This is what I made a fire pit out of at the pond. repurposing some old track loader pads that were used to help build the pond originally. The grill apparatus is partially stainless steel and holds a Weber 22.5 inch grill grate which is readily available for replacement or can be transferred to or from the regular grill and I made it where it can be raised or lowered over the fire with the chain.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
Rstringer, Here are a couple pictures of the fire pit before I did the weedeating and bush hogging. The exterior of the pit is 6 feet across. There is a metal and pvc pipe for the drain so that the fire pit doesn’t hold water. I’m looking to add something similar to gehajake as a cooking surface that swings out of the way for campfires or bonfires.
Well we christened the almost complete fire pit with one of my college roommates and fraternity brother of 30 years ago and set the cowboy cooking bar in place. I plan on adding a swinging grill, griddle, hanging a Dutch oven and another two foot piece of black pipe to screw in to the right hand side of the top tee to hang cooking utensils. I will also be adding a stand alone swing and some Adirondack chairs for seating. Great weekend working the dogs with the dove shoot!
I’m thinking of adding RBT next month. The pond is going into its third year. Other than adding threadfin shad later this fall and 25-35 larger SMB, no other fingerling fish will be added. Is it a good idea to go ahead and add them? If so how many per acre and what size? Thanks!
Added 100 RBT 10-12” and 50 Brook Trout 5-6” to the stream and the big pond today. Picked up 2 bags of Ziegler Finfish G 42-16 floating 40ppm pink 5mm (3/16”) fish food for $45/bag. Each bag is 44lbs.
Heppy, are the trout a seasonal addition, or do you think they will survive the summer? I add RBT in early December and they last until late May/early June here. So much fun, they grow fast & fight like crazy!
anthropic, This is my first shot at trout so I’m not sure at this point. The pond is fed by multiple springs so it is possible they will make it through next summer. I guess I will just have to wait until then to find out. The available brook trout were a pleasant surprise!
Attention Everyone! I found a website www.historicaerials.com/viewer where you can plug in your property address and look back in time at how your property was used. There are aerial pictures from as far back as 1948 on mine. It’s very interesting to see how the property has changed over time. Check it out!
I've seen many a man turned by brook trout. In fact, they have a saying where brook trout are native. "Once you go Brookie, you never go back!!" Good luck
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Thanks all! I thought you might enjoy that link. wbuffetjr, brookies are so good that I named my daughter Brooke! Then again, I named my first born son after a bow company back in the day. I guess you can tell my heart has always been in the outdoors! Give God all the praise and glory, enjoy the little time we have in His outdoors. Have fun y’all while we are all trying to figure it out.
20x32’ concrete pad for the pavilion is now poured. Stubbed out for a full bath and electric. For reference the walkway is 5x30 and the dock is 16x24. https://imgur.com/a/pepcIB4
Added about 2000 threadfin shad the first week of March. We have taken 8 trout out pan fried with Big Spring Mill Seasoned Flour. Talk about delicious! Pavilion build should be finished by the end of the month as long as the weather cooperates.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Heppy - You are doing something correctly for growing yellow perch in Virginia. Nice fish. You seeing any egg ribbons yet? As far south as you are you may have had egg ribbons 7 to 10 days ago. How much had the trout grown since October 18.?? You might be able to get another 2"+ on their size before the water gets too warm. Keep feeding them daily for best growth.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/17/2206:40 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Bill I haven’t seen any YP ribbons yet. Last year the first ribbons I saw were on 3/29. I’m heading back down next week to continue looking. The trout have been feeding 2 seconds in the am and pm. I haven’t measured/weighed them but they look to be 2-3lbs with really pink flesh. Pictures from last week are in the link below for reference.
Edit: Just thought I should add that I feed a mix of Optimal Bass/Jr. April-October and Ziegler Finfish G 42-16 floating 40ppm pink 5mm (3/16”) fish food November-March.
Last edited by Heppy; 03/18/2201:31 PM. Reason: Added more pics
Found first YP eggs in the fish trap with one female and 9 males yesterday 4/11. I’m sure there were more eggs in the pond but lots of rain caused turbidity issues for the past 2 weeks. Hopefully some were successful. Optimal Jr in the TH feeder for 3 seconds in the am and pm. All sorts of fish are feeding like piranhas. The 20x32 pavilion will be ready for its 3rd coat of mud and sanding in the bar/storage area and full bath by this weekend. Then will come priming and painting the interior of both rooms. After that the septic system will be installed. As of now I’m going to use Sashco transformation stain with a light color on the exposed rafters, and 1x4s underneath the roof and the darker color for the facia boards, 6x6 posts and T-111. I’m in the process of grading around the pavilion to allow water from the metal roof with no gutters to land on brown Tennesse river rock with 8oz fabric underneath to channel water towards the E spillway. Very pleased with how it’s turning out!
congrats Heppy!! neat to see the YP ribbons and where they end up. I had it once too that given a choice the YP would go into a structure (in my case the 6" round hole of a china made basket style minnow trap) It seemed they were happy to be become a 'cavity spawner' at that moment.
I don't know what all the white spots are in my floating/degrading YP eggs but there are a lot. Did you note white spots in each egg space too?
White spots are UN fertilized eggs.. there will always be some. And those are some nice looking perch! looks like 3 females and possibly 2 larger males. Nice!!
Confirmed! The threadfin shad have survived and reproduced. Trout are still feeding running 10 seconds in the am and pm. Pavilion is complete with the exception of the septic system.
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