Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Why a these little guys dying?

I've been mixing some AM400 in with the 500 and LM so maybe a few will take to pellets.

Agreed. It may just be a male that is build like that even with plenty of feed. My males in the cages that are fed well are similar in wr. Or as Sunil eludes to it may be a female that has not built up any egg mass yet or has dropped her eggs already. My guess it that's a male though.

As far as a small stand of cattails being where eggs were strung that is a possibility. They will look for anything that is up off the bottom. Even submergent aquatic vegetation in deep water you can not see is used.

I'll have to do some walleye fishing in my pond because I seem to catch a lot of YP while WE fishing lakes. I usually catch SMB while Im YP fishing and I don't need any more surprises.

Ryan, the fish isn't that big but she is a trophy. Be proud Daddy.

Thanks Dave.

Boy Dwight you called this one!

Cecil, that fish looked skinny to me but I don't much of anything about perch other than how good they are rolled in cornmeal and deep fried. Had some from Lake Kagawong Sunday night actually and they're hard to beat. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to your and Bill Cody's outstanding examples. The one in the picture had a sunken in stomach. I thought is was strange for it to look hungry at the end of September. I've haven't been too interested in the perch but have been following your and Bill Cody's posts. They'll certainly be reviewed.

Here's what about 24 hours in the minnow trap yielded. My minnow trap only has a 1" opening so the larger bluegill pictured probably had to squeeze in. Also, the mesh bag I use for bait was stripped clean so it's hard to tell how long they were without feed. There also were two additional dead YP not pictured. No doubt what they are when you see them alive next to a similar size LMB.

So now what? Does the trap yield provide any insight into balance? I enjoy ice-fishing so I'm going to try and make it work. LMB followed by BG are priority. My HSB are doing well but I think I can count on them growing fine on pellets. I've never caught YP in my minnow trap in previous years. Should I simply follow the same plan I do with everything else and just keep the overachievers in the hopes the big healthy ones get bigger?

I have to vote pro-perch based on nothing more than my experience at my pond. In my limited knowledge, I refer to them as "innocent bystanders." They seem to "just be around" in the mix. I have them of all sizes, and even up to over 12/13" but not as fat as Cecil's.

A few weeks back, I caught some 5" perch, and just due to laziness and curiosity, I let them swim around on the hook. Larger LMB started showing up to inhale the perch. They were still hooked in the lip from being caught and I hadn't rigged them for live-lining.

I'm going to spend a lot more time live-lining smaller fish.

I don't think there's a better way to catch bass or big cats in a pond than barely hooking a small bluegill in the meat just behind the dorsal fin with a small circle hook and letting it free swim around the pond and occasionally giving it a little pull to make it look injured. Bass seem to almost ignore healthy fish sometime but go crazy at the site of an easy meal.

Oh the brutality!

That's a nice little mix of BG, YP and LMB. Very cool!

No brutality compares to Mother Nature when she's hungry!

What happens to perch populations when they inbreed?

Keep in mind I really don't want them in my pond and these offspring only came from a couple of fish.

What will be the outcome if I don't expand the gene pool?

Hopefully, the effects won't be similar to what happens with sunfish.

I wouldn't worry about it to much if you're not trying to produce a line of super yellow perch. The offspring that have something wrong with them won't make it or will be eaten.

I've started a fathead population in my one pond with just a few dozen individuals. I've got a few hundred thousand of them now and they seem healthy and the males get quite large. Of course once I put the smallies in this month they will be cropped down.