Dirt Man is back onsite today. He didnt work yesterday because he was going to an equipment auction. I hope that at the end of today all of the trees are down and piled in the main body of water. At that point ill take some pics.
We got 2.5" of rain this morning so i dont think we are going to get much done today. Our Timber man that was suppose to be on site this morning is now going to have to come back next Friday. If its not one thing its another. lol Oh well atleast that gives me more time to select the trees that I want to keep around my House Pad and Shop Pad.
These picture were taken from what will be the East Northeast side of lake. Im standing on the dam of the pond that I built 2 years ago. Pic 1 is looking down to where the Dam will be. We still have lots of trees to clear out on the west side of the lake. If you go back to the map of the lake you can see the draw that the small pond is located at.
Here are a couple more pics. We have been delayed an entire week waiting on a timber man to show up. He finally called me to say that he was not going to be able to get the timber out. I am meeting another Timber Co. this afternoon. Pine Timber is not paying much at all so im basically having to give it away just so I can get someone out here. The trees that you see standing in the lake area are down now and I should be able to get a better pic this afternoon.
This morning the welder showed up to start welding up the 24" spillway pipe. I met with a new timber co. last night and they are going to begin bringing equipment over today as well. The dirt man starting digging the key on Monday.He is digging it with the scraper as well as back filling the clay with the scraper also. That makes the key roughly 12' wide wich i am very happy with. Ill post more pics as soon as the progress is noticable.
We we got the spill way pipe welded and in the dam. I had the welder put on 2 4'x8 antiseep collars. The dam is probably half finished. It's hard to take pictures that show any progress because of all the piles of trees. We've dug a hole out in the middle to put tree stumps in. Hopefully we can burn most everything. And once the piles are burnt. I should be able to take pictures that show progress.
90 lbs. Flathead Minnows 4000 Coppernose BlueGill (From my existing 1 acre Pond, No Preditors for 2 years. Its over stocked) 900 Northern Black Bass 300 Black Crappie 400 Hybrid Striper Bass
Some people are telling me not to put the Crappie in there, But I actually want something that I can catch all I want of and have a big fish fry.
And "Some people" would be correct. CC would be a better choice. 1300 predators , not counting the BC or any CC , is too many IMO. You would be better served with half that many.
Looking on a map it looks like you are on the same line as Jackson Mississippi, Montgomery Alabama, and about half way between Atlanta Georgia and Tallahassee Florida. The point being is, why Northern Bass?
If it were my pond, and like I said...I am envious that you have a nine acre pond in TX, I would do it like this. Its just my opinion. I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Its just what I would do.
Year One (Fall) Fathead Minnows @ 100 pounds Golden Shiners @ 1000 shiners Lake Chubsuckers @ as many as you can catch until you hit 1000 Grass Shrimp @ if you can count them God bless you LOL Papershell Crayfish @ if you can find 'em 500 pounds
Year Two (Fall) Coppernose Bluegill @ 4000 gills Redear Sunfish @ 800 redears
Year Four (Spring) Blue Tilapia @ whatever you can afford up to 25lb per acre
That would be my strategy given that you were able to create suitable habitat and get the right types of plants growing in your pond.
The only thing that I know about Hybrid Stripers is that they are put and take and if you want them go ahead and put them in. I don't know about how many, I would ask someone else to weigh in on the subject.
My guess is that by year five you would be pulling some pretty solid bass out of there and then the race would be on to harvest enough bass every year to keep everything in check.
You may not believe it, but you will have so many smaller bass that you need to cull (in the one pound area) that you will have plenty of fish to fry up whenever you like. It will just take a little time to get there.
Or if you really want some crappie you could try out the hybrid crappie and keep track of them for us in that pond. I think if they do not spawn as much like they say and the offspring is inferior then you may grow out some large initial stockers and not ever have to worry about the over population of small critters. (then again studies are still being done on them and a few people here have tried them)
I would actually put in a few Blue Cats and maybe even a Flathead. (not really recommended by most)
That was just my $.02 and wanted to throw it out there.
Even without the crappie, I think the BG numbers are a light. Going on the recommendation of 100 LMB for 1,000 BG you are stocking 50% of what should be stocked.
Not sure of the timing on the plan (notes 2 years). You can stock fewer BG and wait a year and be ok on the #s or stock some adults (quick spawn) and make up for the short #s. That assumes stocking small predators (2 to 4 inch).
I do think the 10 to one is old data for food production not recreational fisheries. New data indicated the ratio should be 15 to 20 to one minimum using BG and LMB. I suggest 25 to 30 to one for best results for a little longer period.
As a point of reference we stocked CNBG/RES from 6 inch to 2 inch , TShad adults , 100 lbs of FH , craws , bullfrog tads all in addition to existing craw population and waited for 9 mths with feeders going ( 4 additional BG spawns plus TShad spawn and millions of FH spawned) and then stocked LMB at 30 per acre. Next year we added 500 adult TShad per acre. That was in 2008 we are still ahead of the LMB but the gap is closing. Thread http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=242812&page=1
Kinda reminds me of the advice I used to give: Stock bass when they can go to sleep with their mouth open and wake up with a full belly. Having way too much forage always seems to be temporary.
Another one: How many cows would you put in a pasture of grass? The cow is the predator of the grass forage. Overstock and sooner the cows eat all of the forage and lose weight. And every time some more forage tries to grow, the cows eat it. Sooner or later the ground is ruined and the cows have to be moved or supplementally fed$$$$$$. The best Ranch Manager is a grass farmer.
Stock so the forage always stays ahead of the predator(s). Concentrate on the forage base and the predators will thrive.
Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 08/29/1205:18 AM.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
I dont mind leaving out the BC or the HSB, On the stocking #s for CNB I should be able to put way more CNBG in there than the 4000 that I posted. We stocked 800 in my 1 acre pond at the end of summer last year. The only preditor in there is 10" CC which I really dont think have hurt the BG population at all. Im going to try to keep the ponds stocked seperatly. Small pond for CC and Baitfish and big Lake for Bass. Although Catfish will eventually get in the Lake due to floods. As soon as Hurricane Isaac passes I hope I have enough water in Lake to begin stocking Flatheads at least. But it is gonna take a LONG, Long time to fill this Lake up im afraid. So I think that I have time to perfect my Stocking Plan.
Year Four (Spring) Blue Tilapia @ whatever you can afford up to 25lb per acre
I think without an "Exotic Species Permit" Mozambique Tilapia are the only legal tilapia one can stock in Texas ponds?
This could be 100% true. I didn't know that different states only allowed certain types of tilapia. I had seen people from Texas talking about stocking tilapia and I assumed that individual species wasn't an issue. I could be mistaken.
I dont mind leaving out the BC or the HSB, On the stocking #s for CNB I should be able to put way more CNBG in there than the 4000 that I posted. We stocked 800 in my 1 acre pond at the end of summer last year. The only preditor in there is 10" CC which I really dont think have hurt the BG population at all. Im going to try to keep the ponds stocked seperatly. Small pond for CC and Baitfish and big Lake for Bass. Although Catfish will eventually get in the Lake due to floods. As soon as Hurricane Isaac passes I hope I have enough water in Lake to begin stocking Flatheads at least. But it is gonna take a LONG, Long time to fill this Lake up im afraid. So I think that I have time to perfect my Stocking Plan.
If you want big bass, the less competition the better.
I want to be able to catch big bass, But more importantly to me is that I want to be able to catch a lot of fish. My neighbor has Florida Bass in his pond and there are some Monsters in it. But you may only catch one fish the evening that you go. I want my kids to be able to catch fish after fish after fish. Is there not a happy medium?
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