Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations LMB spawning yet????

My pond is 3 years old and the LMB has been stocked for 2 1/2 years now. Most of the LMB I catch are between 13" and 16" and seem to be healthy and fat. I have yet to catch or even see any yoy LMB. Is it possible that they still have not pulled any spawns yet???

Not likely in the south. In the south LMB spawn the first year (1st university) after stocking of 2 inch LMB in the spring.

What else is in the pond? Have you tried to do a seine survey?

That would make spring 2011 their first spawning year. This makes no sense to me. If they have spawned, there should be some evidence of it right? I have seen yoy RES, BG, GSF, BH and CC spawn for 2 years now, but not LMB. And in a 3rd acre pond they should be pretty easy to locate right? Or am I wrong???

Small LMB can hide well. That is the reason for the seine survey. Often most of the yoy LMB are eaten which is a good thing. LMB crowding is a prevalent problem so it would be good if not many survived to age 1 in your pond.

What is the stocking history of the pond? Species, numbers, size and when stocked...

Cardell,

I was thinking the same thing as I stocked my fish in Dec 2009 and could never catch any LMB, plus I added a few in the 8-12 inch range to help take out the GSF. They have finally started to put a dent in the GSF as expected.

I also caught some small ones about a month ago letting me know they finally have spawned. As stated above you may not want to catch them that easy or then you know they are on there way to being overcrowded.

To make a long story short I am sure they have spawned and you do not have anything to worry about and if you do not catch any this year I bet you will have plenty taking your bait next year.

Good Luck

My experience with LMB fingerlings is that they are fast enough to out run a seine net, they are not easy to seine.

Yes when they are 6 inches but not when 2 inches. Seine surveys are a major method to tell if you had a spawn. See this.

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1428.pdf page 16

Determining Fish Balance
Seining – the use of a net to capture fish – is a quick
and easy way to determine the condition of your
pond, and an investment in a good seine is highly
recommended for all pond owners. A 30-foot seine
that is 6-feet deep and made of ¼-inch mesh works
well. You can purchase it from any net maker. Attach
the seine ends to wooden or metal poles to
make handling the seine much easier.
Check balance using a seine every year in late-
May to July. During this period, both bass and
bream have reproduced and the young are still small
enough to be caught effectively using the seine.
Fishing the seine is easy. You can use a “swinging
gate” or perpendicular haul (Figure 7) in several
areas of the pond to capture young fish. Just make
sure you keep the weighted line of the seine on the
bottom at all times, or the fish will escape under the net.

In October 2009 I stocked. 100 CC, 250 Bream at 75% to 25% ratio BG to RES. the following spring in march I stocked 25 LMB. Then I started pulling up GSF and BH im my traps that I believe made its way into there while pond was under construction and we had some flooding. That doesnt happen any more. But When I told the hatchery of the GSF issue, he told me to stock 50 more LMB. And thats the full stocking history

Hooray! I scoop up some LMB fry today. Finally!!!

Did you get any pics?

No, sorry I didnt. I was scooping minnows for bait and had one mixed in with the minnows. When I realized what it was I released it. It was only about an inch but I am positive on the ID

Last time I was at the pond I noticed a large school of some fry out by a tree limb that had fallen in the water. They were very small .5-1 inch maybe. No idea what they may have been wish I could have zoomed in to take a picture or had a pool net to dip some up.