Trying to find a good resource to identify fry in the pond from spawning. We have a couple of different forage species in the pond but can't seem to locate a good source in the searches I've done on google and minnow identification pages. Our forage fish are:
Fathead Minnows Ruby Reds Golden Shiners Native Bluegill Redear Sunfish Tilapia (edited in...forgot to list)
Yellow Perch
Seeing loads of fry in the pond and it appears as though there may be two different types based on coloration of the fish but that may also be size of the fry too.
1st small fish we are seeing is basically 1/2 - 3/4" long silverish sides with a dark lateral line about center of the fish horizontally from behind head to the tail. This fish also seem to flit their tail for small movements in the water vs swimming or cruising the bank. These seem to be in smaller groups of say 50-100 fish. I was thinking these were Fathead. Not seeing anything in pink/pale orange color of the ruby red.
2nd small fish we are seeing is 3/4"+ with more of a dark colored back and mid and belly appear more silver. More of a swimming movement in the water. These guys will work as a group to take a floating Optimal JR pellet and munch on it as they push it through the water. Curious if these might be shiners. There was a group of these guys that I was really amazed by. They covered an area of 1' x 3' stacked-up side by side and cruised along the shore in front of the feeder. When I approached them the group split and half went left and the other half to the right.
Both of these are pretty narrow top to bottom / not short and tall like BG/RES.
Tried to take a couple of pics but when zooming in they are pretty grainy and not really usable to post to help identify. Had hoped there was something in the archives but I didn't see anything for Fry Identification.
Was looking for something like this.....It doesn't show lots of the forage but there are a couple of great pics of small fish in here. Baby BG almost translucent at 2-3 weeks I think rules them out from what we are seeing in the pond. I'll keep digging on the net to see if I can find an additional link to share.
Ruby reds (pink FHM) are generally slightly yellow looking as early stage fry. FHM have lateral stripe but they would not be this years hatch to see that yet. 3/4" they are pretty clear still. and 3/4" would be 3-4 weeks old. GSH are needle shaped and the last of the minnow forage to spawn-generally-and would be no lateral line visible.
There is a creek within 1/2 mile downstream and we have had water flow out of the pond once due to rain. Watershed is bordered by gravel road and nothing within a mile that could get to us.
On my multiple attempts to trap crawdads in the creek north and south of the pond I never saw anything but Green Sunfish and other various sunfish resembling BG. No craws, shiners, or minnows. None of the attached made it to the pond....they were returned safely to the water they were taken from.
Pretty much the options at the beginning of the post are my possible choices unless one of the hatcheries had a mixed stock/stray that got in when we put fish in the pond.
Boondoggle, the minnows are FHM, it's hard to tell about the fish in the trap, but some look like regular bluegill. I can't be 100% sure because I can't see the whole individual fish.
I agree on the pic from the trap. I can definitely identify the Green Sunfish when I see them but the nuances of picking out a Northern Bluegill vs Longear or other similar species is not something I've ever tried to do. I suppose as fall gets a little closer I'll be able to try the "everything but crawdad trap" in the pond to see how we did on spawns which is really what I'm trying to get to here.
Goal is no obvious holes in the food chain / sizes of forage through some sort of sampling.
One of the things I've noticed a shortage of with all this spawning is a nearly complete void of mature FHM since spawning started in the feeding zone. Seeing babies in the bazillions but very few mature ones. Only a few reasons I can think of for this:
1. Busy on the nest making more babies. 2. Natural mortality after spawning. 3. My YP have been snacking on them.
With 1st year water and LMB as top predator would it make sense to pop a few more lbs of FHM in to make sure spawning continues trying to rule out 2 and 3 above? I get FHM are a short term population while the BG and GSH are getting established.
You can stock all the FHM you want but only so many fry will survive due to the right amount of plankton to grow them. The first part of the hatch will be spawning before summer's end-if they have ample food. Adult FHM are very seldom seen except for black head males guarding nests, and I am sure a few get consumed by YP but YP also take advantage of other items developing in the pond.
Had a couple more pics from today's visit to the pond. Sadly I didn't have my net handy to get one of these guy out of the water but to the naked eye they looked like there was a shimmering green color to them. Might have been the reflection of the sun off the nearby grass but not what I had seen on the other fish so far. Curious if these might be some of the Mixed species of Tilapia.
![[Linked Image]](https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=20176&filename=IMG_2373.PNG)
Had a couple more pics from today's visit to the pond. Sadly I didn't have my net handy to get one of these guy out of the water but to the naked eye they looked like there was a shimmering green color to them. Might have been the reflection of the sun off the nearby grass but not what I had seen on the other fish so far. Curious if these might be some of the Mixed species of Tilapia.
