Hello you guys, new guy here from the Sportsmans Paradise, Louisiana. My wife and I purchased a property 2 years ago, that has 3 ponds on it. Might I say poorly designed at best. Id like to show you what Im dealing with then ask some questions. Hopefully you all can help me.

This is the birds eye view of our property.



Yellow, Blue, and Green = Ponds 1, 2, and 3
Light blue = Flow well water supply 1.5 in PVC
orange = ditch from pond 1 to pond 2
pink = water drainage
white = natural creek
black x = no longer a pond

Now then. The water supply is in pond 1, and is a flow well with a 1.5in PVC outlet flowing directly into pond 1. Pond 1 has a drain(pink) to a natural creek as well as flowing through a ditch 6'x 8'(orange) to pond 2. Pond 1 is completely covered in Lillypads, and is surrounded by reeds. The ditch has a poorly build bridge, and is filled with concrete boulders in an attempt by the PO to quaranteen fish. The water in this pond is crystal clear, almost green. The fish are equally beautiful. LMB, BG, and sunfish

Pond 2 has a healty amount of Lilly pads, and reeds, and drains via a 10 inch pipe into pond 3. The water in pond 2 is dark stained almost black, and the fish are as well, the fish seem happiest in this pond, and readily take floating fish food. LMB, BG, SF, softshell turtles, and streaked head turtles.

Pond 3 has virtually 0 vegitation, because of a grass carp in the 15-20 pound range, that I have only seen twice. The inflow from pond 2, and the drain to the natural ditch are about 10 feet from each other on the same end(pink). The water in this pond is turbid varying from tan to green, with no more than 12inches of visibility at any time. LMB, BG, SF, SST, SHT, channel cats, blue cats, at least one grass carp, and possibly some white perch.

Pic of pond 1


Pic of ditch between pond 1 and pond 2


Pic of pond 2


Pic of drain from pond 2 to pond 3


Pics of pond 3




Pic of drain for pond 3



Livestock pics, and clarity in pond 3





So my problems are too much vegitation in pond 1, perfect pond 2, and no vegitation, turbidity in pond 3. I feel like this is flow related since pond 1 has fresh water, and two drains, pond two has a good intake and output of clean water and the I/O are on opposite ends of the pond, and pond 3 has barely any flow, and a poor water level stability.

I want to saine pond 3 to find out exactly what is in it. Put the grass carp in pond 1. Get the bridge, and concrete out of the ditch between pond 1 and pond 2 to open them into one pond. Close the drain on the North of pond 1 to force all water down through the others. Move the drain for pond 3 to the southern border, as well as build a standpipe for drainage instead of a horizontal pipe in the ground.

What do you think?

Hi Phatboy and welcome to Pond Boss. I think that you have a jewel in the rough with those three ponds. And you posted photos right off the bat, we like photos.

Hang on and one of the experts will be along to answer your questions.

Thanks for the quick reply. I can imaigine in my head how it could look once all the necessary repairs are done. Im in the process of cutting away 90% of the brush around the edges, its hard work. Have to cut with the blade on the brushtrimmer for a while, then rake it all back into a pile, then mow it with the push, then rake it again. I can manage about a 10ft section at a time before taking a break in this Southern Louisiana heat.

Oh and dont worry there will be plenty more photos to come.

Also I believe this to be the species of carp I have.

Hi Phatboy!

That appears to be a Common (German) Carp.

Grass Carp (below) do not have barbels (whiskers) on their mouths.


If you indeed have common carp, they could be stirring up the bottom of pond #3 while feeding contributing to the cloudiness. Other fish (CC) could possibly be stirring up the bottom also.

NOTE: Condello has some experience seining Grass Carp. I understand they will forcefully jump over the net at times to avoid capture.

P.S. Those pond3 pics don't look too awful cloudy. How are you measuring your visibility?

I think its a common carp due to the golden color, its deffinitly not silver. Im measuring my visibility looking at the fish. Take a look at the pic of the channel cat... Is there another way?

The most scientific way is through the use of a Secchi disk That link will give you a rough idea of what it is...

Very nice looking ponds...

Welcome to the PB Forum. We should ask first what are your goals for the ponds ? Does the creek ever get high enough to connect with any of the ponds ?

Goals for the pond are fishing, and natural beauty. We wont be swimming in them.

No the creek never gets high enough to connect with them.

Ill have to build a secchi disk, and measure that way. I have more pics...today the pond looks more green than tan, like its trying to bloom.

Took a few more pics of the wildlife in and around the ponds today, as well as a few of the drains, and water color.

This is supposedly the northernmost drain for pond 1. Yeah right.


This is the fill for all 3, this runs 24/7.


This is the best I could get for the water color in pond 1.


whole shot of pond 1


whole shot of pond 2 facing ponds 2 and 3


Clarity in pond 2


The way too close fill and drain for pond 3


Water clarity in pond 3


Some kind of water loving feathered creature..Heron i think.


This pic is decieving, hes kinda big. We callem bannana spiders down here.

SEE


The queen of these parts watching over her servants work.


Nom Nom Nom



Water snake I caught in a minnow trap that wasnt in the water.



Tree frog, he was shortly dispatched by a hungry LMB.


IDK..it was about 2.5 inches long.


at the risk of jacking my own thread..I think its a happy ecosystem out here. I just want all the ponds to be at the same clarity, and level, with proper flow, and vegitation.

Moth pupa, species unknown.

Very nice pics... That last pics looks like a pupae of a cicada.

If cicada had pupae. Their lifecycle is egg -> nymph -> adult, with the final nymph stage molting directly to adult.

Wikipedia Cicada

Well my wife had en epiphany today...She asked..."Isnt there a bunch of old pvc pipe out behind the shed?" Why yes there is. Some 6inch stuff, as well as some 4 inch stuff. So I think I have all the length I need to move my drain in pond 3 to the other end of said pond.



So if you look back at the first pic with the layout of the ponds from the air. I will be moving the drain in the green pond. The lowest pink line. Down to the bottom corner of said green pond. There is a levee there. Now I just have to decide if I need a siphon or a standpipe overflow. Ill draw up a diagram for yall in a bit.

Learn something new every day... Should've known that! With the giant 17 year hatch we had around here back in 2004, they were everywhere and I do remember the nymphs crawling up trees, walls and buildings and cracking their shell and turning into adults.

Well, what do you think it is Theo?

OK, I did a little more research and answered my own question. It would be the pupa of a member of the Sphingidae also known as sphinx moths or hummingbird moths.

Here is a representative photo of their pupa...

Cool looking bug.

OK so here are my two ideas for an overflow/drain. Let me know what you think, this will have to run 24/7.

Will a siphon maintain a water level if valved back to less than 100%. Id really like to be able to drain down to 6inches of water if I need to. I will only be able to build one of these, and Id rather build a siphon to keep from breaking my dam with the standpipe. But 6inch pvc fittings arent cheap.

I have no idea whether or not that will work but I have got to tell you Phatboy that is one of the coolest design graphics I've ever seen. Did you do that yourself?

Solidworks?

Phatboy,the problem your going to have with your siphon is sucking in air from the discharge end with that big a pipe.What you'll want to do is turn the end of the discharge up so the air cant get in.Other than that,barring any leaks I dont see why it wouldnt work.Please excuse my manners,Ahem,Welcome to the forum.Thanks for the pics.If all else fails,and you get really frustrated,theres always dynamite. Just kidding.Ill bet you have that place looking like a jewel in no time at all.

Yes Jeff I did the design myself. Its a free program by google called Sketchup, download it and watch a few tutorials. Its rediculously simple to use.

Thanks for the tip on the discharge end there Tom. I think for the time being just to get by Im gonna rig something up with the current drain, or go ahead with the more simple design. I just need to raise the ponds level about 10 inches.

Thanks for the welcome. Ill take more pics as I do more work.

Ps, the Queen cat mentioned above was killed today by some roaming neighborhood dogs, they crushed her rib cage, and she suffocated in her own blood. Ticks me off.

Sounds to me like the neighborhood dogs need to get accidentally perforated by a lead projectile moving about 1600 feet per second.

I have my .308 with winchester rangers, and a flash light ready to go Walt.

Amen to that!

By the way, Phatboy, I think you're going to end up with some really nice ponds there. I would guess fish in a well-managed pond in LA can get pretty good-sized.

Thanks Walt. From fishing here all my life. Ponds this size can produce at least a couple 8-10 lb bass, and a few 10-15lb cats, all the big bg you wanna catch.

I just want to get it healthy.

Amazing pics of all the critters. Neat little trio of ponds.
Sorry to hear about the queen, I agree that the perps need to be dispatched-post haste. A pack like that can be very dangerous for a neighborhood and completely unpredictable.

Jeff-

Well I think for the time being till we can gather the money to do it correctly were going to have to go with the more simple option and just build an overflow. The siphon is gonna cost more than we have to spend right now.

Im going to have to go at it with a pick axe, shovel, and an old pair of jeans cause I dont have an excavator, but hey a little hard labor never hurt anyone.

Ill post more pics as I update. I will be out there for 4 hours or so in the morning starting around 6AM, so maybe I can get some good fog pics.

I decided to stop clearing around the pond today, when I ran into two nests of ground wasps. Soo. I did what any self respecting outdoorsman would do, I bought some chicken liver and went fishing. Caught 12 blue cats, threw the smallest two back. Could have caught more, but its a friends pond and they stock it, so I didnt want to overcatch my welcome.

Ill have a pic or two up in a little while of the catch.

10 fish, 47 lbs, nice day.

Pour some liquid detergent down the hole and you'll eliminate bee or wasp problems. Warning; wait until they settle down and are all underground.

Phat, really good-looking project. Keep us updated, and we'll be here forever. Great photos.

Thanks Dave didnt know that, a glass coke bottle full of gas turned upside down in the hole will do the same. Thanks rmedgar, Ill update as I can. Trying to find work so the ponds are taking a back seat for a few days.

Lots of things kill bees and wasps, but not as well (or often as safetly) as pesticides designed for that purpose. I recommend not approaching the nests of ground-nesting wasps during daylight. Go out at night with a flashlight. All the wasps will be home and you won't get stung!

Yellow jackets are one of the nastiest bugs out there... I don't know which I hate more, yellow jackets or mosquitoes!

only problem is first I have to clear the brush from around the hole,(no pun intended), then I can attact them with something to kill them. We set fire all around the hole last time, and the ones that flew out got burned to death.

I hate yellowjackets.

Here is a smallish update...a few more critters, and some pond pix.

I added these to the stock last week..None died, and one or two are eating the floating food. I know its them cause of some markings on thier heads.



our bird feeder became a squirill feeder...we dont mind


So far Ive cleared this around pond 2




The rest are pond 3, about a weeks worth of work, Im not in the shape I used to be, adn I keep having to deal with wasps.







Planning for the new drain, Im not using the fitting on the end of this pipe, I know its wrong.


So slowly we are making progress, I can only work for about 4 hours till the sun just gets too damn hot to keep going. More work tomorrow.

Those ponds are shaping up, Phatboy! You'll have paradise before you know it.

One thought: you might leave one bank or a portion of a bank on each pond grown-up somewhat to attract dragonflies and such. I'm not an expert on this, but there are a couple old phosphate pits I'm working with that have very overgrown banks, and it's like dragonfly Mardi Gras every time I go there - I've never seen as many of the critters anywhere. They lay their larvae in the water and said larvae are then eaten by the bluegill (I learned this from Bruce).

I dont plan on removing all the bank cover Walt, just most of it. Im leaving some of those "willow looking" trees. Im not really sure what they are, but they do attract mayflies as well as web worms, the branches dip down into the water, and the bream go crazy under them. Im hopeing that with the new drain in place, I will be able to move some lilly pads around into the 3rd pond, adn add some cover that way too.

I might sink some things in the 3rd pond Id have to have a tractor but I have lots of concrete on my property that could be busted up, and placed in the center of the 3rd pond.

One day, I want to add another Acre to pond 3, and create a waterfall from pond 2 to an area where another pond used to be.

That pond will have Koi in it as I am an avid aquarist also.

Sounds like a pretty splendid plan. Keep the pictures coming - it looks great!

If those aren't willows, what are they?

Im not sure what they are Dave, if they are willows they are not the weeping kind, we like them anyway, and the fish do too.

I have been very busy in the past two days, and I will have a nice update for you this evening, with a video or two.

Well here we go, I got a good bit more done this week.

Video of perch and turtles feeding.


Video of the cats and turtles feeding. It was late so this one is a bit dark.


Pix of the new drain




ElCheapo measuring stick


pond up 1/4 inch


pond up 1/2 inch


cleaned the bank all the way over to the drain pipe.


pic of the perch, and turtles

Those are some happy bluegill. And before long they'll be some big bluegill. Looks like a couple are already decent-sized.

I am enjoying this thread, Keep up the good work. The place is looking mighty fine!

Phatboy, the place is looking SUPER!!!!

I have to make one suggestion though. Remove ALL the trees and brush on or near the dams. They may look great but they WILL be a source of trouble sooner or later.

Phatboy, beautiful place and great work!

Got an interview today, wish me luck.

Go knockem dead

Well we had about an hour of hard rain last night, so the pond came up a few inches. I will get a few more pics today.

How did the interview go?

went well, going back today to talk to the General Manager. Lets hope.

Don't make make the mistake I did once and let the door hit you in the backside on the way out.

Got the job. Gonna be working in Home Theater @ Best Buy while Im in school.

I have to go dig out the drain again today, I didnt make it deep enough, and the first pond is very near overflowing so gotta go make it 6 inches deeper.

Congrats on the job. School? High, College, Grad.???

Congrats on getting the job.And your ponds are looking great too.I just love when a plan comes together.Wont be long and the only thing you'll be hauling to the pond will be rods&cold beverages.

Thanks you guys. Ill be starting college in the fall semester in Sept Rmedgar. A little late in life, but Im much more mature now, and I have a 15week old motivating me to finish. Major in biology, minor in chemistry.

I agree Tom, as a matter of fact, Im going to be sitting out there tonight with a cold beverage. Ill tell why shortly.

So I had to redig the drain, as the first time left it too high, and would have flooded the berm in a couple places. So today I went out and dug up what I did last week, and made it another foot deep.

First things first, I go out to my deck, and see a line tied to the railing. WTF? Start to pull up on the line, and this is what I find attached to a hook on the other end.
Tabby cat is what we call them...I think its the same as a flathead catfish.

I turned him loose, and this is why Ill be stakeing out my ponds tonight, waiting on the perps to return for thier fish.


This is where the water level was before I started diging out again.



you can see its getting close in the back by the tree


So, I dug it out, and let the water drain a bit, to dig it deeper.


this guy decided to help, crawled right up behind me, scared the crap outta me. I didnt know what it was so i killed it, now that i know what it is, I wish I hadn't. Non poisonous.


This little largemouth was about 2 inches long, and I took like 20 pics to get this one, best I could do.


So now, we wait for the water to rise again, and start to flow down the drain line. Hopefully thatll help clear up the water some.

I also have to catch these kids, Im going to have the police take them home this time, maybe that will put some respect in thier heads. If not Ill have thier father arrested, as I have allready told him once they are not allowed to be on my property.

More pics pending. What cha think?

I just read this thread for the first time. It is awesome, Beautiful ponds. I am all about watching your progress. I might have missed it. What are the aproxomite sizes of all your ponds.

You know Im not really sure, I dont have a way to measure them. If I had to guess I think I have just over an acre of total water area, max depth is 6 feet.

BTW, someone has been setting lines out at night from the deck house, I stayed out till 9:30 last night, adn went back out at 6:30 am, but I missed them. Were filing a police report today, and were going to figure something out to catch them.

Also rising the water level to the height that we wanted to will be a problem. Pond 1 is starting to overflow its North bank and run into the ditch. Exactly the same place the perps are sneaking onto my property too.

So, I have to try and dig out that area where the bridge is at, to let the water flow freely from pond 1 to ponds 2 and 3.

Is there any place to put an infrared trail cam to watch the area, and at the same time make it secure?

Here's a website that does head to head comparisons on trail cams and they also have security suggestions. I found the site very valuable when I was researching what cam to buy.

Trail cam reviews

Well I stayed up most all night last night, adn they were a no show. Im gonna have to take it to the next level and get a wireless camera that will display on my laptop.

Phatboy, If you do catch them, Have them do the rest of the cutting and digging around your ponds. If they do a good job then let them run a couple trot lines. If they don't, treat them like a snake (jk).

Nice work on the place looks good. I have been following this thread and when it turned to surveillance I checked on a couple links and found something interesting and thought I would pass it along. It uses your existing A/C house wiring and can transmit up to 2000 feet away if it is tied into your wiring. Uses a fake flood like to capture the video and sends it back through your wiring, I wonder if anyone has any experiences with this, interesting to me since I have run power all the way down to my pond and could set up a separate station to serve as my camera.

Last time you guys got pics you can see where the water level was staying. Soooo, I redug the ditch and lowered the pipe, but that still wasnt enough. So I found another length of pipe, and made a strainer for the end, and staked that down good.

With the drain in this location it wasnt working


The water level could only get this high before running out of the overflow in pond 1


overflow



This was causign some flow issues in ponds 2 and 3


you can see the gunk on the surface due to lack of flow caused by pond 1 overflowing and pond 3 not draining


this doesnt help either


So I extended the drain and staked it down to where I wanted it


And added a strainer with overflow


So once I got the flow going again, I took a few more wildlife pics.




And one to show you all another problem I have to deal with, this used to be a pond, and is now a mudhole...turtlepit...snake oasis...


Going back out to do more work today...Ill take more pics

Just a livestock thread this time. The wife getting some evening "bassin" in.


Imma try and get this out of the ditch today. Its been there since we got the property, might as well see if its any good.


Its attack of the bunnahs


My little covey of quail


Smallish snake, duno the type



Another little bass


I dont knwo what this fish is with the red tail, can you guys help?

Phatboy, you appear extremely talented with a camera.

I highly recommend that you are very careful getting that close to any wildlife Phatboy. What may seem to be a friendly and gentle creature can turn on you in an instant.










Oh, I'm talking about the rabbit by the way....

The fish with the reddish tail is a male golden topminnow and a gorgeous specimen at that... They make superb aquarium fish! They are fairly easy to breed in an aquarium as well.

I'll not risk another frontal assault. Fetch the Holy Hand Grenade!

You guys crack me up. A friend of mine is coming over with his 4x4 so we can get that paddle boat out of the ditch...I wanna use that thing.

Thanks CBJ, after some researching via google images I concur. golden topminnow. Im sure they make great bass food too.

Just thought Id drop in and give you guys an update. I have finished my frist semester of school and start the second one in 9 more days. I finished up with a 3.5 a,a,a,c, and a b that dont count. So yay for me. My family is doing great, and my daughter is 9 months, and has 8 teeth so far...shes awesome.

As far as the ponds go, Im sorry to say I have let them go down hill just a bit. My drain was working perfectly, and maintaining a clearer water in pond 3, untill my plug on the original drain came undone, and the ponds all dropped back about 6 inches. Nothing I couldnt fix with a bag of concrete, just havnt had the time. All the lilly pads have died, and if they return in the spring, I may try to get one carp per pond to keep that in check. I dont wanna get rid of all of them, but a cutback in pond 1 would be ok.

I got the paddle boat out of the ditch with my exmark lawn mower. That thing is a beast. Especially with 2lbs of air in the tires. lol! Boat was junk, trashed it.

The Bluecats that I put in the pond are teaching the channel cats what the floating food is, so I have between 10-12 catfish that will come eat on demand. They can hear me walk on the deck and start to circle like shark.

Now for the surprizing part. Remember a while back I said I had a grass carp. Well turns out I had four. They all turned up dead today on the bank getting eaten by turkey vultures. I think they ran out of food, but it has been rediculously cold here too so that may have played a part as well. Since they are gone, I noticed a marked increase in clarity of the water. I can easily see down two feet or so, and I expect that to improve.

As always pix included.

Glad to hear your semester at school has gone so well. Congrats on the great grades... The dead fish look like very large gizzard shad to me, but I could be wrong. With the face chewed off and decomposing, it's hard to tell but that is my best guess. I can say, it definitely isn't a grass carp though... Grass carp are more elongated and have different fin shapes. Very pretty heron pic! Your place has quite the biodiversity...

Your right CJB...they were acctually common carp, which are totally different from grass carp...here is a reference. Pay specific attention to the dorsal, anal, pectoral, and pelvic fins, as well as the rounded tips of the tail.

http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/common_carp.jpg

Deffinitly not gizzard shad. The smallest one was over 10 lbs. That would have to be some kind of record.

As for the biodiversity. They dont call it "Sportsmas Paradise" for nothing. Southern Lousiana is alive and well. Heron are protected down here, and Im happy this one hangs round my place. It means my slice of paradice is balanced, and productive.

Yep, Common Carp is what it was. If you had 4 dead ones, I'll bet you have more. The Blue Heron is nice to watch, but they do eat a number of fish, and they will stab and sometimes kill fish larger than they can eat.

Is there anyway besides seining the pond to figure out if there are more carp in it? Id like to seine it anyway to find out exactly whats in there, but I dont have a seine, nor do I know anyone who does.

BTW carp love elephant ear plants, they ate all the ones I planted around the pond that were in the water.

If you can, buy a half dozen cans of cheap whole kernel corn. Take 1/2 can per day, and throw it out in the pond, in 3'-4' deep water if possible, same place every day, at the same time.
After 3-4 (or longer) days of this, take a fishing rod (preferrably a spinning rod), down to the pond at the same time you're chumming for the carp, I prefer 10# test and a #2 aberdeen hook. Thread whole kernels of corn on the hook until it's completely covered. Throw out 1/2 of the normal daily feeding, and throw the corn covered hook in the same spot. (no weight on the line, just he hook with corn on it - no bobber either. Leave a good amount of slack in the line, when you see the line twitch, grab the rod so it doesn't go into the pond. When the line just about gets tight, set the hook and hold on.

I'd fish that way with 2 to 3 rods, keeping one baited, but not out in the water. If I saw a group of bubbles coming up, I'd cast the corn about 1'-2' past the bubbles and let it sink, and really watch that rod.

That sounds like a great plan Esshup except for the aberdeen hook, which with ten-pound test would be almost assured to straighten when a good-sized carp took off on a run. A heavier hook in the same size would fix that problem.

Walt:

If the drag is set properly, that hook will work. I've caught them up to 20# on that set-up, and never had a hook straighten out. I like the aberdeen because I can put more kernels of corn on it, presenting a larger bait to them, and it gives me a bit more weight to cast without having to add any other weight.

Kind of defeats the purpose of 10-pound test I would think - six-pound can straighten an aberdeen hook, so you're in essence fishing with four- or six-pound test at best.

Walt:

What size aberdeen hook have you straightened out with 6" test?

When I fished regularly for crappie, #2, many times. The hook wouldn't straighten completely of course; it would bend just enough to come free from the snag; but of course the bending is what would also lose the fish, in this case a carp. But you didn't say six-pound - you said ten-pound, which will bend an aberdeen hook like clockwork. Crappie guides on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes actually use aberdeen hooks with ten-pound test so they can straighten the hook when they get snagged.

I made a simple and highly relevant and sound recommendation simply out of a desire to help the poster avoid the frustration of losing fish and finding himself at the pond without the right terminal tackle. I really don't wish to argue something that should be common sense.

THAT's funny.

Phatboy, where exactly ar you located in southern Louisiana? I am central, Opelousas / Washington location..

Hmmmmmm.... Maybe different quality of hooks? I've caught carp just shy of 20# (19lb - 10 oz)on a #2 eagle claw gold aberdeen hook using 10# line when I was a kid, and have a plaque from the Indianapolis Star (somewhere around here) for a fishing contest that they'd run. I had to have an adult net it for me because I didn't have a net big enough.

Be careful with the salt and butter guys!

My experiences with aberdeen hooks is that when they snag on logs, they just catch right at the barb. That is the weakest spot for a hook to be caught which is why aberdeens in particular will bend so easily. But when you hook fish, they generally get all the way down into the "U" of the hook where the hook is much stronger. I think the biggest reason guys use aberdeen hooks for crappie fishing is they are cheep, so if you loose one on a snag, no big deal and 2 they bend when snagged on stuff so you tend to loose less hooked. You just bend them back and you are back to fishing. But that is just my experience with aberdeen hooks.

I have a large collection of old fishing mags, more than one of which has an article on crappie fishing in which a prominent guide is quoted as saying exactly what I said above, i.e. that they use ten-pound-test with aberdeen hooks - often larger sizes than that being discussed here as well - for the specific reason that the hooks will bend when snagged so they don't break off the entire rig.

Esshup, I don't doubt a bit that you caught a twenty-pound carp on that setup - my point was merely that you weren't getting the full benefit of the ten-pound-test. You could prove it to yourself with a simple experiment similar to what they do sometimes on fishing shows when they're testing the strength of various knots.

Walt, it depends on where the test is done on that hook... At the barb and point are, you're right that hook will bend in a second... At the bend, it won't bend so easy. Certainly would be an interesting test.

Instead of further derail the thread, I started another one here:
Aberdeen hook test

It WAS interesting!

Wow you guys really ran with that one. Ive heard of carp and corn before. I have caught one that went just a tick over 15 lbs on an 8ft #4 fly rod with a yellow bug on it, I guess he thought it was food. Took me over 20 mins to land him, it was before the time of digital cameras so I dont have proof pics.

Thanks for the info...I may try that this summer.

This is a really cool thread. Ive seen it on the main page but now i finally read it begining to end. I like what you got going on keep up the good work and keep the pics coming. Also what the hell ever happened with the poachers??