Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Newbie from oakwood texas

Hi guys,first time posting
Have a new 5ac pond that is about6months old and about 10' deep on the dam side. Put50lbs FHMs along with 1000 coppernose BGs, 300 4-5" black crappie, and about 50 assorted large coppernose caught from a neighbor. One acre is flooded fair weather creek with all brush and trees left in, a few bruh piles of cedar trees anchored any suggestions where to go from here. The pond will need 5' more water to be full. Really like this site (found today)

Welcome to the forum. What are your goals regarding the fishery?

Thanks for the welcome mat
What I would really like is a pond full of happy happy happy crappie,cmbg,lmb, all the stuff that we dream of having, problem is it ain't easy. The more you learn seems the less you know.... I need to pick y'all's brains.. Got any ideas let em fly.. Also dumped six thousand lbs lime this spring to help

Welcome Pat; you're in a pretty nice area of Texas.

My opinion: You need about 1,000 to 2,000 BG per acre. I think you will regret the crappie. They seem to take over anything less than 25 to 50 acres and stunt.

Thanks Dave for the welcome, We will see with the crappie deal,I will add the right no. Of coppernose and prob more FHM. And fish the heck out of the crappie. One of my helpfull neighbors added unknown numbers of bass to pond before I was ready. See little basslings wearing out the mosquito fish along the shore. Whatever bass were thrown in did spawn.... Would any of yall suggest adding any pond plants for cover or wait for the birds to do that? Thanks for any input

Yikes. With the Bass in there, any fish you stock could be food for them. To avoid that, the fish that you stock should be at least 1/3 the length of the largest LMB in the pond. Your neighbor sure didn't do you any favors...................

I know right,
Don't know how many were put in or size but do know they spawned , while playing around with a crank bait I hung a 8" bass and it got off as I picked it out of the water . I guess it could be worse. Should I try to catch the larger ones and remove them or just go with the hand that was delt?

LMB typically should be 12" or larger to spawn. In that large of a pond, it will be impossible to catch all the large ones. Unfortunately unless you want to drain it down, Rotenone it and start over, you're pretty much stuck with the hand you were dealt.

How long ago were they put in, and what other fish are in the pond? Can you find out what size they were when stocked?

No one owns up to stocking the LMB. So not sure to size when added. I stocked 1000 coppernose w/ redear 50lb of fat heads and 300 black crappie 4-5" and 50coppernose about 1lb each

You might want to kick around the idea of having someone come and electroshock the pond to get a better handle on the fish population to get better stocking advice. It's hard to come up with correct numbers for you with the LMB pulling off a spawn already.

Depending on your goals (large LMB or large panfish) typical stocking rates for LMB/BG are 35-100 LMB per acre and 1,000-3,000 CNBG per acre with 20% of those CNBG being RES.

Usually 5#+ per acre of FHM and GSH are stocked, and they're let alone to spawn and make lots of forage fish for 6 months to a year before any other fish are stocked too.

Hi Pat, welcome to PB - my roots run deep in Freestone County - many generations of kinfolk.
Your story sounds familiar - I made some of the same mistakes in our ponds in N.E. Texas some 12 years ago but overcame most if not by all by getting good information from some good PB folks.
Early on Bob Lusk of Pond Boss fame advised me on overcoming problem of stocking adult LMB on top of FHM and BG. Other members of PB helped me as well.

Problem of stocking crappie - I missed that one!
Todd Overton of Overton Fisheries has a fish farm just down the road from you, between Buffalo and Centerville. At one time IIRC, provided black crappie for insistent customers and has experience in this area.

I don't ever like the idea of draining and starting over but sometimes drastic measures are in order.
I would talk to Todd if I were a near neighbor as you are.
Good luck,
George Glazener

Would like a balance of species- but my bass stocker kinda put the horse behind the cart. Will double up on cnbg and feed them , maybe there aren't too many lmb to hamper things swing how its5 acres of water. Thanks for the tips and if anyone has any more ideas it would be most appreciated

Pat, you type faster than I do..
George

Thanks George
That's who I got my fish from(except the un timely LMB)
He doesn't think that the bass will be a problem at this time given that crappie are big reproducers . They were put in a little early. The crappie that I am catching are about6" and prob didn't spawn this spring- hopefully will next spring

Not so much George lol this iPhone is my only computer

Welcome Pat. I agree with Goerge, personally I would avoid draining and starting over...and frankly I'd be surprised if Todd Overton says to "nuke it"...you should call Todd at Overton's Fisheries who is very close-by to you. Call Todd and ask him if you can stop by for visit so you can see his operation and discuss your situation. Hey and if you get a chance post some pictures of your new pond. Sounds like a great project you have started.

http://www.overtonfisheries.com/

Thanks Zep
Enjoying the forum so far it's great. As soon as it cools down a bit I will get with Todd and make a plan, as I'm only about 20miles from him. This has been a big learning time for us but we will muddle thru it despite things. What do you think of adding crawfish ? And other forage such as shiners or threadfin ?

Pat, before adding forage fish, make sure you have cover in the pond so they have places to hide to escape predation. If not, they ALL will be eaten. You really want to keep some for brood stock. That's really, really convenient being that close to Todd.

Thanks for info, it is nice being close to Todd and I am working on hiding places for minnows- 4-5 cedar trees and in process of placing a large pile of rocks near cedar brush plus all the flooded brush and trees in upper lake- average depth in flooded area is 1-5'. It's real thick in there

Pat this place is a learning place for me too.

Crawfish are generally frowned on by some of the experts on PondBoss because crawfish may burrow into a dam and cause damage. Some also feel crawfish are invasive. Some types of crawfish are said to be better like the papershell crawfish....but they are not readily available in Texas.

You should read up on the pros/cons and then decide what ya want to do.

To be honest after watching this video....
Crawfish in ponds
I went ahead this year and dumped some crawfish into some of my ponds.

We'll see how it turns out.

I have a good source for crawfish and skeeterfish in the creek near my house in pearland have been puting the gambusia in there for a while- now they are scarce as are FHMs. I have a new floating dock that should allow theFHM a good spawning site minnows were everywhere now not many seen. Haven't put crawfish in yet. Open for suggestions

Pat

Pat, at this time you don't have a huge financial investment in the fish you have stocked. I would consider nuking the whole thing and starting over. I hate like heck to say that but stocking fish is the cheapest part of the equation. The initial stocking is critical and your neighbor needs to understand that he has not helped.

Dave how much do nukes cost? Lol just kidding. May have to do that. But first I will talk with Todd and see if we can get through this without the nukes. Maybe I can shoot the little bass with my .22

Pat, go talk to Todd as soon as he is available – if you wait for cool weather he will be be too busy.
I don’t have a problem with Dave and Scott’s ”nuking” and starting over, but I l have to consider this drought and how much water will be at risk.
I solved the same problem of adult bass stocked on top of FHM and BG by stocking large numbers of hand size CNBG - never have had overpopulation of LMB but my son keeps them thinned out.

But – I have NO experience with crappie, but IIRC, some PB forum members have managed them successfully?
I’m talking way over my head here, but if crappie spawn before LMB, numbers may be controlled by LMB predation.
Talk to Todd – you will get straight talk – I’ve know him for more than ten years – I was his first customer.
Good luck,
George

Thanks George, next time I go up I will make an appointment to see him. I think there is a better solution than nukage , like you said there is a water issue especially where I am .if I were to put another 3k cnbg in there there should be (and feed) food for all. I just bought a fish feeder to put on floating pier. Wat do you think?