out of the pond last year using a live trap. I did not want to see the baby wood ducks start disappearing. He got relocated to a wetland river system a few miles away.
This last spring we had a barred owl perched overlooking the pond. Normally nocturnal, she was abandoning her normal nocturnal instincts with mouths to feed back at the nest. I was taking a bunch of pics of her and watched her observing squirrels, rabbits, and other birds. After about 45 minutes perched, she finally made her choice and it pleased me no end. She flew down and landed on top of a muskrat and just held it submerged at the waters edge for a few seconds. I was amazed at how quickly she dispatched it, and then flew back with it to the hollowed out tree where she has her nest and waiting owlets. We avoided the area all summer to give her and her owlets some privacy. I did not catch nearly as many muskrat this last year as the prior year, and I'm assuming it was because of our friend, the owl. So cool to be able to take photos of her. We will occasionally have a Bald Eagle grab bass from the pond and fly off. Very cool to see. I did not know that owls could do the same with their talons as eagles, but I watched that owl do just that in the deeper section of the pond. It was not as graceful as the Eagle, and it almost looked like she might go swimming, but she got a bass about a foot long. I think her technique for this type of grab with the talons needs perfecting.
She got the job done before the auto focus kicked in. Stupid auto focus.
Large snapper relocated to a river wetland area about 5 miles away. As a plus, these same two live traps for snappers were used in the garden as the raccoons were decimating our sweet corn. They ruined 6 rows, 120' long. I used mini marsh mellows in a tuna tin and caught 8 of them over a two week period late August, early September last year. 8' fencing did not slow them down at all.
Hybrid bluegill bed made by male in spring of '17. No females came to join him. This is when I decided to restock.
Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I love the pond and like the line from "A River Runs Through It", "I am haunted by waters." I look forward to learning here, as well as seeing what others have done to improve their ponds. I was browsing a thread that mentioned perch in the 17" class. Let me tell you, that raised my eyebrows. As the new page in our life with the country home and pond opens, I find myself reborn and inspired. I play guitar, and although I gave up playing bars in the early 80's, it's still a huge part of my life. I cannot tell you how many times, while recording in my studio, I've looked over the top of my monitor and viewed another Marty Stauffer moment at the pond. I have to stop recording, put down the guitar, and start taking pics. I've taking pics of almost 70 different species of birds from inside my man cave. Mich has about 120 of which I've seen almost 70 without leaving the house. Love the pond.
Kingfisher
Speaking of threads, here is my "pond gun". An 1855 Harpers Ferry civil war musket that has been handed down in my family for generations. It was used by my great, great, grandfather in the Civil war.
Aside from fishing, another huge part of my life is playing guitar which I took up at age 11 afer seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. Here's a vid of a cover by one of my fave guitarists.
