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

Yesterday, I fed, and saw several more catfish of the 4-6 lb range as well as some more mature LMB in the 2-3 lb range. I haven't seen much of those LMB this year at all.

The Golden Shiner Brigade also sent out a patrol to sample the Optimal Grower and other feed.

I caught a nice mess of BG last night.

Their collective name is "Dinner."

Curious Theo. Do you have dinner group with a specific size range or girls only?

I think it is very interesting that you are able to observe more fish AFTER the fish kill than before. (Is that correct?)

When the pond was at carrying capacity, everybody mostly had to stay within their "niche". Now with the loss of some of your larger fish, the other fish are moving around more?

For this particular pond, males over 7.5" and females 9" and up stay in. All other BG come out (I clean and eat down to 6.5").

On my SMB/YP/BGxRES pond, all hybrids under 9" come out.

The slot limits get adjusted occasionally, perhaps every 2-3 years, depending on the populations' size structure.

108 degrees here. I’ve done nothing pond related in a week or so.

Those SMB/YP/BGxRES hybrids sound awesome. Can you post some pics, they should be beautiful fish.

You should probably throw some crawdads into your pond.

You are just a few degrees short of having everything you need for a nice Cajun Boil!

Sadly, when the YP and SMB genes get added to the BGxRES, the fish no longer show up on cameras (digital OR film).

It wasn't quite at the pond as I was visiting the creek just South of it but finally managed to find a few crawfish. Thinking these are the Water Nymph variety. Anybody have thoughts or willing to help with identification?


Water Nymph Crawfish

That's what it looks like to me.

Sounds like you even got a few vampire genes into the mix!

Are you only able to catch them at night?

P.S. How was the BG dinner? Since you are eating some of the smaller ones, do you prepare any of them using the gut and then cook "whole" methods? (I am asking since I am going to start fishing at some state lakes where BG too small to efficiently filet are going to be the norm.)

Nice!

I am not enough of an expert to distinguish between those, virile crayfish, and calico (papershell) crayfish. The ones I pick up always seem to have enough local variation such that they are not a perfect match to the species identifiers (to my untrained eye).

I can't remember, are you looking for some crayfish to add to your new pond? If so, I would re-post in the Creating the Food Chain forum and ask for some identification help. I believe(?) all three of the species discussed are "safe" to add to Kansas ponds where the plants have been established.

However, you have done some nice plantings, so I would certainly want some expert advice about invasiveness and plant mowing tendencies after the ID was confirmed.

Do you think you can catch enough in the creek to perform an effective stocking in your pond? I would think your bass are getting right into the "we love crayfish" size range!

They Only Come Out At Night

Delicious. Grandpa Gallus taught filet and fry, and that's what I do.

Looks like a Northern Virile craw to me.

I'll defer to you on this Snipe. I've not handled many Virile crayfish that size. Just didn't have the colors I am used to seeing.

I wouldn't say I'm seeing 'more' fish after my fish kill, but I'm certainly seeing some different fish that I hadn't seen much of this year so far.

I had another HSB die off over the weekend. He was maybe 15/16" and from a recent stocking of 9/10" HSB. I had seen him late last week hanging around, but he looked beat up and wasn't acting like a normal HSB of his size (normally, those 15/16" HSB are not seen suspending or lazily swimming).

I think I still have most of my channel and blue catfish.

Dang it!

I was hoping your remaining fish were now thriving.

I wonder what makes a large HSB look "beat up" after a low oxygen event? Does being stressed right up to your fatal limit have a physical manifestation, or did a big blue catfish try a chomp when your HSB was listless?

I don't know what caused him to look beat up, but he had two spots on the top of his body that seemed kind of 'raw.'


As we have no aeration at the neighborhood pond, my only options to help are to add water either via rains or fire hydrant. We got a good bit of rain on Saturday, Sunday, and a little today, so I'm just going to assume that I'm past the potential D.O. sag, and rock on.

I may cull a lot of bluegill though.

Theo recently recommended culling BG via the "frying pan" method!

At the pond yesterday. Water is down about 18”. No rain in sight for the next few weeks.
And our algae has come back. Some of it has that orange tint to it, like last year. So, no swimming. Also, my pond weed tried a comeback. It started around the edges. But I think the large number of crawfish I have has limited its growth.

Feeding is going strong at the pond with Bluegill, Catfish, LMB, and large Golden Shiners hitting the feed.

I also have hundreds or thousands of LMB that are less than 2", and they do seem to be hitting the Optimal Grower; hopefully a few of them can survive and become fast-growing feed hogs.

Also, on a side note, I noted that the size of Optimal Bass feed is a bit larger than before. I like that.

How is your SMB population after your otter attack?

If you have some hungry smallies in there, I would think they would love to eliminate any crawfish they observe trying to clip your pond weeds. Maybe need a supplemental stocking of SMB?

A little more pond weeds, equals a little less algae. Sorry to hear about the swimming hiatus since now is the warmest water of the year.

Awesome news Sunil, on pulling off a good bass spawn this year.

Having that good population coming up in a few years should give you some nice management options. Hopefully you will have to get some family/friends/neighborhood kids to cull some 12" bass in the future!

Next Sunday, we're doing a Bluegill catch and fry. Goal is to remove at least 100 mature bluegill.