Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations All my Blue Gill are Dead!!!

Kay, I have never seen a 100% fish kill but I haven't seen everything. It sounds like the winter weakened the fish and, like Cecil says, infections set in. I would bet that you will have some BG survival. That said, I like the idea of adding the new adults.

Oh no, I came home from work today, and found a morphed LMB. I found another bass on the shore line. It is very lethargic, and seems to be dying :(. We removed it and put it in another small pond that is not stocked, but filled with run off water. I don't think the fish is going to live. This is awful. My son examined the fish, and could find no lesions, marks, no nothing on it. We tested our pond water for just about everything, and all came out normal chemistry wise. How discouraging this is. One tries to be a good steward of the earth, and then it all falls apart.

Rest assured Kay many of us have been there. This will have to run it's course and then things will be back to normal. Consider it a learning experience and do whatever it takes to prevent it happening in the future.

Thanks Cecil, and to all who answered. You are right, it will just have to run its course. Hopefully, this will be the last of it. Perhaps our new pump will help keep things healthy. At least the Blue Heron doesn't come around anymore, and thats a good thing. We are thinking of getting a Weimaraner to help out!!

Try to look on the bright side, it's spring and the best time to make corrections and try new things to improve the health of your pond.
Probably most people who have had a pond for any length of time are gonna run into some problems, I know I sure have but just keep plugging, you'll get there.

Good Luck.

Thanks Live free or Die you got that right!!!

I would not add any cutrine or other herbicides now especially if the fish are stressed. Cutrine is copper which is fairly toxic to everything. I would also check what you normally add for dosage and make sure you are not overdoing it. I am sure it was just a rough winter that caused the kill, but I would lay off the Cutrine until they get better or you re-stock to be safe.

My uncle's pond in NJ had a fish kill 5 years ago. Killed many fish. There were many bluegill killed but some did survive. However, all bass were killed. We waited for a year before restocking thinking some were left and would reproduce, but never saw any and the thousands of happy frogs around the edge and jumping in with no fear confirmed no bass!! We did restock some bass from another pond and everything is happy again. Even though a fish kill is not fun, it is actually fun to re-stock and track populations, etc.

Thanks Oldscony, your joyful note helped out. You are right about the fish kill being no fun. The fish well some, were almost like pets. Yes, even the LMB would come into the shore for their treats!! I miss them. I have seen only one BG and that may be one of the ones that we just put in. My son and I are going to go fishing again this Saturday for more BG. You are right, it is fun to re-stock, and track. We certainly know more then we did 9yrs ago.
Our frogs are back too jumping in with no fear. Nature sure know what to do, till man comes along and messes with things - sometimes.
I hope all is well with your uncle's pond. What happened with you Uncle's pond to cause such a fish kill. I really don't think any survived in our pond. I don't see any small ones in the iris where they usually hide. No I wont use any more Cutrine. I only used some along the edges where there was algea growing on the rocks.
I hope everyone has a joyous abundant pond season.

I assume my uncles pond just had a winter kill. It was stocked in the early 1980s by my cousin and me and this was the first fish kill that I know of. It is booming now. The scary thing is we went from LMB and bluegill to my "experiment" with LMB, bluegill and some green sunfish because they are pretty and fight well and also some pumpkinseed sunfish because they are very pretty. I also have been trying to add some chain pickerel to help add another predator but I never see them again probably due to lack of plant cover for them to hide in. I also put some mosquito fish in but they don;t last long due to lack of cover. The biggest issue we have is geese eating everything. No vegetation to provide cover due to geese and also red clay soil with low hardness/alkalinity water that I assume prevents the lily pads from growing (I have tried many times to add lillies and other plants even after liming and fertilizer to no avail - they last a few months and either die or get eaten - can't tell for sure as I only get down there 2-3 times per year). Other than that, there are plenty of fish and it seems healthy. The kids love it but not as much as me.

I don't know how large your pond is, but we found that using chicken wire fencing and stretching it out around the whole pond keeps the geese away. They are so messy and foul up the ground and water. This is the only thing we have found that works. Its difficult to stretch it out, but worth it. We lay it out flat and use rocks to hold it down. No more geese - finally!!

A shotgun will keep the geese away and add a meal to your table

Ditto to that ! I don't know why they are protected anymore.

They really aren't protected, they are a migratory bird that's has it's harvest regulated by the Feds. Talk to the local DNR and see if you can get a permit to remove nusance geese.

Kay, I might have missed it but have you had your pond water tested for any kind of poisons(sp)?

One thing to keep in mind is any poison that acts as a piscicide usually kills a lot of fish very quickly. Some viruses do too. A low mortality over a period of time is usually indicative of a bacterial pathogen.

Today was a relatively good day in Northern OH, with temps in the low 60's. The pond activity is not good. There are no more BG that come to feed,as they did for the past 9yrs. I only see the BG that my son and I put in. There is one bass that I caught sight of, and not sure of the Amur whose name is Scarborough. The fish that came to the feeding bank for pellet food all had names.
We have talked with the folks from Jone's Fish farm, who seem to think that the water temp was too cold, because the bubbler was not in the correct place ie to deep. However, this was not the case. Or the fish died from some sort of pathogen.
I think, perhaps, there might have been some element in the creek water. All the dead small fry BG lined the pond like aluminum foil. I can't believe that they would all die off. I guess we will never know. On a happy note, the BG that we put in are doing well. The don't come in a V when they see me walking down to the pond, because they aren't pellet trained. Now I wonder if they have enough to eat. We are going to get the golden shiners on the 24th. Maybe we should purchase some .11 goldfish for the fish?

I wouldn't put goldfish in your pond... A small number of BG in a pond will find plenty of wild food to eat. The BG you stocked should learn to take pellets, it just may take a while.

We are so relieved that the new BG we put in the pond are doing well. I think the worst is over. I also saw a LMB that survived!! Thanks to all for your help and support.