Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fathead Minnow Question

At what tempature and at what frequency do fathead minnows spawn?
Our new forage pond is 1/3rd filled and water temps are in the 47-49 degree range.

George -- fathead minnows typically begin spawning when water temperatures hit the upper 60s F. They then usually continue through the summer (I'd say at least August).

There is one old study that actually followed an individual female, and she spawned 12 times in one year!

There can be quite a bit of mortality after spawning for both sexes. Fatheads typically don't live too long. A 3 year old fathead minnow is pretty darn ancient. I'm sure most spawning is by the 1 year old fish, and perhaps some 2 year olds. In some places, the age 0 fish that were hatched early in spring may actually spawn by late summer (this doesn't happen everywhere).

Hope this helps,
Dave

Helps a lot Dave!
Thanks very much.
george

Hi Goerge, I read some place to cut 2 ft long pieces of 4" pvc pipe in half and then stick them in the shoreline at an " \ " angle towards the deep water in 12 - 18 inches of water to give them someplace to spawn and hide. I did this a couple of years ago and until I put bass in the pond when I fed the catfish you could almost walk in the fatheads. I still have lots of them in the pond.

Bob

Bob uses the same trick we do with pvc I use the drainage pipe 4 inch with holes. Most of the time we add strips of bulap attached but they still do their thing inside.
scott

There are many, many ideas that have been tried as spawning substrates for fatheads. One I like is to attach small wooden boards (approx 8"x12") about 18" to 2 ft apart along a rope. Attach boards with heavy duty staples. Tether this contraption along the shoreline with each end anchored to shore. It will float move up and down with the water level and minnows will lay eggs on the underside of the boards. Remove and store during the off season if desired.

Another good idea – thanks.
My fish supplier suggested a wooden pallet attached to shore by a rope and adjusted to changing water level.
Would a couple of wooden pallets attached to rope , work as described?

I tied two pallets together with some good wire and anchored them with concrete blocks. I read where Texas A&M did a study and used this concept.
The study called it a fathead minnow condo.
The results of the study showed tremendous reproduction when using wooden pallets.

George - Yes by all means wooden pallets attached in a series along a rope should work as a substitute for boards tethered on a rope. Pallets would be heavier and more bulky to work with but each would provide many spawning sites. Male fatheads when spawning will defend a specific area (territory) as a nest site. I am sure there has been research as to what the distance or diameter of this area is. I think it is about 8" to 12". We will see if there are any fathead experts out there who can supply more specific information.

Anyway, then a 4"-6" wide board 10 feet long floated along shore could have about 10 maybe 12 nest sites along the bottom of it. Each nest or size of egg mass is approx 2" to 4" in dia. So the number of nest sites on the slats of a pallet would be high.

I may add some more after I do some reading.

Guys, for what it's worth I leave a band of 3 - 4 ft of cat tails around about 80% of my pond. The cover for all fish is fantastic including the fatheads and mosquito fish to say nothing of the bluegills, Redears and Bass. In my case, I can burn off the old cattails in the winter and keep the overall situation under control. I love the artificial suggestions, but if you can work with what you have it does make life easier.
Jim

Correction for fathead spawning territories. One study that was done found fathead males to defend and chase off intruders for a distance of 19". I am sure a visual barrier will shorten this distance.

All the above ideas work well. One of the neatest working devices I have seen were soda pop bottle cases. Years ago I came to a pond with several wooden pop cases floating upside down. I picked up two, looked inside, and each hole had a fathead nest. Visual barriers made a difference. Nowadays, many plastic pop bottle cases aren't solid, but if I can find one which is, it will have a new, wet home.

This topic is awesome, so is it safe to say that a pallet sunk on the bottom of the pond in shallow water would be less useful for spawning fatheads due to the temperature being cooler under the water than at the surface? Would stacks of pallets that just hit the surface of the water work good too, I would think this would be a like the projects for fathead minnows. Does rough cut lumber work ok for them to spawn under or should it be planed?

Rough cut boards are okay for fathead spawning. Temperatue onder the water in shallow water (2'-3') will not be a lot different than at the sureface.

The pallet didn't work for me. However, I put out one pallet in a shallow area that has a lot of brush and rocks. They spawned but evidently had better deals.