Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations First fish cought in my small pond.

Last year I stocked my small pond. It's always been very muddy colored and I thought it wouldn't support fish because of the color of the water. Lucky for me, Meadowlark came by and said it was fine for putting fish in.

Here's a picture of it from over the summer.


I put fathead minnows, coppernose bluegill and channel catfish in. The catfish were all 2 to 4 inches long.

It's been almost 11 months and today my 6 year old pulled the first fish out of that pond!!



Shortly afterwards, his 9 year old sister caught the second fish ever cought in this pond!!!



I just wanted to thank everyone for your help and advice. Especially Meadowlark!!!

Hopefully in a year or two, the kids will be catching fish in our big pond, but until then, we're gonna be plenty happy with what's in this one.

Thank you,
Eddie

Wow, I think those smiles should go into Bretski's post. Great kids, great fish.

b'ski, r u watchin.......yer kids post will be stocked to the brim shortly......nice pics eddie, and congrats on the first fish.

i saw my little stockers for the first time today since putting them in over a week ago, and they took some hand thrown food.....i'll be catching my first fish this summer.

There's seems to be a tepid response to the idea of a gallery collection of smilin' kids at the pond. Could be based on protection from cyber predation...I truly respect this posture. For that reason, I would never copy a kid-pic to another forum area without submitter approval. For those that would like to add the brix to build our own gallery, we could join Rad in the Young\'uns Gettin\' Hooked thread .

That is what it's all about!!!! Tell those kids congrats on some fine lookin' cats.

Joe

WOW stocked 11 months ago at 2-4 inches? and now what are they 15" or so? I stocked 12 inchers last fall, Oh I guess they really havent had much of a growing season yet. Dang I really need to keep better records I cant remember when I stocked them, I will have to go back and look in the posts

The kids were just about dying to go fishing yesterday after catching those fish Friday after school.

It was cold and windy, so that was kind of a pain, but Alissa caught one almost right away. Then my wife cought one and that was about it. Nothing for an hour, then another. We cought five catfish that were all from one pound to a pound and a half. We also cought one bluegill that was about 6 inches long.

That first hog that Peyton pulled out was obviously a fluke. He was the first one that's ever been cought in that pond, and I'm wondering if he was the most aggresive fish in there? It makes sense that we was so large because he was so aggressive? I don't know, but he's easily three times bigger than what's normal based on what we've caught so far.

Eddie

Eddie:

Congratulations! Now you've experienced what having a pond is all about.

I recall how happy I was when I pulled the first Rainbow from our stocked flooded gravel pits....man, what a hoot that was. I must have looked at it and marveled for 20 minutes.

Our fish were stocked at 4 inches almost exactly 2 years ago and now are in the 20+ inch range and when they strike a hook, you'd think it had become snagged on a passing railway locomotive.

Even better than catching and eating them is the time spent by the water each evening watching them take flies. No matter how stressful the day has been, 20 minutes of watching fish and listening to the Redwing Blackbirds is as good as a fist full of tranquilizers.

Great fun huh?

Regards,
Lee

Eddie,

Great looking fish, happy looking kids! Your pictures and posts have inspired me. My pond is muddy too, but I stocked it anyway. Since there is little algae growth in the muddy water, the fish are almost guaranteed not to have an off taste. I have some kids waiting to fish too. Can't wait until they are keeper size!

I grew up in the SF Bay Area with about ten million other poople all on top of each other. I worked all year to save and plan my vacations to escape that lifestyle for a few weeks. My weekends were either working extra jobs or driving hours to find a quiet place to relax.

Now I don't make very much money, but I can walk a few feet and fish my own pond. I don't see any homes or roads from my home and I'm surrounded by trees and nature. Poor and happy is MUCH MUCH better than haveing a little money and being miserable!!!

My goal is to give the kids a life that I always wanted and have finally achieved.

Eddie

eddie,
What a great pond goal that is and then to have achieved it must really be gratifing.

Eddie, I don't think there is a better way to keep kids out of trouble, entertained, and growing strong and responsible like yours will by living in the country, doing lots of outdoor stuff, and working hard around the farm. I made that same kind of move when my two girls were young and after they're almost grown up they both admit they wouldn't have had it any other way. I used to send them around to the neighbors to help with chores just so they'd have enough to do. Neither they or I regret it. And the pond will give them more good experiences and memories than they'd ever get anywhere else. If you've never thought about it you should try home schooling too, it's really a great way to raise kids.

eddie, has the small pond water always been muddy? like bobad says, the good side of that is no excessive water weeds.

eddie, your typo "ten million other poople all on top of each other" made me laugh really hard (cause i know all about S.F. and avoid going there as much as possible).

how are the kids with cleaning the catfish? i remember my first time, i was about 10, and actually didnt mind even as a kid. my dad (santa claus) taught me the icepick, board, and pliers method for skinning. those are the perfect eating size IMO.

Rad said it well,
eddie,
What a great pond goal that is and then to have achieved it must really be gratifing.

Thanks guys. We're not eating any of them. We've cought over a dozen and are putting them into the big pond. Today there were 107 fathead minnows in the trap. Every day whent the kids get off school, we pull the trap and carry them down to the big pond. They take turns letting them go. So far we've put hundres of minnows in there and over a dozen catfish. Only two bluegill.

Dave,

Thanks for catching my typo. That's funny!!!

I cleared the pond when it was lower with sheetrock scraps. It took a week to really look pretty. Then another six months of green, nasty alge. Given the choice, I like brown. hahaha

Eddie