Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Losing Fish?

I am curious if I might be losing fish through the overflow drain, and possibly the spillway when we get hit, like we did here in Indy yesterday, with rain. The guy that stocks the pond says very few if any will be lost. If anyone has had experience with this I would appreciate their comments. More fish are on their way later this week. Thanks

They can absolutely escape through the overflow.

I agree with the fish guy. You will certainly lose some but most fish try to go upstream.

Definately and you can lose big fish too I have a big washed out hole behind my dam that I've seen 8+ inch bluegill in..

It will be mostly your forage base that get's washed downstream. Smaller sunfish like to sit near the edge of the current at the spillway and then the get too close. Here is a small sample of some of the BG that I returned back to my dad's pond after a heavy rain event.

X2 on the 'mostly forage' point...I've got a catch basin below the spillway on my big pond (the little pond's spillway runs INTO the big pond so no issue there) and at any given point there are many small fish in it.

Agree also that most of the larger fish won't have an issue with it, they're going to avoid going downstream. I've read that grass carp are one of the exceptions to this, that they'll prefer to swim with running water if given the chance - which explains why I've never seen any of mine I suppose.

Wow, thanks for the pics shorty, that helps a lot. I put 500 BG in earlier and have 500 more HBG coming along with 1000 minnows and 10 grass carp. LMB coming late July. Pond was pretty much empty when I started. There is a lot that feeds into the pond when we get heavy rains and it violently will go over the spillway 3-4 times a season. then the original height is controlled with a small 6" pipe that lets it slowly return to the correct level. I could do something to catch fish on the 6" but think I'm a bit $#@&#*! when it comes to the spillway as it heads into a fairly large creek. Thoughts on the spillway?

That sounds like a watershed type pond. Watershed ponds are built with high dams and small overflow pipes that let big rain events collect in the pond then meter more slowly into the drainage system. This slows the flow into the main rivers and lessens flood severity. Or at least that is the theory.

Yours is probably not a watershed pond, but the small overflow pipe reminds me of the way they are supposed to control water flow in big rain events.

I would guess when your fish guy said you would not loose many fish out the overflow, he was speaking on a percentage basis. As a percent of the total fish in the pond, probably only a small percentage goes out with the flow. But it still could be quite a few fish.

I would like to put a screen on my overflow pipe, but quite a few have recommended against it, do to the danger of it getting plugged up. Still not sure it would be a big deal as I have plenty of freeboard and a huge emergency spillway.

snrub, i actually set the pond up this way from the way it was in order to increase its depth. It had an 18" pipe it drained through and I plugged that in order to raise the height. It sits at pool approximately 12" below the spillway top. It is only an acre so when we get the heavy rains it overcomes the 6" pipe and goes over the spillway. Spillway is about 18' wide completely covered in rip rap from under the waters edge over the backside down into the creek. The 6" sits beside the spillway at the correct level to bring the pond back to pool. I just went to Lowe's to by a grate for the 6" which I will try to keep clean so it flows. Do you think some sort of netting down the creek would catch fish in the big rains or would it just blow right through that set up? Thanks!

I see.

I have an 8" pipe in my big pond with an emergency spillway 8" above it, but in our old pond and two kids ponds that I renovated just went with a wide spillway alone. I think as long as a person has the ability to control erosion in the spillway area (such as rip-rap or other rock) they work fine. But a person does need to give them some attention if erosion starts.

I have no experience of capturing fish from leaving a pond. Maybe someone else can help.