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

Otters delenda est!

My buddy caught 20 LMB in 24 casts off the dock this morning using a four inch worm. They were busting threadfin shad and biting anything, he had a great time! Largest 5 lb, several 3s, most in 1 to 2lb range. Ten harvested.

Water about 2 1/2 feet low, but fish taking feed enthusiastically. They really enjoy cooler temps. No HSB this time, but I think that's coming soon.

Bush hogging nearly done, much easier to get around the pond now. Electro survey next week, hopefully we can cull a bunch & get a better idea of how things are going in low water conditions. No forage pond this year, sad to say.

Remember when you were worried about your pond not producing big bass to your satisfaction?

I think a little more time and effort are going to get you to your goals!

Can't wait to see your shock survey results.

In Fall LMB go on a feeding binge to add fat reserves for winter (like a bear).

My daughter's environmental science teacher has the kids following a website from Katmai Park in Alaska to teach that very concept.

The "after" pics of the bears look like the football-shaped fish that some people on Pond Boss are raising.

Fat Bear Week

I forgot that the better bear pics are in their Flickr album. (If anyone wants to see some comically fat bears.)

Album of Fat Bears

Ive been to Katmai National park and watched the bears, I forgot again that they name a lot of them and track them for yrs. Great place!

Can I get an ID on this ? Out of lake Lewis.

Rusto,

I can't get that jpg to open on my computer.

Fin clipped 100 CNBG from Harbin in Oklahoma and tossed them in my pond. Put YP from Snipe (from Colorado) that will go to Bill Cody in the Spring as long as he can segregate them from his other YP, more CNBG and some SMB from Snipe in one of Cecil Baird's 1/10 acre ponds that I had seeded earlier this year with 100# of GSH and 50# of White River Crawfish. Stocked another of his 1/10th acre ponds with 100 SMB from Snipe. Will be tossing roughly 50# of FHM into each of those ponds in about 10 days. Will spray watermeal on my pond with Clipper tomorrow.

If the pond was full, where the truck is parked, it would be in 5'-6' of water........


Watermeal on the pond..... The water level should be up to the green on the island. The pond at full pool is almost 1.25 acres. Right now it is at 0.6 acres. Still have about 14' water depth.


The gangplank should be parallel with the ground..... The post at the end of the pier closest to me where I was standing to take the picture? The top of the post should be even with the top of the deck of the pier.


Here's some pics of the CNBG that were stocked. I fin clipped them so I can tell if they survive the winter, or if they die, and if they survive, then I can tell the stockers from the offspring.




^^ Same fish

These last 2 pics are the same fish. To give you an idea of size, this last fish is 7" long.....

Hopefully all of those newly stocked fish know how to perform a rain dance!

I suspect if they had a couple of rain dance parties, they would be even happier in their new homes.

Trying the picture again from above. Just a fish id.

Rusto,

Still blank to me. (Could be my computer failing to open the file correctly.)

Scott, glad ya made it home!
Thanks for the help while you were here, enjoyed the time we got to spend together.

I can't see it either.

It was great seeing your operation! Maybe you can find a way to thin the rattlesnake population?? LOL

I am pretty sure that Snipe could de-fang them and sell them as specialty "rattlin' super-sized worms" designed to catch flatheads over 50#!

P.S. I DO NOT volunteer to be the guy that catches and holds the specialty worms while Snipe applies the needle-nosed pliers.

Aww come on! Just hold them behind the head and you will be fine. Did you know that the fangs will grow back if broken or de-fanged?

I did not know that!

Our product obviously requires a clear warning label that you must use these jumbo rattlin' worms within 30 days of the purchase date.

"Might be world record if there ever was one." Ethan McWhorter, Overton Fisheries

Electro harvest today a mix of good & bad news. Good news is that twice as many 15 inch plus LMB were found as during spring, topped by a 21.75 inch 6.3lb LMB. And they shocked up what Ethan described as possibly a world record!

Bad news: Still way too many small, thin LMB, despite vigorous harvest & feeding efforts by yours truly. Crawfish, threadfin shad, tilapia all stocked, feeding CNBG year round. Despite this, relative weights did not improve, and even declined slightly. Ethan said that my place is one of the most prolific breeders of LMB he's ever seen. I wish it weren't!

He also noticed that unlike previous years, there was a large gap in CNBG sizes. Plenty of 2 to 3 inchers and bigguns, but not much in between. He suspects that the drought brought out the prey fish from the shallows early on, and the LMB pigged out. But once the 4 to 7 inch size class was depleted, the larger LMB went on an involuntary diet. TFS are great for the small LMB, but don't sustain bigguns. At least the shad are booming at my place, despite relatively clear water with viz around 3 to 4 feet.

No tilapia were collected, though I've seen a few around the feeders so they aren't completely gone. Ethan suggested increased stocking TP next year to take some pressure off CNBG. Also, if rainbow trout available this winter, could help feed the bass.

The putative world record? Well, Ethan sent me a couple of pics, including one of the weight, and it was incredible. He checked the pics with experts, and they validated his finding that this 11 1/2 inch, 0.45 lb fish was a threadfin (not gizzard!) shad. He's never seen or heard of a TFS remotely that large. Maybe I should try raising shad rather than bass!

We have not received any significant rainfall in 50 days, with many of them hot days. The ponds are now at their lowest points since construction in 2015 and 2016. A lot of the structure I put in lies exposed. We need significant rain soon. The last rainfall we received with any runoff at all was on August 20. I caught a few grasshoppers. The hungry bluegills devoured each one instantly as it hit the water. I have been feeding too, but, with the low water levels, afraid of overfeeding.

Maybe .45 lb?

Yeah, you must be right, Al. I examined weight readout again, it showed "045" lb, which must mean 0.45, not 4.5. The fish was 11.5 inches and plump, but not THAT plump. Unless, of course, some sinkers accidentally made their way down its gullet Lake Erie style!

Sinkers AND walleye fillets!!! LOL

Yep. Funny and horrible at the same time! Glad these guys were caught.