Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Transporting Gizard Shad

I am thinking with the size potential I have for some of the fish in my pond that gizzard shad could keep them fed and growing. . I collected some sub adult and adult G Shad from a local park. I have transported many fish in my cooler with bubblers running with great success. However the Shad seem to die, do they need to be in a circular or round holding tank so they can continuously swim? It seems in the square cooler they just sit in corners end up floating upside down and die.

Shad stress easily. Round tanks would be much better. Check out this link.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...=true#Post25747


Here is the archive.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=106122#Post106122

Knowing what little I know about your pond, gshad are not your solution...

CJ, You think just keeping a healthy tilapia and CNBG population is what I need? What are your thoughts as to why Gshad would not be very good?

Your pond is less than 3 acres, Gshad shouldn't go into a pond under 3 acres under any circumstance as far as I would say. Plus, for now your predators are not overly large. If you had your tarpon 20 plus pounds, redfish over 30 etc, then maybe... Stick with the tilapia, BG and maybe try some mullet. I would even try to source some inland silversides if you could find them. They are not hardy fish so you really have to handle them well, but they are quite common in the estuary areas of FL and do fine in pure freshwater. I'd say go with tshad before gshad if you absolutely had to try shad.

CJ.,
this sounds reasonable. I was concerned about the Gshad eating a lot of the CNBG fry any way. I think I will at least wait until I get a stronger CNBG population going. I don’t see as many adults as I would like. In fact I am going this weekend or next and adding as many as I can get. on a side note, remember all those 3-4' (bream) I had....Well I am not seeing them any longer. I believe they have been cleaned out mostly. a little test fishing this spring will tell me more.

However the park that had the Gshad in it cannot be larger than three acres maybe two.....I does have two air diffusers running in it if that matters for shad. I get some with a spot on the head; I am not sure if they are baby Gshad or Tfin.

Also, why Tshad and not Gshad once I get really large predators...seems they would spend the same energy catching one but get more out of the catch with a Gshad.

I see the types of predators I have chasign around menhaden/Pogies during the summer months so I know they like shad in general.

Bobby:

How large do menhaden/Pogies get, and how fast do they get to that size? GShad can reach 22" and over 4#, and IIRC can be over 12" long at 1 year old.

Pogys/Menhadden get 12-15 inches long and a common feed for my predators. this is the typical size I see on the beach when they are hitting them.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=menh...selectedIndex=0

so I guess between Gshad and Tshad size....

Tshad are more prolific spawners IIRC so I guess they would offer more abundance and thus more food??

I think TShad drop between 2,000 and 24,000 eggs, while GShad drop between 50,000 and 350,000 eggs starting in their 2nd year.

Both look very similiar when young, older GShad have a mouth that is more on the lower portion of their nose, not as much as a carp, but more than a BG or LMB, while the TShad have a mouth that is positioned more like the menhadden/porgy.

If the fish in your pond can eat GShad that are over 12" long, them it may be a viable option. GShad grow QUICK! Both types of shad are filter feeders, so the pond has to have a good bloom in it.

I was concerned about the Bloom, this pond is a sand pond and i think is a little sterile however as the load has increased it seems to be getting a little bloom. The Koi keep it stirred up so I have some suspended clay, it is clay under the sand. Before Koi it was Chrystal clear with large FA floats during the summer months.
I’ll go with Cj's suggestion and keep working on the CNBG and Tilapia as forage and if it seems I need more ill attempt shad...I do like to Inland silverside idea as well, I just have no idea where to source them. I was kind of hoping the koi would offer some offspring for them to eat on as well but no luck…Maybe the 5 xmas trees I dropped this year will offer better spawning surface for them….But the Gams probably are still going to wipe them out.

Bobby, look for the silversides on the edge of weed beds in sandy areas in 2-6 feet of water.

CJ,
typically in more fresh areas or brackish?
Lakes or ponds or river?
I dont think I have evr caught any silversides in the salt marsh areas with my cast net. IM just not sure where to start looking..

I see we have the atlantic silverside as well , I am assumint the inland will reproduce in the fresh water and the atlantic will not......

Tidal rivers are where they are found. Anywhere from pure ocean water right up to completely freshwater. They are very fusiform, so I don't think you could catch them in a cast net. And yes, Atlantic silversides will only spawn in higher salinities and are rarely found in lower salinities at all.

I caught some gshad in a castnet and they died almost immediately upon hitting my bucket. I was shocked at how easily they stress.