Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Help me adopt my fish family

(hmmm; feeding the fish might be another hook for D-ski)
OK...where do I go for feed (that is relatively convenient)? It's not a wally-world thing, right? I'm thinking I should ask my local hog and cattle rancher where he gets his feed...right?
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I am having a tuff time seeing any appreciable participation for din-din if there's 2100 tiny dinner guests scattered throughout 5 acres. I'm not there enough to continue a training regimen. I just don't see how showing up every few days, banging on a piece of metal to summon Pavlov's dog, and throwing out a cup of feed will garner interest.

Has Theo been forwarding copies of the 1977 TV guide again? Not you too! If your copies of PB mag have been arriving much more frequently, look closely at the cover before being absorbed by the magnetic content. Theo's spell checker won't work with his Sharpie, so the cover should never look like Pond Baus

Brettski, at my pond, sometimes it takes a few minutes before anything hits the feed that I throw out due to several factors such as temperature, water clarity, wind, etc.

For you, what I would try is to pick a place where you envision fish would be like near some of the structure you've placed.

Throw some feed there and wait. You might have to wait for several minutes. At first, if all goes well, you might only see a small boil here or there.

The fatheads will hit feed, and sometimes their activity will lure other fish to the scene. Your fatheads could be in any shallow area.

Hand feeding does not have to be regimented.

That's "Pawned Baas".

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Feeding can be more enjoyable than fishing.

50 lb bags can be found at tractor supply-type stores and grain & feed mills. Wallyworld does carry fish feed, but in smaller packages and at higher unit cost. Their biggest bags are ususally koi food; I have been known to get cichlid pellets, krill, etc. there for the PBR.

I don't have the heart to subject our forum members to the wonder twins.

OK, Eric...I'm startin' to think you're getting kick-backs under the table from my rock-guy!
8 more tons, split up in 3 dumps, around the launch dock/deck.

Our friendly, neighborhood farm pal has agreed to return with his front end loader in the near future to give it all a little push further down the slope. We got the single axle dumper right up to the edge and let 'er go, but it's still too shallow. A couple of pushes with the bucket, and this entire section of shoreline should start to look like fish-vegas.
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This is about 1/3 of the load in a pile, just beyond the deck.

those look like some nice glacially eroded cobbles and boulders.....you can never have too much rock....IMHO good goin.

One of the good things of your pool holding at ca. 3 ft low is having more time for stuff like this rock work.

Brother, you won't be sorry you did that. You will be able to sit on your dock and see all kinds of stuff going on.

If you don't have polarized sunglasses, I'm sending you and D-Ski each a pair for the full-pool party.

I know that this post really belongs on the "Creating the Food Chain" forum, but I want to keep this stuff glued to the LNP adopted fish family thread.
Actually, this little event occurred about a month ago.
It took a little networking, but I was able to locate a reliable vendor for papershell crayfish. The vendor was far enough away that air freight made the most sense. Check this stinkin' story out.
I spent a half dozen phone calls arranging what seemed to be the perfect timing for delivery. It's the Memorial day weekend coming up, so I plan the vendor to ship the crays on Thurs afternoon via overnight air. They arrive on Friday and we can give them a change of diapers, fix up their linens, and keep them comfortable thru Friday night so I can make an early trip on Saturday morning to the project and introduce them to their new digs. My vendor wants to use US Postal service, next day priority air. Hmmmm, I'm a UPS guy, but I'm not the expert....OK.
I call him and get the tracking number. They made it to a major midwest city during the first leg of their journey. That was it. Friday comes and goes; nothing. We have been calling the post offices at both ends. Nothing. I go to the project on Saturday with nothing, leaving D-ski at home to continue calling and waiting. Nothing. Monday rolls around. Now it's been too long. My vendor kinda keeps it light, assuring me that they WILL be found...just follow the stink. We're sittin' down to lunch on M-day and sure enough, the uniformed USPS guy rips up the driveway in his van and scurries up to the porch with a large styro box inside a plastic bag. Even the neighbor's cat ran in the opposite direction. I could tell by the look on his face that the prediction had come to fruition. They DID find it. I didn't even open it; it was absolutely horrible in the closed condition. The vendor filed the claim.
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A week later, we try it again, only this time via UPS next day air. Bingo!...like clockwork. 250 of the little buggers.

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D-ski named this one Gigantor. She got to spend quality time with the new pets since I was at work during their arrival and refreshment. She's sumthin else. She said that Gigantor kept trying to run away, his claws raised in defiance.
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...per instructions, we split 'em up. 1/2 in the styro cooler and 1/2 into a plastic cooler we already had. Fresh strips of newspaper, well dampened, and a plastic baggie full of ice cubes to chill out.
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...LAST ONE IN GETS HIS HEAD SUCKED!

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I asked my vendor if he minded that I post him as a source. He respectfully declined my offer. He has way more business, both commercial and private, than he can handle.
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Bottom line? $150 for 250 crays delivered. We lost about a dozen thru the entire process (not including the first catastrophic attrition).

Omaha Steaks sell paper crawfish too?

Look all of Eric's toy solider craws marched across the road in NY and down to ILL to Bski's LNP.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=72255&fpart=1

Brettski:

I just reread all of this and have a question it doesn't answer (IIRC).

Do you have plans to stick in some Grass Carp?

...and a good question at that.
Last summer was the first summer for this new pond. It was about 2/3 full. The entire perimeter had weed growth out to about 4' deep; mostly american pond weed. There is a fairly large, elongated underwater island that was at about 3-1/2' deep that also had notable weed growth. I am uncertain as to the balance of the pond that is over 4' deep.
We are going into this, the second year, full to the brim. Now, those areas of 3-4' deep with weeds are at 7 - 8 feet deep. I am unsure if they will continue to grow from those depths...? I assume alot of that has to do with water clarity. The new wild card will be the 1/4 ac or so in a shallow zone where the nesting boxes are located. It is now completely covered with water over an area of much lesser depth and bottom slope than the rest of the pond.
Anyway, given all this, I think I am at a wait-and-see point in development. I compound this thought process with the idea that the FH and cray forage base will need a little extra protection to survive and/or multiply.
Unless the experts tell me otherwise, I want to see how this year plays out before I make the GC commitment.

SMB nest with logs added.

Time to start thinkin' Top Predator
Well, it's time to introduce a couple more players to this new pond cocktail.
I was outta town on biz (and dinner with the Gallus's...nysch pond(s), dude), so Dski was given the responsibility (again) to meet up with the fish guy.
We brought in 20# of deez:

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...and 50 some-odd of doze:

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Although I have been apprehensive about stocking smaller SMB with YP that are starting their 3rd year, Dr Perca assures me that the SMB attrition should be reasonably low...and...Sunil and Shorty have convinced me that SMB are born with inordinately high levels of intelligence and connivery. I regret that I will miss the gags that they have planned for the rest of the pond residents.

Those SMB are already setting up the books in the Shiners' lockers to fall out when the doors are opened and stealing lunches from the YP. Frankly, you don't want to know what they are doing to FHM freshmen.

Strangely, they don't seem to mess with the Redear jocks. Hmmmm?

When the fish guy extracted the SMB from their transport tank, Donna-ski told me that she was surprised and noted out loud that they were "fat". Fish guy laughed and assured her that this is normal. No doubt, an attitude was imprinted upon the specimens within ear-shot. This would explain the angry and aggressive look in their eyes.

Those facial stripes are neat looking.

Way to go Brettski, and welcome to B.I.S.A.!

Are those guys pellet fed? If so, the fish food thing is going to be extra special to watch.

How big do you think they were?

How did I miss pics of such good looking fish. Way to go B'ski. Those SMB will do fine as they humble the YP , FH and GSH. No 250,000 micro- GSF for LNP - it gets full sized adult GSH and advanced stocker SMB.

Soon you can catch your own SMB and do your best Bob imitation like this :

Wow, I missed this update as well. A belated congratulations on your fish stocking Bski!

Sunil declares:

Finally...I can proudly proclaim, with head held high, that I am now a card-carryin' BISAn. None of that kooky, stupid GSA handshake, decoder ring stuff...right?
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Yes, but I don't have, nor plan on, a feeder. 50 of 'em in a 5 ac pond might be tuff to round up and expect hand-cast pellet results from an absentee landlord....I think.
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Dski says fish-guy said 4" - 5"
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Ewest, the consummate PB cheerleader that can find victory within any defeat, adds:

ssshhhh....you forgot to mention the 1300 fingerling RES that snuck in last spring. I expect Lincoln NE will check in soon to warn of any impending danger.
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Thanks JHAP...I mean...you are really JHAP, right? No S-A (street jargon for intellectual gluteous) remarks? No 300-word disclaimers that would require John Moschitta to speak in the last 6 seconds of a 30 second Hidden Pond Ranch dressing commercial? Just who are you...and what have you done with Jeff? This might explain the empty pod we found inside the ghillie suit propped up against JHAP's mailbox.

You might be pleasantly surprised at what fish show up for feed even if hand feeding sporadically.

agreed.....i've never seen such small SMB, its cool they have the same war stripes as the grownups..

What Brettski didn't realize at the time (or Donna-ski I should say), is that those smallies looked that way because they were collective bargaining with Donna-Ski prior to entering the pond.

Trust me, they won't sign anything without full vision & dental.