Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Dragon Flys

My bass love dragon flys. They will sit in 3 inches of water facing the bank and wait for the dragon fly and explode on them. I have watched bass jump clear onto the bank. I thought I would have to rescue them. During this summer you could sit and watch 1 blow up almost per minute. Does anyone elses bass do this.

i have GSF that do that, but i've only seen it a couple times all summer......wow 1 per minute....exciting stuff.

Hungry bass in particular will spend a lot of time jumping for dragonflies. In my limited experience, I think they miss A LOT.

When largemouth bass have lots of preferred food items like numerous small BG I don't think they spend as much time leaping for winged things.

Maybe 1 per min is a bit exaderated but its a lot. They seem to love the big juicy bugs.

Bruce I said the same as you, this is why I am boosting my forage but honestly there was small BG all around and the bass hunt the dragon flys. Early in the season it was frogs. All these frogs were swiming, I guess breeding and WAM a bass nails them. That only last for a short while though.

A bass that's programmed properly will figure out after a while what gives him the best calorie return for calorie expended. If there's bunches of bluegill around and he's still leaping for dragonflies, then he's either pretty good at catching DF's or he's lousy at catching BG's.

Sounds like there aren't any herons hanging around your pond, Joey.

There is one GB heron but I am always down there so he kinda found a new fishing hole. I think. I think he may know I might not take to well at him taking one of my bass. There are these little fishing birds who come. Usually by themselves, there a wading bird but kinda small. Smaller then a duck and fold there neck and wait. I think they steal small stuff.

I've seen a lot of them get airborne but have never really witnessed them catch a flying DF.

Joey, that smaller wading bird is likely a green heron.

It'd be about the size of a crow.

I have a GH that's nearly as tame as a chicken. If I had some bait, I think I could have it eating out of my hand. If I ever get my pond finished and stocked, our friendship will end.

Yes its the picture of the bird on the bottom. They hang on the bank and perch. I never saw him actually catch anything. Saw him stab a few times but like I said if he got something it must have been small. Those birds are a little more bold the the GB heron that bird gets out almost when my house door opens. I have a few Kingfishers to, that is a nice looking bird. Should I be concerned anout the bird on the bottom, is that a green heron?

They both are; the neck is just extended on the bottom pic.

All herons eat fish (and frogs and snakes and bifurcated transphibians). Greens have to be limited to smaller prey than Great Blues, IMO, due to their smaller size. So personally I worry less about Greens than Great Blues.

We have had both kinds around our pond. Like you, I have never seen a Green actually catch anything - yet they must do so. I have watched a GBH pull a 12" LMB out, fly across the pond when I hollered, drop the bass, and fly off. By the time I got there the LMB was passed reviving - ticked me off.

There are some exclusion techniques discussed in the heron threads here, with different levels of success reported. You also need to be aware that fish-eating birds (including our heron friends) are one leg in the life cycle of several fish parasites (yellow and black grubs, for example), the other two being snails and the fish themselves. If we can't exclude the birds, many of us keep snails limited as best we can with snail eating fish (Redear Sunfish, Pumpkinseeds, or to a lesser extent Yellow Perch).