Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What to do now?

Ok here is a question from an observation I made this Saturday at my pond. I walked the entire pond and I did not see 1 minnow left?? I used to have them everywhere before this drought. I can only assume my LMB bigger BG and HSB have eating them all. So how do I get my minnow base back to where it was? I have plenty of BG and CNBG still for spawning but no minnows left at all that I could see anyway. If I try to establish more minnows should I put them in during the spawn of the BG's next summer? Would that give some of them a chance to make it? or take some pressure off the BG spawn? Or should I just let my BG do there thing and not worry about it? One thing I do have is tadpoles everywhere!!! 100's of them!

Thanks for any input on this I have not ran into this situation since I have owned this pond and not sure what the best course of action is.

Minnows esp FHM and very often GSH are for getting the predators "up & going" so to speak. GSH can 'make it' with limited LMB predation in weedy ponds. Your minnows did their job, now it is basically up to the BG and other surviving forage fishes to be the "backbone" of the fishery. It is almost impossible to keep minnow species thriving in a pond with LMB and some of the other predators. LMB production and recruitment almost always outpaces ability of minnow-shiner production.

One way to keep minnows in your pond is to remove all LMB except one or two. then the minnows reproduction and recruitment will out pace what those few bass can eat over a years time.

LMB have been spoiled with lots of minnows for basic food. Tadpoles for bass are left as broccoli or other less palatable 'vegetables'. As the LMB get hungry you should gradually see a decrease in numbers of tadpoles as LMB decide they are better and easier food compared to chasing BG.

Smaller ponds also compound the effect LMB predation has on FHM, GSH and other minnow species. In the wild, FHM are found in seasonal creeks, habitat that other fish, especially predatory fish like bass cannot live in. They survive by being able to tolerate the small creek puddles which become low in DO, warm and shallow. They reproduce like crazy and it just takes a few fish to make it to the next season to allow the population to explode again.