Forums36
Topics41,119
Posts559,694
Members18,592
|
Most Online3,612 Jan 10th, 2023
|
|
11 members (FishinRod, Pat Williamson, catscratch, Bigtrh24, Boondoggle, Tinylake, Theo Gallus, lmoore, Sunil, Abaggs, esshup),
879
guests, and
160
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
Caught another good sized bass this week. This one was around 4lbs - a bit smaller that the other big bass I've previously caught in the pond. It seems like the bass in pond are either 1lb and under or over 4lbs - my theory is that once they get big enough to eat crappie and perch they put on mass quickly but the smaller bass have had a hard time getting to that size in past due to lack of small forage. The smaller bass I've caught lately seem to be getting a bit bigger as the bluegill forage is increasing.
Last edited by nvcdl; 08/15/19 11:20 AM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
Caught a nice chunky 2lb bass today - first bass of this size I've caught in pond. Previously had only caught 1lb and below and 4lbs and bigger. Think my stocking of blugills is improving the forage situation in the pond. Have stocked 575 4"to 5" bluegills and about 600 smaller ones since this spring.
Number of strikes & of bass I catch is still rather low. Hope to stock 100 F1 fingerlings next year in late spring/early summer to improve numbers/genetics. Might also stock some HSB to thin out the crappie.
Last edited by nvcdl; 09/25/19 07:06 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,106 Likes: 291
Moderator Lunker
|
Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,106 Likes: 291 |
It will be interesting to see if any of thosef1 fingerlings survive predation
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
I agree with Dave and would suggest you find some that are in the 10 to 14" sized lmb to stock. And look for a lmb spawn to get the lmb numbers up.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
It will be interesting to see if any of thosef1 fingerlings survive predation I figure if I put in 100 fingerlings I might reasonably expect 20 to become full grown bass.
Last edited by nvcdl; 09/26/19 10:31 AM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
I agree with Dave and would suggest you find some that are in the 10 to 14" sized lmb to stock. And look for a lmb spawn to get the lmb numbers up. If there was a good source of F1 bass this size I might go this route. Don't know of anyone who can deliver full grown F1 bass for a reasonable price.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
Reasonable price? I am no expert that's for sure but I would think growing out any fish for sale may not be reasonable to one but to another it might be reasonable. You might look to Bob Lusk or you could subscribe to the PB Magazine where you can get a resource guide for most all pond things. As I said I am no expert. But I can pass along some of my personal experience for example. When I originally stocked fingerling lmb we did 85 per acre in a pond with bg/res/Tp/TFS. And had what I thought was low survival of the lmb fry. that set me back a year I think. If I was to add lmb fry to a pond with predators I would want a lot of vegetation cover and hope they might be able to hide in it. I would also double the amount of lmb fry but " hay " like I said I am no expert.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
Reasonable price? I am no expert that's for sure but I would think growing out any fish for sale may not be reasonable to one but to another it might be reasonable. You might look to Bob Lusk or you could subscribe to the PB Magazine where you can get a resource guide for most all pond things. As I said I am no expert. But I can pass along some of my personal experience for example. When I originally stocked fingerling lmb we did 85 per acre in a pond with bg/res/Tp/TFS. And had what I thought was low survival of the lmb fry. that set me back a year I think. If I was to add lmb fry to a pond with predators I would want a lot of vegetation cover and hope they might be able to hide in it. I would also double the amount of lmb fry but " hay " like I said I am no expert. If you have enough money you can get someone to do almost anything. However it is difficult to find grown northern bass from a supplier in Virginia much less F1 bass. The only sources I've found with F1 bass only have fingerlings (guys in NC with a fish truck or can get them shipped from various sources). If I was going to add adult bass I'd only add about 20. I'm in no rush - the bass in the pond currently seem to be doing better as I've added forage and using fingerlings will give the bluegills a chance to multiply while the bass population is low.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
|
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
I understand and have done something similar this past spring where I added 300 two to 3" RES into my pond where there are some large lmb and HSB. I have no clue if any of them survived but I have quite a bit of vegetation along the shoreline so my thinking was they would have a place to hide and grow larger. Like you, my thinking was maybe 10% might make it. It was not a lot of money so I thought what the heck. Sometimes we southern guys have trouble locating fish for stocking. There is a Yellow Perch that lives in Florida waters. I would like to get some of those and see if they might survive here in E. Texas. Problem is, no suppliers that I can find.
Last edited by TGW1; 09/28/19 06:07 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,736 Likes: 290
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,736 Likes: 290 |
I also think that cover is very important. While my curly-leaf pondweed now seems under control from papershell crayfish, I think its presence earlier allowed just 12 2-3" LCS to grow and reproduce into a substantial population (based on the number washing out the tube during heavy rain events). These were added after YP were already reproducing young large enough to eat them.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
I also think that cover is very important. While my curly-leaf pondweed now seems under control from papershell crayfish, I think its presence earlier allowed just 12 2-3" LCS to grow and reproduce into a substantial population (based on the number washing out the tube during heavy rain events). These were added after YP were already reproducing young large enough to eat them. Yes - I think an established pond with cover may offer more opportunities for fish to survive. I recently stocked 10lbs of FHM in hopes that some will survive and spawn (in addition to providing temporary forage).
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,736 Likes: 290
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,736 Likes: 290 |
Wish bluntnose minnows were more available as an alternative that has a better chance of survival.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
Update: pond is doing well after one year of management. Have seen at least 3 different 4-6lb bass cruising shoreline at various times and the bass I'm catching are not as skinny as they were last spring. The bluegill are feeding well and looking fat. I've stocked about 25lbs of shiners so far this year and plan to add 50lbs more this week.
The crappie are a bit bigger this year but the bite has been hit and miss as temps keep fluctuating. I'm keeping all the ones I catch and hope that adding GS to the pond will help increase forage for all the predators.
Bass numbers are still on low side - think there had been a lot of caniblization by the bigger bass when forage was short. Also think the otters may have been hitting pond hard in previous years. Figure this year will focus on increasing forage and hopefully will add some F1 fingerlings in June to improve the genetics for larger size.
Last edited by nvcdl; 04/14/20 05:01 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,554 Likes: 290
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
|
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,554 Likes: 290 |
Good to hear of the improved conditions.
No question that big LMB eat their smaller relatives.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5
|
OP
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 210 Likes: 5 |
So far no luck obtaining F1 fingerlings.
That said I've seen a number of fingerlings that have survived the spawn this year. Interesting how much they vary in size.
Pond was a mess for most of June and first half of July as 2-4 D herbacide nuked most of vegatation and it slowly rotted and had matts of FA. Now a bit of watershield has recovered but pond is 95% open water. Threw in some bush piles along shallow end shore to provide extra cover for small forage.
Crappie numbers seem way down - have pulled out about 40 this year. Tried to get some the last couple days and only caught one 7" one
Bass fishing is slighly faster then last year - typically can catch 2-4 in an hour of fishing but until recently didn't take any good ones - removing the weeds seems to have changed up their pattern. In last couple weeks took a couple good 4lb+ bass fishing off structure I sank in about 6-8' of water (tho the bass seemed a bit higher in water column). Caught a 4lb 12oz bass today on my ultralight rod - was quite fun. Luckily have 10lb braid installed on it.
Last edited by nvcdl; 08/12/20 05:54 PM.
|
|
|
Moderated by Bill Cody, Bruce Condello, catmandoo, Chris Steelman, Dave Davidson1, esshup, ewest, FireIsHot, Omaha, Sunil, teehjaeh57
|
|