Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations A Dream Turned to Fruition (and Mas Questiones)

Hey Dave and Al nice work. My friends in George West say it has been dry. You guys getting any rain? Dolly maybe on the way!

TX715 we understand "redneck work" here. At least they quit calling it 'The Slave Ranch'!
heybud I was in George West last week and they are as dry as us. 2 miles east of me during PB conference they had 5"...we received 1.5. Bring on Dolly. Need her to come in near Corpus/Baffin Bay area for our best chance of rain. My parents are in Rockport for a couple weeks and may need to board up and come north? Would love to see if new spillway works???
Thanks all for the compliments.
al

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I really hope our LMB are big enough to keep the gizzard shad in check. Maybe it's a good thing we caught an alligator gar in that pond???

It will be an interesting experiment.

Jeez, I can relate to that. Last month at our ranch we worked 10 to 12 hours per day for the entire week we were there. By the end of it I couldn't wait to get back to So Cal to rest my bones.

The photos of the place look great guys and the fish Jeez, I only hope one day to have such great looking fish.

Keep the progress photos coming, it is really fun to watch your progress.

Oh and lets not even get started about truck and tractor envy. Dang, fun looking truck and a great Kubota tractor to boot.

I bought this bad boy to work up at our place.....

Latest project


A few fish...wonder what this one was eating????

Great pictures! Keep posting.

A little more about the fence project?

Al, the next time we visit family in S.A. - I want a tour....
I know, you have invited me several times, but visits have been short....next tiem for sure...

You have a show place for sure and know how much labor and love you have given your property - like your "high fence"..

Perhaps too short for deer, but plenty high for catfish!

Forgot to post my little friend

Is that fence to keep bad things out or bad things in? Either way it is a beautiful looking fence.

Man you guys have some monster fish.

Nice size Rattler. DIED grows them big like that also.

George, your invitation is open...whenever you can.
JHAP We want to keep 'GOOD' things IN! Our plans are to move some Axis, Fallow and possibly Sikas down here. My wife likes to watch them.
Frankly, goats may be in order because of smartweed, willows and primrose growth.

****************Greg Grimes*************************

Would you elaborate on your recent article in PB? "We tried repeated applications of four different EPA approved herbicides"...
What works on willows and primrose?
Great article Greg!

I had forgotten talking about exotics with the Vatsa's in Arlington - that was huge fun for an Ahia boy who had only read about them!

Guns 'n Roses rocks! Wait 'til Axis cranks it up with Welcome to the Jungle.

LOL Brettski. Thanks for the nice replies, guys. Theo- we'd be honored to have you out there to hunt with us someday.

We're excited about the projects. Right now, though, I'm most excited about our future BC/WC, HSB, FH, GSH, and TFS pond.


Nonetheless, the first order of business before Todd comes for our "pond electrotherapy session" is to use steel leaders and live and/or cut 5"+ BG to catch some of those nasty alligator gar out of the LMB pond. Tough job...I know...but I'll bite the bullet and do it. Unfortunately, that's one of the ways we'll probably catch more of those large CC as well.

Brettski
I think that's the crap my wife puts on for an afternoon of
bushhoging. Diesel, graphic equalizer with an Ipod hookup. That'll get it! She brings new light to tractoring! Glad she wears her seatbelt. Then I get to hear it again at Spur's home games.
I just want a little Barry White, at the pier, to help the 'gills do their thing...

Well, at least Dave knows where to look for his lost CD's.
-
hmmmmm....the Barry White influence on BG fecundity....explains alot.

Being a city boy I had no idea what Axis, Fallow and Sikas were so I googled them. Wow beautiful animals. I can't imagine having those majestic animals roaming around.

Did I mention that I have huge, ornery Grey Squirrels on my property? (oh the humiliation)

You know Electrotherapy sessions always sound like they are going to be more fun than they actually are. Of course since you're doing it to your pond you might have a different experience that me.

Slowly getting there(New Crappie Pond). Have had several 1-1.5" rains. Unfortunately the Bass and Catfish ponds need creek to run for a sizeable increase. 4-5" rains in area but not on us yet!



I was worried about runnoff and seems there will be NO problem with this one.

Refresh our memories, Al. What do you already have in this pond if anything?

Looks great.

10# FH 10# GS a few Shad from another pond. Plan is for 150 Black crappie some mature RES and a lot or minnows. This is subject to change when Todd sees and decides what's best.

What is the size of the pond again, and how big will the crappie be when stocked?

2a when full. I designed for a possible increase in size in future. The redirected drainage through the field has surpassed anything I anticipated. Need to see how pond and spillway handles 4-5" rain before any decisions made. Could get interesting???
Crappie size, as big as Todd can grow...
HSB next spring or fall for Crap. Control.

Time for a new update. The crappie pond is coming along nicely. Even with the minimal amount of rain we've had, our expected watershed for this pond has done much better than we'd hoped. The redirected drainage through a large field has performed extremely well. All of the different grasses we planted in there help reduce the sediments in the water entering the pond. The FHs and GSH have spawned several times throughout the spring, summer, and fall. There were thousands of brand new fry even yesterday...can't tell if they are FHs or GSH yet.

Here are a few pics of the filling pond:





The structure awaiting its new watery home.


Of course a feeder was required to keep our growing forage base fat & happy.


A view from the makeshift boat launch to the dam side. This shows one arm of the "U" shape of the pond.


Stocking day arrived again! With our abundant forage, we felt it was time to turn loose 50 black crappie. The plan for this pond is FHs, black (and possibly white) crappie, GSH to help control the crappie fry, and HSB and TFS to create an open-water forage/predator combo.

The crappie before being set free in the candy store. They all looked to be around 6".


We'd love RES as a bonus fish in the crappie pond (no bluegill, though). We managed to catch a RES from the little BG pond. It was quickly transported to its new home in the crappie pond.


Bullhead duty in the BG pond. If my hands get stuck by a stinkin' bullhead one more time...


Taking kiddos fishing...that's what it's all about! The smile on the six year-old's face is priceless!


Unfortunately, we're about to lose our CC pond...or what's left of it. After a severe drought (the crappie pond drainage being the exception), we're down to about 3-4' max depth and about 1/3 the normale surface acreage. Here's the good news: With inevitable death for the CC if we don't get rain anytime soon, it gives us a great excuse to start either 1) transporting fish, or 2) harvesting. Two words: FISH FRY!
With a little help on Sunday, I was able to get a few beauties.





Tonight, my wife and I are heading to my dad's to enjoy a fish fry with my grandparents. On Friday, my dad, grandfather, and I will make our annual trek northwest to deer camp. As our wise friend George always says, "Life is good!"

davatsa,

Beautiful fish, great looking pond.

I'm somewhat of a crappie fancier too. If your FHM all get eaten up (as mine did!), do you think baby RES and TFS will make sufficient forage for the BC? Do you have a backup plan?