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very nice! Now please update us on how well the trap works!

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Will do!!! Didn't make it down there last night - Listened to the Pond Boss live on FB instead haha


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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Did some fishing on the pond over the weekend

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Bass fishing is super slow this time of year on the pond....evenings with top water frogs produce blow ups. I have a very chunky (for hot summer) 12-16" batch of fish with a few hogs over 17" - bluegill and crappie are hard to come by but I did get a couple that were fed to 'coons

Cloverleaf had a single 13" bullhead after 12hrs of soaking. moved it from 8' to 5' of water last night and will check again this evening.

I fed about 2lbs of old sportsmans choice last night and saw a few bass, mostly bullheads but the occasional bluegill surfacing to feed. I feed over the trap to help up catch numbers

Some interesting observations - I have an orange/red stained algae bloom, maybe its nearing its end? Water quality sucks, no rain = 1' lower then the drain = no circulation, we need rain. FA died off 2 weeks ago when the flow stopped


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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fishing has been terrible on the pond...I've noticed that drought plays a huge role in fish activity on my little pond. The summers we have a very dry august-september, fishing is terrible, feeding is terrible, and I get a rusty brown bloom over the deeper sections of the pond. Until the rain started over the weekend we had gone 4 weeks with 0 flow in/out of pond.

The new trap is producing, however....it has been laying in 4-7' of water and has yielded 6 bullhead over 11", 3 black crappie all over 10", and 4 bluegill over 7". My sizes are increasing dramatically! Bullhead have moved deep, so this week the trap is going in 10-12' of water.

Next method of bullhead control will be hand feeding and picking them off with the 22


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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Do you have oxygen in the water at that depth now?
















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Originally Posted by Matzilla
...Next method of bullhead control will be hand feeding and picking them off with the 22

Keep a long handled net near by because the percussion of the 22 hitting the water, but missing the BH may very well stun it, but leave it to come to and live another day. This concept of culling would tempt me to buy a 20 gauge shotgun and several boxes of birdshot. I'm always looking for a reason to buy another firearm and the shorter home defense version of a 20 gauge would be very good at culling feeding BH...I would think. If not, I don't have a home defense 20 gauge in the collection...win/win or at least lose/win!


Fish on!,
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You might get better concussion from rifled slugs vs. birdshot. The small pellets won't travel very far in the water.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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I'll have plenty of oxygen after the 3-5" of rain this week...those bullhead suspend over deep water during hot/dry periods of the summer and follow the thermocline to the shallows, getting the trap near that drop off to thermocline zone is ideal

I need a 20ga for this bullhead culling bad! hahaha, as the population drops, trapping is harder. Shooting is going to be the easiest (and most fun) way of population control especially for the larger BH. Good idea on the net to collect the stunned fish quickly


Mat Peirce
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Do your BH come to pellets? If they do you can catch em out pretty easy at feeding time with a little piece of nightcrawler or a pellet fly.

Throw net works good for a toss or two. They wise up to that real fast, but you can catch a bunch of them before they figure it out.

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Originally Posted by esshup
You might get better concussion from rifled slugs vs. birdshot. The small pellets won't travel very far in the water.

You would definitely get better stunning with slugs. I was thinking low budget (besides the gun purchase) and neglecting any collateral damage of desired fish species that might be feeding as well.


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BH have got to be the easiest fish to feed train - yes they come to pellets constantly....they are easy to catch on rod and reel when we feed regularly but we've just been too darn busy with house projects this year. When we feed often the fish start to react to the sound of pellets hitting the water, if you loft a bobber pretty high in the air and let it splash down hard, you usually have a fish within seconds. I'm hoping to wrap up the rest of our projects at home, just finished our kitchen remodel, gotta paint a few rooms and finish building out our basement bathroom/laundry room.


Mat Peirce
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LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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Took the day off work to spend time at the pond

I sold my old helix 5 g1 and got a helix 5 g2 with autochart....made a map of the pond. It is not 100% spot on but it is very close

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

While cruising around making the map I found several schools of crappies and gills stacked up and suspended
[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Caught a few to cull from the pond - tossed the fat ones back - skinny ones are on shore for the racoons
[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Nice to see some 10" crappie!
[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

No pictures of bluegills but I caught 3 today, all very fat. I'll weigh and measure for rw tracking next time I fish

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Water clarity is rocking, with 3' of visibility, pond is looking very nice lately.


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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Love them BCP

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Anyone else notice that the 10" crappie is a white crappie, v/s the culls all being blacks? Wonder if the black crappie are more prone to stunting?

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Originally Posted by rjackson
Anyone else notice that the 10" crappie is a white crappie, v/s the culls all being blacks? Wonder if the black crappie are more prone to stunting?


Interesting enough, I caught 2 whites that day - same school, the one not pictured was 9" - I've only caught 6 white crappie out of the pond in the last 5 years. They are very easy to catch this time of year because they suspend right near the 2nd drop off to the basin


Mat Peirce
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The Black Crappie are stunted. Look at how big their eyes are in comparison to their bodies.


www.hoosierpondpros.com


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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Looking to thin out some fish this winter....got my 7 y/o on a school of dink bluegills
[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

unfortunately i have a 30' deadfall ash tree that landed on the pond a couple of weeks ago that is restricting access to a spot where we tie up the row boat to access a back trail. I'll have to take the chainsaw down and log it out.


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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smile looks like u have a fisherman in the family. Good deal smile


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


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Would love to hear any opinions/guess why the BC are said to be stunted and the WC apparently are not.


Food items reported for Pomoxis annularis
n = 9
Food I Food II Food III Food name Country Predator Stage
nekton finfish bony fish
Aplodinotus grunniens USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
Diptera larvae USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
Dorosoma cepedianum USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
Ephemeroptera nymphs USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
Menidia beryllina USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos benth. crust. benth. copepods
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans
unidentified crustaceans USA juv./adults



Food items reported for Pomoxis nigromaculatus
n = 4
Food I Food II Food III Food name Country Predator Stage
nekton finfish bony fish
cyprinid remains USA juv./adults
nekton finfish bony fish
Dorosoma cepedianum USA juv./adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans
unidentified crustaceans USA juv./adults
zoobenthos insects insects
Unidentified odonate USA juv./adults

Last edited by ewest; 01/12/21 02:09 PM.















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Matt,

Its great to see you having a great time with your son. I hope you are panfrying them. That's the size we usually keep in the ponds around here. Pan fried in bacon fat with a good coating of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and cornmeal ... yum! My kids dominate a plate of them and its hard to get any LOL!

There was something I recently tried with trout that may help to get the bones out ... though I haven't tried it yet with BG. It involves allowing the pan fried fish to cool enough to hold and then holding upside down. Just reach down and grip the backbone and pull up through the cavity. Would be a good idea to have already removed the anal fin. This worked great on trout which have pin bones and might also work with BG. My kids love to eat pan fried BG. They eat crispy fins too. My wife isn't fond that practice ... but who is she to judge? As a kid, while eating squirrel, she'd crack open the skull and dine on the brains right along with her dad, LOL!


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Originally Posted by ewest
Would love to hear any opinions/guess why the BC are said to be stunted and the WC apparently are not.


Food items reported for Pomoxis annularis
n = 9
Food I Food II Food III Food name Country Predator Stage
nekton finfish bony fish
Aplodinotus grunniens USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
Diptera larvae USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
Dorosoma cepedianum USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
Ephemeroptera nymphs USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
Menidia beryllina USA recruits/juv.
nekton finfish bony fish
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos benth. crust. benth. copepods
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos insects insects
unidentified USA recruits/juv.
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans
unidentified crustaceans USA juv./adults



Food items reported for Pomoxis nigromaculatus
n = 4
Food I Food II Food III Food name Country Predator Stage
nekton finfish bony fish
cyprinid remains USA juv./adults
nekton finfish bony fish
Dorosoma cepedianum USA juv./adults
zoobenthos benth. crust. n.a./other benth. crustaceans
unidentified crustaceans USA juv./adults
zoobenthos insects insects
Unidentified odonate USA juv./adults

I've wondered about this a lot - some contributing factors at play here: there are much more black crappie vs white crappie in the pond based off what I have caught. The whites tend to cruise the basin while the blacks tend to hold to cover. I have very large amounts of yoy bluegill, bullhead, tadpoles/frogs and should have plenty of plankton sized food chain to eat - competition for smaller food items is substantially higher than yoy sized food items. White crappie can of 8-10" can likely start eating the crawfish available in the pond.

I would think that putting even more effort into thinning the herd should continue to show improving results in not only the black crappie but the bluegill. Reducing black crappie, bluegill and bullhead numbers. My native and stocked bass are doing very well, i have great numbers of 10-14" bass and very few larger - top end of lmb is pushing 6lbs and likely 20", and i can verify i have 3 of those sized fish in the pond...they are just very hard to catch.

I'm working to improve access to the pond which will in turn make it much easier to feed on a regular basis. Any extra minnows from fishing other bodies of water are deposited in the pond after verifying they are all truly minnows and not unwanted fish. We dumped a few dozen in right after taking pictures Saturday.

Thoughts? opinions?


Jpsdad - we leave the small bluegills on the ice for raccoons and bobcats to eat. But I'm getting to the point that our cull fish are fastly approaching fillet size. I have seen improvements in bluegill size since I've started this project - and the pond is becoming more fun to fish. Sadly I don't think my hsb survived, and I have no caught a walleye in almost 2 years, i haven't seen a yellow perch since the spring after stocking.

Last edited by Matzilla; 01/13/21 02:43 PM.

Mat Peirce
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I can't imagine how YP would not survive. Do you have big predators like CC or Blue cats? Could your pond possibly winter kill? I would think YP are very hardy and would do well.
Ditto for walleye, outside of a winter kill or too hot of a summer and no cool water refuge, hard to know what would make them die. How big were the walleye when last seen?

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november 2017 i stocked the following
Hybrid Striped Bass 8" to 10" 175 (most were 10-12" and very healthy upon stocking - approximately 15 were stunned while stocking but all swam off shortly after)
Largemouth Bass 6" to 8" 100 (these were all 7-11 upon delivery)
Walleye 50 (most 10")
Red Ear Sunfish 3" to 4" 150
Yellow Perch 3" to 5" 150 (these were actually 6-7")

Jan 14 2018 i caught a single 12" walleye, may 2019 i caught a 14" walleye - haven't caught one since
HSB - i saw a few feeding in the spring of 18 - nothing since...i'm totally surprised i haven't seen nor caught a single one as they were extremely healthy high rw fish upon delivery
YP - saw eggs on leaves the spring of 18 - nothing since

LMB, crappie and bg are abundant - the stocked lmb were a great option as they have done very well both growing and spawning

CC have been caught on rare occasions in the late spring/early summer - 3 caught in the last 3 years. The pond above mine is CC only and I've talked to the owner about installing an agri drain cover on his outlet pipe to prevent them from coming down to my pond in heavy rains. I might just buy the cover and install it myself this spring haha

no blue cats
no winter kill
My pond maxes out at 82 degrees measured during dry periods of extreme heat - i've taken a few readings due to curiosity
In the last 4 years I have only had 6-8 weeks of 0 outlet flow and i always have incoming flow - evaporation must be higher than inlet flow.

My goals for '21 will include further culling via the cloverleaf, and more regular feeding. I'm going to run a trotline for bullhead and maybe a couple jug lines for catfish over the summer. I'm also looking to remove the top end of the bass population - i have a few 18" + lmb that should go. the stunted bass are fun to catch, and I still want to have a good population of 6-9" bg with bonus crappie.

I would totally agree that YP should do great in this pond. Food sources are excellent, spawning habitat is perfect for yp, nice weed growth of curlyleaf every spring that holds until mid summer - the predator base is there to support a decent school of fast growing perch into jumbo range. I may try another stocking after '21 to see what happens. Maybe some more hsb too

Last edited by Matzilla; 01/14/21 01:22 PM.

Mat Peirce
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LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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Thanks for the reply. Maybe someone else knows more about this than I do but it is crazy to think that only a certain type of fish would disappear and others thrive

Walleye can hang out deep and not be easy to see but should be catchable especially since you caught one in spring 2019 and it was 14" Pretty big for even a big CC to eat.
HSB, I have no experience but as they get bigger they usually are pretty easy to get to feed on pellets and should be seen schooling in open water.

YP if they are stocked as pellet trained YP should stay trained and should be willing to come to eat pellets in morning and early evening lighting conditions. IF there are still mature female YP in there which I would have to believe there are then they would lay eggs every spring still.

It doesn't sound like you would have a kill from poor water conditions or from excessive temperatures of the water.

I'm not confident that I can tell if you truly had a winter kill or not. I can't tell that for my own pond either as any fish that dies under the ice probably won't be seen as the critters under the ice clean it up.

Before I would pour more fish into it it might be interesting to see if you can set up a underwater GoPro like camera and see if you can capture image of any YP or Walleye (or HSB for that matter). I recently reviewed an ad for a $50 GoPro knock off that had as good or better features than the name brand GoPro. Fascinating what you might learn if you had an eye on the bottom of the pond. Some are able to stream live to WIFI but again I don't know how well they can stream from underwater to your wifi network.

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Some more ice culling from the weekend
[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
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