Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Scientists predict that climate change will increase Winter snow in New York. Seems the recent weather is consistent with that prediction.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/94702.html#:~:text=More%20Rain%20and%20Snow,storm%20events%20and%20heavier%20downpours.

The problem is that heavier single-event snowfalls will become more common, but the consistent cold and snow cover we enjoy will not. Being a skiing family and enjoying the snow, at least for the first two months, it is hard to think about the changes. Changes have already occurred as we used to have a vibrant snowmobile community with a large network of trails. That is becoming a much more difficult to keep going. Least of which is the expense of newer snowmobiles and the fewer days on which they can be used.

Seem to recall articles claiming that snow was just a thing of the past. Whatever is scariest & gets grant money, I guess.

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts," according to Nobel Laureate Richard Feynmann This is especially true when professional prestige and grant money are at stake. I'll take observational evidence any day.

PS For those who wish to pursue this, I recommend checking out https://junkscience.com/2020/12/wrong-again-2020s-failed-climate-doomsaying/

That is all I've got to say on this topic in this venue. Back to ponds & fish!

Ever hear of Dunning-Kruger effect? We are all susceptible. I am not climate expert. Love to hear from someone who is. FYI - I initially dismissed global warming because I did not like the leftist rhetoric, but accepting science does not mean agreeing with political policies which do not necessarily directly follow from that science.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Follow The Money. Our climate has always changed from the beginning of time to now. Coruption and politics go hand in hand. It's always about the money. Like Frank said. "thats all I have to say about it". Now, can we get back to our ponds?

My Great grand daughter who is 5 went with me for a little fishing at the pond. She had her Barbie fishing pole, a bobber and some bait, a peace of pink plastic worm on her jig The first Bg she caught she was asking for help because of the fight in the fish. I told her she could do it don't give up keep reeling. It was a whopper of a bg at or around a pound. After she landed it she just wanted to touch it. We continued our fishing where she caught another 4 or 5 bg, not as big as the first but still nice sized bg. The attention of a 5 yr old does not last long so we kept 4 of the largest and cooked them up for dinner. The only downside of this is i did not take any pics but i won't forget the fishing trip and i am hoping she wont forget it either.

So glad she caught fish, Tracy! We need to encourage the next generation to enjoy outdoor sports like hunting & fishing, that's for sure. I particularly hate the perception that girls somehow aren't supposed to be hunters or fishermen. Good for you!

My daughter who became an optometrist has always loved fishing and hunting both. She has offshore fished and caught many large red snapper, king, ling, mahi-mahi’s and a tuna. This year dear hunting with a bow she took a 10 pt scoring 130 . Very proud of her!

All I have is girls (4) and they all fish. The older two hunt also younger ones not quite ready for that. Heres a picture of the oldest at Myrtle beach. We went 42 nautical miles offshore. Had a blast.

RStringer, 4 girls and I am asuming 1 wife? Whew! That is alot of Women under one roof. I am on my second one (wife that is) and 1 daughter along with one grand daughter and two great grand daughters. But never all of them under one roof. I have loved them all, but if you can keep all of them happy you are a better man than me

Was all under one roof til last 2 years. Oldest moved out and ended up with grandbaby which is a girl also ggrr. Still dont wanta think bout how tht happened. Oh man do I love all of them. My mom blames me for being a ladies man (mothers). Always has a soft spot for the ladies😉. Dont remember making them all happy at the same time (wife n kids) lol. Yes one wife also lol oh man couldnt imagine tryin 2 make more than one wife happy. Wife did smart off one day askin if I would want another wife. Laughed so hard I bout cried (hell no).

P.S. they are all spoiled rotten along with the wife. I have created monster (lord help me).

Nice fish !

It has been a very mild winter around here so far, and a little extra warm the last few days. When I went over to the pond yesterday I saw a few frogs, so I thought I'd throw a few handfuls of feed out and see if anything came up but I never saw anything. I went back today it was even warmer and I saw a frog again so I threw out a little more food. Much to my surprise I had a lot of takers today. It wasn't an all out feeding frenzy but I would see as many as 4 or 5 BG at a time and at least 1 every 5-10 seconds. I only had a few handfuls with me and was wishing I had more,and I know the fish was wishing I had more. Lol!

I did not do much at the pond yesterday but my daughter called and said a bird flew down and grabbed a bg then flew around the pond to show off the catch. I laughed and told her about our resident Osprey. She also said she has seen two Bald Eagles hanging around the pond. I told her I was aware of one but not two. She is now building a home at the land and seeing what she called National Geographic pictures at the pond.

What a great experience for her !!!
Big smile for dad I am sure also.

Too cold to be at pond and fixin to be real cold (3) .have no clue what to expect after this is over with. Wondering if there will be a fish kill since there is no ice yet. Been 25-27 for the last 3 days .

Still no ice on pond even though it’s been in the mid 20s for 4-5 days. Going down to 11 tonight and snowing now so probably will be some soon

I walked on the water.

As John said above, I also walked on water, as did my wife...with shovels at -4F attempting to scoop several open areas on top of ice clear of 6" of snow for some sunlight as today was the first day of any sun in 12 days but snow was last night so I hope it makes a difference.
edit; right now, 11:32pm MT, it's -19F.. Been a long time since we've had anything this Brutal, maybe 40+ years. Hope you all the best, stay warm peeps.

Our 18" of snow turned to about 6" on the pond ice. Top 3" of the ice is solid white, so I don't think shoveling here will do much good. I may go cut a hole over the deep diffuser and run it for a few hours to see how fast it will remove the 6" of ice that is over it. At the very least it should bring water up and out of the hole to melt snow - maybe.....

If it cools the water enough to kill the RES that are in the pond, I know of a guy that can get me more. LOL

How in the world do you guys deal with this kind of cold every year! I’ve only seen single digit temps once in my 69 years. Guess it’s the freezing rain @ 22 degrees that’s so tuff here and no electricity for days on end that’s the bummer.....

Our water temps here prior to this cold snap were in or around 50 depending on where and what time of the day I checked the surface temps. And this morning woke up to a 5" snow. Not sure where the water temps will go but I suspect there will be some survival of the lmb and cnbg. I am guessing the water temps will drop down to the low 40's and then right back up to the 50's by next weekend. Most snow I have seen here since about 1982 pr 83. Do you guys really expect to lose our cnbg and flmb?

LOL, it's called winter clothes. Just like us asking you how ya'll deal with the 100+°F temps. There's only so many clothes I can take off before the neighbors start to get offended.

In your location and with current forecast (short term) most fish will be ok. The water temps at depth should not change more than a few degrees. Flas are at more risk than others. Flas have survived winters in OK with snow cover for 2 weeks. There was around 25 % mortality IIRC. Further north more mortality up to 100% in Wisc and Ill .

I don't know about FLMB in cold water, but I suspect they will tolerate it fine...Coppernose will suffer badly if even a thin icing over occurs. I imagine Arkansas hatcheries will lose almost all their supply this week...unless they are pumping water into the ponds