Diligently harvesting lots of algae will help reduce the nutrient basis in the pond. People that harvest lots of FA tell me they see less FA the next year so evidently FA harvest is beneficial.
FA and tilapia. You want your stocker tilapia to be two things; 1. insure males and females. 2. stockers should be 5"-7" so some are big enough to be spawning within 10 days to two weeks. Each fish can eat just so much algae per day. The more FA to be eaten the more individuals that need to be added or you wait longer for them to get the algae under control. I tell people that if they did not get all the algae gone be early August not enough were initially stocked.
There are lakes in southern MI that have reproducing populations of RES. If you really want RES that will survive each year in your pond you should do your homework and take the kids and go fishing. All you would need to get them established would be 4-8 MI adapted RES.
I did a little RES homework for you about Michigan RES.
Following was from a lengthy MDNR report about RES in Michigan.
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fishery/5026204.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
Research studies indicated that growing seasons > 180 frost-free days are optimal for the RES as a species. However, MI fish surveys have shown that several redear sunfish populations in Michigan have thrived for the past 40 years in areas having an average of only 150 to 160 days of frost-free growing season.
Table 3 compares average sizes and the largest individuals captured in trap net surveys in 30 lakes where redear sunfish have been documented as present for at least five years prior to the survey. Of these lakes, 86.2% had 10-in or larger redear sunfish present in survey catches, but only 10.3% had any bluegills of that size and none contained 10-in pumpkinseeds. The average size of redear sunfish in these trap net surveys was 8.7 in (Table 3), which was more than two inches longer than a similar figure for either bluegills or pumpkinseeds (6.6 in and 6.5 in, respectively). Similarly, the largest individual of each species in the catch greatly favors redear sunfish with an average of 10.3 in, compared to 8.8 in for bluegills and 7.6 in for pumpkinseeds. These lakes have had dramatic changes in panfish population structure and angler opportunity.
Over 40 new redear sunfish fisheries have been established in southern Lower Michigan since an intensive stocking effort began in 1984.
One of the best records of RES success occurred in 1989 during a spring fish survey of Big Portage Lake, Jackson County when 194 redear sunfish were captured averaging 8.6 inches in length. This lake was first stocked in the fall of 1985 with 1.8 inch fingerlings. Other similar successes have occurred in Lower Brace Lake, Calhoun County; Saubee Lake, Eaton County; Baw Beese and Cub Lakes, Hillsdale County; Clear, Gilletts, Grass, and Lime Lakes, Jackson County; and Joslin, North, and Silver Lakes, Washtenaw County (Table 1).
Michigan fishery surveys have found pumpkinseed populations co-existing with redear sunfish in lakes that have had large redear sunfish populations for several decades. Fish populations in Lake George, Silver Lake, and Coldwater Lake in Branch County and in Crooked Lake in Washtenaw County are good examples.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/02/22 08:42 PM.
