Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Answer to My Question

Well I have been reading Basic Pond Managment and Raising Trophy Bass which I bought from the Pond Boss site. They have been helpful so far in my new venture of becoming a pondmister. Are there any other books that you guys suggest which are good base knowledge? Also I answered my question as to whether or not there are fish in my pond. I fished it several more times, getting skunked every time. On the last time I was about to leave and walking up from the shore when I almost stepped on the remains of a channel catfish. The fish must have either died or was caught by a predator on land. I dont know which one because all that was left was its skeleton. I know that it probably happened sometime this past summer because it ws just above where it looks like the waterline was for awhile. My question is how big was this CC when it was alive. The skull at its widest point was at least 6 inches, maybe 7. What is the typical weight for a CC with a skull that big? So at least I know I have catfish. The thing that puzzles me is that everytime I walk around the lake I never see any smaller fish like bluegill or anything except miniature minnows and frogs. After reading the books it seems that means that I dont have a bluegill population. Any comments? If I dont but I know I have bass and catfish, what is the next step? Do I need to stock a ton of Bluegill to get the population going? And how long can bass and catfish live off a huge frog population? Sorry about the length of the post, just have opened up a can of new questions from reading these books. Thanks for any help.

Order PB mag. if you haven't done so. You can look at the table of contents of the mag at the archives (first link below) as well as a lot of good basic info. There is a lot of info here and at other locations on the web. See the 2nd link below also from the archives for some of those sources. In addition many states have pond management books/articles on the web. The last 3 links are examples (Calif has some - last link).

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=22

http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=000021

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1428.pdf

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/publications/pondmanagement/pondmgt.pdf

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/assets/documents/InfoLeaflets/No_23.pdf

Bruce:

WRT the CC skull - if possible, measure the mouth gape (width of the mouth). Don't worry if the jaws are stuck partway open - the mouth width on a CC hardly varies while opening. If the CC was a female, total length would have been about 10 times the mouth gape. If it was a male, total length would have been about 7 times the mouth gape. Male CCs have the biggest, most massive heads, so that's the sex I would guess for a CC with a truly massive skull in the absence of any other data.

You can trust Theo's comments about the mouths of catfish.

You've seen Bill Dance & Roland Martin kiss bass, right?

Well....

LOL......i'm particularly amused by the way Dance pats their fat lil bellies

dont theo know he could get a eye put out doin that?

Here are pictures of my pond. Just click on the link and they will pop up. Any comments? My Pond Pic 1 My Pond Pic 2

It looks great tanninbruce.

Bruce:

Pretty water and tree back drop.

DD:

Safety Glasses, Guvnor, always safety glasses.

????

I didn't think the Guvnor made any posts here; do you mean DIED?

Nope, I haven't posted on this one but I did laugh my butt off.

If you'll look closely at the left side of this catfish's mouth, you will see a small red sore. This is where, while kissing this fish, Theo got mad because the cat was not reciprocating the loving tongue swirl. Hence Theo bit the fish.

They are not friends anymore, and this catfish has initiated a harassment lawsuit.



There is a legal defense fund started for Theo entitled "I just wanted to love you" c/o Jaegerwald Milk & Spice Company, Central OH.

My bad.

Once again, it's a case of "Too Many Daves".

You're a sick man, Sunil, and you know how well qualified I am to make that judgement.

--------------------

SAVE THEO - CONTRIBUTE TO THE CATFISH DEFENSE FUND!

sick, but funny.

wow bruce, a slice of heaven in napa. how is it fed/how much does it dry up in summer? sorry if you said that already, i dont remember.