I'm sure some of you have heard the tragic story of my pond.( a casualty of the drought) Ive decided this time to go the path for a bass pond and I'm needing to know if my .7 acre, pond 1 1/2 feet deep pond will be able to support a new BG population this spring? I know 1 1/2 feet isnt a lot of water but all the water is from about 10 inches of precipitation in 3 months. What should be the gameplan if i want bass in less then 1 1/2 years? And im assuming that some of the roots from the waterplants will come back up since it was only 3/4 dry for 2 weeks? Thanks in advance!
I don't think you will have enough water year around.
With only 18" of water IMO it is a very good time to drain and dig it deeper and maybe rebuild the banks with better clay liner. At a minumum create a deeper area at one end preferably 1/4 of the surface area.
Digging deeper is not an option. I'm 13 so my budget is 200$ and it's not my land but I'm friends with the landowner. The pond is 95% heavy clay so I don't think a new liner is necessary. The pond was at 12 feet last year and water level fluctuates about 3 feet throughout the year but with the horrific drought and incredible temperatures it just evaporated. And like I said, the pond receives about 2.5x the amount of rainfall do to runoff. What is IMO?
Connor, the National Weather Service is predicting that our drought is going to continue and there is a pretty good chance that it will dry up again this year. I have about 4 or 5 ft of water left in my 14 or 15 ft deep pond. If I don't get a huge rain at Bowie I expect to lose all of my fish this year. However, there is a chance that you/we will get a really heavy rain. I would stock some fathead minnows and practice my rain dance. Fatheads are about the only fish that I can recommend from a Fish Truck. I would stock about 3 pounds of them and save the rest of my $200 for future stockings when you do get a good rain.
IMO is "in my opinion".
Man, I really hope all of you Texans get some rain! Such a tragedy. If you gang together, maybe everyone can wash cars, plan a large outdoor picnic with relatives you can't stand (rain loves to force everyone indoors ear to ear), and send some Boy Scouts out camping. Then you are sure to get a huge downpour.
Seriously this weather pattern is nuts. I would love to share our over-abundance of water.
Bring that rain brother! I've also heard about the drought continuing but was hoping it was untrue. I've heard that FHM are slow fish, and spawn often, is this true?
Yes, that is what makes them the perfect forage to jump start a pond. They are small, cheap, prolific and prefer shallow water. In the face of predation, they usually disappear after the first year. However, by that time, they have served their purpose.
If we do get Spring rains, you can toss in about 100 bluegills while perfecting your rain dance. If you do learn any good rain dance steps, post them here.
The FHM will be fine without feeding.
You don't have to feed them but it is interesting to see a dozen of them messing with one piece of feed.
I'm going to buy a few pounds of minnows this week to get my 1/4 acre pond started. The water level is about 2' deep right now. I have already placed some cedar trees in the pond and I have built a floating dock (10x10) that is now floating instead of sitting on the bottom. Will that be sufficient spawning area or should I add a pallet or two? There are 14 barrels under the dock with space in between each of them. Thanks guys!
Will the FHM benefit from feeding? What about the water depth? If the water stays between 1 1/2 - 2 feet will the water temperature be okay in Texas heat and will it promote plant growth?
I think FHM could survive in a nuclear waste dump. Yep, you will most likely get weeds.
Okay but CONTROLLED plant growth is good right?
According to Lusk you need about 20% structure/cover. 1.5 to 2 ft of water is tough to CONTROL plants in.
The pond is at 6 feet and 4 inches of rain will be dumped on us in the next 24 hours. The bad part is that since now the pond is 100% runoff I have a problem with what I believe is FA. It's a long and stringy green algae growing on submerged terrestrial plants. I'm thinking 2 lbs. of golden shiners and 125 bluegill to stock the now 1 1/2 acre pond. Will this work for trophy BG if I feed and stock bass NEXT fall? I want big 6+ inch BG by the end of the summer. BG will be 3-4 inches when stocked.
If you start with 3-4 inch BG they should certainly be 6" by fall.
Why golden shiners instead of fatheads?
The Weatherford area, with all of the limestone, can be terrible for FA.
How deep will it be when full?
About 13 feet and 2 acres. The reason for gsh/fhm preference is because I've heard that gsh will be able to sustain a population longer