Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Looked at the ice and mud trying to figure out how much frost is still in the ground. Still going to be a week or so until I can go keep massaging the shape and finish off the emergency spillway I never got done before freeze up. Hopefully I can get it done before the runoff starts........

Friday's storms did a good bit of wind and hail damage in the Middle of Misery, but my place didn't get a lot of rainfall out of it all.
Pond came up 4" or 5" but is still about 18" low.

The ground was settled well enough by yesterday afternoon that I was able to bring up topsoil from my stash to begin the finish grade on my pond dam.
Figured I'd mount the tiller on the Ford 860 tractor to help out with that job, but the PTO shaft is too long, so I'll either have to cut the shaft down
or buy a new one that's the correct length. I'm leaning towards buying a new shaft, which would save me having to buy a new longer shaft if I want
to use the tiller on a tractor with CAT II PTO geometry again.

Went fishing yesterday and saw schools of fry skittering…. Probably LMB. Also caught a bunch of 1#+ bg ona beetle spin…. First time I’ve tried that. Also caught several 13-14” BCP

Well I wound up cutting the shaft. Was easier to do that than break down the U-joint at the slip clutch and then go shopping
for something that would probably have to be cut down too. Only busted one sawzall blade doing it.

After running the tiller through the new dirt on the pond dam it's not likely I'll ever want to put it back on the big Massey.
The Ford 860 handled it no problem, and is much more maneuverable than the loader machine.

Yesterday evening, it was in the low 70's in western PA.

I soaked feed and fed the fish. Just one or two bluegills for about 5 minutes, then the Golden Shiner Brigade showed up.

Finally, I went to the northern most end of the pond, and there were a ton of bluegill feeding there, several smaller LMB, and some catfish (either channel or blue).

I usually don't feed at the northern end of the pond, but over the last several weeks, that seems to be where the most fish are hanging out.

With any luck at all I'll have my pond dam looking like a putting green by the end of the summer.

This old Ford was purchased new by my GrandPap in 1957. Our dear friend and neighbor, BJ Blackwell,
bought it at the farm auction after GrandPap passed in 1982. BJ passed a few years ago and his
son asked me if I'd like to have the tractor back once all the estate ruckus cooled off. There could be
only one answer to a question like that. Three weeks ago we made it happen, and after 41 years the
tractor is back in the family. I wore blisters on my butt running it in the fields when I was a kid. It feels
good to get some seat time on the old thing again.

That is really cool Augie!

That’s pretty cool Augie. Neat that he gave you the chance to buy it back into the family. Looks like it’s got a lot of life left in it.

Was 86 here yesterday. 44 today.. We had two big storm systems come through. Tornado warnings etc.. We ended up with about .4” rain.

Good news was I ran a test run with the feeder late yesterday. I’m seeing more larger fish hitting the feed. Last week it was all 2” fish, this week, I’m seeing a few in the 6-8” size. Hopefully they all aren’t golden shiners. No YP ribbons, still got my fingers crossed that I’ll see a few.
Did see a pretty good sized flock of turkeys. I think trying to reduce possums and coons is helping them come back.

It is pretty cool, and it's in great shape. I'm tickled to death to have it back.
Since it was new it hasn't spent very many nights out in the weather.
I'll need to replace the muffler and tailpipe one of these days, but other than that there's nothing on it that needs attention.

We got pretty lucky with these last couple rounds of storms that came through. My new truck got a few dings last Friday.
Probably not worth turning in to insurance. I think a couple or three benjamins worth of PDR will take care of it. Lots of
other folks here were not so lucky. I know two guys whose trucks will probably be declared a total loss due to the severity
of hail damage they took in Friday's storm. The worst of it stayed north of us yesterday. We got some rain last night,
but no big winds or hail.

Hopefully your big fish escaped the otter vermin and just haven't come out of their winter funk yet.
I wouldn't worry about not seeing YP ribbons. I think I've seen one ribbon in the water since I stocked mine, but I know
they've had successful spawns every spring because I catch the small ones in my traps. Pulled one about the size of
my pinky finger out yesterday evening.

Very cool about the tractor and others, Augie.

Low 80's today, but windy. Went right to the northern end of the pond, soaked feed and fed. Instant Golden Shiner Brigade. Slow uptake by bluegill until about 10 minutes in. Saw a decent catfish and few small LMB.

I'm thinking the Golden Shiners are eating about 50-65% of the two smallest feeds sizes I throw. I'm not sure how much of this feed value is transferring to my desired fish species as these Golden Shiners don't seem to be being eaten by my 'predator' fish. Sure there may end up being more GSH to end up spawning, but I'm dubious if that's beneficial in this case.

I am seeing fish (HBG, BG, YP, RES and Specklebellies) that have been feed trained eating floating Optimal Starter #4 and Optimal Bluegill JR daily in 44°F in the holding tanks. I'm feeding about 1/2 coffee can/day.

Augie, I was raised on a Ford 8N, old Farmall and Gleaner Baldwin combine.

I have an old 8N that I bought about 40 years ago. Step one was hauling it to a tractor mechanic and have the engine overhauled. Next, 4 new tires. It put in a lot of wheat patches and repaired some roads.

Then about 20 years ago, I bought a new 40 hp 4WD JD. And parked the Ford. It hasn’t moved since. I need my butt kicked for that.

DD1, it appears you are taking your physical conditioning and rehab to the next level!

(Actually, I hope you are getting some spring walks to your pond while the Texas temps are in the "comfort" range!)

The 8N is a trusty old tractor, was popular back in the day, the biggest thing they need is a transmission, if a person had a way to put a 8 or 12 speed transmission or something along those lines, they would be indestructible and twice as handy, and of course a live pto would also be nice, but a person can get by with it, my buddy has one that he uses a tiller with it, but it almost runs too fast to do a good job, he kicks it out of gear and lets the tiller push him across the garden.

At the pond again today. My frogs have come back. Lots of them jumping in as I walk the bank. Also, the turtles are back. Had three last year, looks like five this year, at least for now. They are all the red ear or painted turtles.
I thought I saw a big swirl in the water (hopefully from a larger fish) just the one, but it gives me some hope for survivors.

GrandPap also had an 8N, Dave. I hated that thing. It was so stinking primitive compared to the 860.
Sometime in the mid '70s the 8N was sent to the dealership for an engine overhaul. The dealership
caught fire while the tractor was in the shop and it got fairly well barbecued. After the shop was rebuilt
the dealer rebuilt and repainted the 8N, but I still didn't want anything to do with it. lol

Rod, I try to get in a mile a day.

Dang!!!

Glad to see the legs are getting stronger.



P.S. At a mile a day, you are in better shape than I am. I have been doing about 70 hours of work a week at my stupid desk and computer.

Went to pond and saw maybe 4-5 pods of LMB fry skittering on surface in flooded timber area….. guess they at least got off a spawn…..no clue about BCP though

Finally started to move dirt. Well, kinda. The top 6" is mud and then the frost is still very much frozen. Pushed some goo around for a little while just to feel like I was doing something. Hopefully this week the frost starts coming out. I'd really like to finish shaping the 2 bays and get the emergency spillway built. I still have about 4-5' before I am full and would really like to get the bays finished before runoff happens...

Caught a few Hybrid Crappie that were about 8"-9" long, a few 14" LMB (removed) one RBT and about 1/2 dzn HSB. I kept one HSB, it's swimming in the live well now, I'll take a weight/length measurement tomorrow, it's about 20" long. Caught all the fish on an OLD silver/black floating Rapala -- one of the originals. I don't know if it's 2 3/4" or 3 1/4" in length. I gave the RBT to a friend, he will get me a weight/length (his boy caught one too).

Refilled two feeders, but couldn't reach one on the far side of the dam due to a fallen tree across the road. Hopefully will get this cut & moved later this week. Some large trees were killed during the controlled burn, figure they will come down eventually. Oh, well.

On the positive side, the main pond is full & standpipe overflowing nicely. Emergency spillway was not needed during prolonged rains, nor did forage pond overflow. It's the fullest I've ever seen due to pumping excess water from main pond a few weeks back.

Transferred several BG to forage pond, but was dismayed to discover my feeder didn't work despite fully charged battery. Only a couple years old, not sure what issue is. The forage pond is off the beaten path & I didn't use it at all last year due to drought, who knows what happened.

Speaking of BG, they are BIG. Fished around dock and had my 4 lb test line broken twice (drag not working well, but still) and lost another when the jig hook snapped (!). Had on a couple that I thought must be nice LMB, but turned out to be monster BG or CNBG. Stubby Steves on a flyrod were the ticket. Giant BG don't just fight in circles, they also make strong runs. Not used to that from panfish! Something long & large swirled next to one of the BG I was fighting, either LMB or HSB.

Saw plenty of tiny fish around dock, probably BG YOY. Not many intermediate sizes, though. Giant or tiny, that's all.

Mama goose must be on the nest, I only saw one moving around. No cormorants. First hummingbirds of the season appeared at our nectar feeders, good to see.

esshup,

That HSB is such a football that it makes his tail look too small!

anthropic,

Impressive news on the BG! Also glad to hear that your water levels are about perfect.

Did want to pass along a note about your dead trees. It is much safer to cut fresh trees compared to old, rotted trees in unknown condition.

Cutting rotten trees gives you surprises - which are NOT enjoyable when running the chainsaw besides 10 tons of elevated mass.

I have rotted trees being knocked down by wind storms and some get hung up on other old trees. Those are a hazard to have on your property and I know you have kids and grandkids on the loose.

I can't remember if you clear your own trees? If so, maybe fell a few of the fire-kill trees when you clear your dam. If you hire out your cutting, maybe get a bid for the fire-kill trees when the person clears your dam. He might take some firewood as partial payment?

IMO, it is much better to cut those trees now and wedge them to fall in your preferred location compared to letting them decay and have the wind pick when and where they fall!

Thanks for the warning, Rod. Yes, the tree that fell across the road was indeed dead -- and huge. Could easily have killed someone.

I know that some birds like dead trees, so wildlife biologists say to leave them uncut when safe to do so. Still your warning is apt & I will try to get the dangerous ones down. Preferably in the water for habitat!

I do cut small trees, but leave the big ones to the experts. Fortunately, none of the dead trees are a threat to the house or the dock.