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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276
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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276 |
Daughter's doberman killed a muskrat that she caught in the driveway a few weeks back, but she sleeps indoors at night so is of no consistent benefit for keeping the varmints away.
My dog sleeps on the front porch, but she's getting old and doesn't much care for chasing varmints anymore. She has a pet possum that she catches and wallers about once a week, but she doesn't want anything to do with something that's going to fight back. lol
I bought 20 PK shrimp from the ebay guy last summer. More out of curiosity than anything else. I had no expectation that they would establish a viable population. There are thousands of them now. Got lucky on that deal.
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,898 Likes: 146
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OP
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,898 Likes: 146 |
Glad to hear they liked your habitat. It sounds like they need a certain amount of a certain kind of weeds and water conditions to be happy.
I also recently bought some PK shrimp from the same seller on ebay. I would recommend him highly. He is working his tail off to keep a supply and is probably losing his mind fighting the USPS and other shippers to keep his PK shrimp alive during the shipping delays. He told me he was about ready to quit as he had a stretch where about 90% of his orders were delayed enough that the shrimp died in transit and he had to replace them all on his dime. My shipment had the same thing happen, USPS decided they would take his money for guaranteed 2 day shipping, then let it sit in a warehouse for a few days down south (they said USPS folks didn't feel like working when the gov't money they got by staying home was a better deal for them). It then got delayed again, then it hit a weekend so it was a 5 or 6 day transit and only a few hardy souls survived the trip (despite excellent packing, insulation and ice packs). I had to wait about a month before the ebayer felt comfortable trying it again. This time he chose Fedex and he shipped on a Tues and it arrived on my doorstep at 1pm on Wednesday, FANTASTIC!! I offered to pay for the 2nd box, certainly was happy to cover his shipping costs but he was a first class ebay seller and would not take my money. USPS would not stand behind their promises. It was actually hotter in MI than it was in Louisiana during the first shipment which didn't help. The bonus to shipping in mid-June was that several of the shrimp had just laid eggs en-route in the water or were loaded with eggs so hopefully I got some potential for young shrimp to come along with my order of adults. The big 'IF' yet is whether they will find enough refuge and like the chemistry in my pond. There are very few weeds for them to hide in.
Water has held a significant bloom for weeks (very low vis) and now I have a big part of the surface with floating swirls of blue/green algae. Some recent fertilizer runoff is probably helping that process. Running the aerator more and adding cold well water to try to limit that.
I tried to encourage the ebay seller to hang in there, he was doing a great service to the folks in range of his shipping!
As Bill C would say, with no aquatic vegetation, why wouldn't the BG algae take off?
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Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470 Likes: 107
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Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470 Likes: 107 |
I might be considered a serial killer as of today. In my walks around the pond I noticed my first fish ambush. I realized tht me scaring the small fry out tht the 3-5 inchers would ambushed them . My clarity in my water has been terrible for so many years I never could see it before. So kept doing it and watchin for it. So I'm prolly the reason for at least a dozen or more fish being lost today. I'm sure most of you see this all the time but a 1st for me. Hopefully within the next year or so mine will get better..
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109 |
Wife was driving me around the pond today, and what did we see? A cormorant! I didn’t think we had them in Missouri. I’ve seen lots of posts here about them, and if I remember right, none of the posts were particularly positive about having a cormorant around. He had been sitting on our overflow drain pipe for quite a while. As the pipe had about 1/4” of my processed fish all over it. I talked things over with this cormorant, and he decided to depart. Then I googled him in Missouri and sure enough they must be fairly common. I’m hoping we don’t see any others. I always thought they were just a problem down south. No pictures. I’ll add that apparently cormorants are an ancient bird. My take is that their brains don’t appear to have evolved very far. Not the smartest bird we’ve ever had visiting.
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
They can spot you from 200yds off! Hard to sneak up any.... have to convince them from where you are. Been to hot to fish so been pig hunting at nite..... 14 in two weeks.... gonna go tonight
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 517 Likes: 38
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Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 517 Likes: 38 |
They can spot you from 200yds off! Hard to sneak up any.... have to convince them from where you are. Been to hot to fish so been pig hunting at nite..... 14 in two weeks.... gonna go tonight Can you eat them? Pig hunting sounds awesome.
"In the age of information, ignorance is a choice." - Donny Miller
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 1,110 Likes: 76
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 1,110 Likes: 76 |
Jeff, I wonder if you being so close to Mark Twain Lake is why you got one?
Bob
I Subscribe To Pond Boss
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
They can spot you from 200yds off! Hard to sneak up any.... have to convince them from where you are. Been to hot to fish so been pig hunting at nite..... 14 in two weeks.... gonna go tonight Can you eat them? Pig hunting sounds awesome. Yes they are as good as any pork but a tad bit tougher... shoot a young one and split it length wise an BBQ it yummy it’s so hot to be processing. It’s a blast to hunt them
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1 member likes this:
Steve_ |
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 349 Likes: 36
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 349 Likes: 36 |
I wasn't sure if you were asking if you could eat the cormeront all the ones I have looked at were full of parasitic worms.
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
Lol I think he was asking about wild pigs.... fried cormorants.... don’t that have a ring to it
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
Keep am eye out for the Cormorants, I believe they send out scouts and if there is forage for them there may be additional birds show up. Keep up the pressure on them.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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1 member likes this:
SetterGuy |
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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276
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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276 |
I went to the fence store last week and picked up three more 24' sticks of heavy gauge galvanized pipe. That will be enough to finish pinning the floating section of my dock to the pond floor.
Still battling muskrats. We've dispatched five of them. Not sure how many are left, or if some new ones have moved in from next door. They are making a mess of things. I had a glorious stand of APW before they showed up. It is all but gone now. Most of the cattails have been wrecked and they're working on the arrowhead.
I've also been dealing with a nasty infestation of bladderwort. I've hauled out a mountain of it in the last few weeks, but I've stopped removing it since the last of the APW disappeared. It's about all that's left for the PK shrimp, fry fish, etc., to hide in right now.
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
Wonder why critters only go after the desirable plants, wish something would eat slender spikerush
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,088 Likes: 96
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,088 Likes: 96 |
Went for a swim in my RES/SMB pond. Was hot and dusty mowing around the ponds with my little tractor and bush hog type mower so I just stopped and jumped in.
What I found interesting was the shallow thermocline. The top two feet was very warm water then very nice cool water below. That there was a thermocline was no surprise but I was surprised at how shallow it was.
I did not go out to deeper water to determine if there was a second thermocline but I suspect there was. I'm guessing the top two feet was warmed up by the sunny hot day. A few weeks back my grandson and I did a scuba dive in this pond to brush up his skills before going on a week long diving vacation. At the bottom of the pond it was pitch black and cold. I suspect that anoxic water is still down there but I did not check it out.
It is so interesting having three ponds within close proximity of each other. This RES/SMB pond had a really good algae bloom with about 2' visibility. Can't see a fish at all unless they come to the surface to hit a pellet. A hundred feet away is my old refurbished pond and it is clear enough I can see fish lining up at the bank waiting for me to throw them feed. Maybe 3' visibility with a rather poor algae bloom.
Another difference in the ponds are the aggressiveness of the SMB. In the RES/SMB pond the SMB only have themselves to compete with. Pellet feeding can be pretty aggressive or lackadaisical, depending on the day. But in the other two ponds the SMB are in there dukeing it out with the BG, HBG and CC. Very aggressive feeding. I can catch SMB in the two ponds where their population is fairly small in the scheme of things as easy or easier than I can where there are only SMB in the pond to bite the hook.
Just some anecdotal observations.
John
I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
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2 members like this:
Heath Lawrence, Heath Lawrence |
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109 |
Jeff, I wonder if you being so close to Mark Twain Lake is why you got one? Could be, but I’ve never seen one over there either. This one must have been immature. It stayed around for a while maybe 40 yards away. When it finally decided to fly off, it circled right over me.
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,798 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,798 Likes: 68 |
I've also been dealing with a nasty infestation of bladderwort. I've hauled out a mountain of it in the last few weeks, but I've stopped removing it since the last of the APW disappeared. It's about all that's left for the PK shrimp, fry fish, etc., to hide in right now. I just learned blatterwort is carnivorous. Very interesting.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 895 Likes: 201
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 895 Likes: 201 |
Jeff, I wonder if you being so close to Mark Twain Lake is why you got one? Could be, but I’ve never seen one over there either. This one must have been immature. It stayed around for a while maybe 40 yards away. When it finally decided to fly off, it circled right over me. In the lower fingers of Mark Twain lake I have seen tons of Cormorants in trees out in the water, like a nesting tree or something, I have seen one or two in my lake here in central MO but then I havent fully stocked it yet, only baitfish and CC.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
Saw a dreaded otter yesterday.... crud!
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,864 Likes: 298
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,864 Likes: 298 |
Saw a dreaded otter yesterday.... crud! There are dogs bred to kill otters, and hopefully beavers. If they'd take on cormorants, too, this would be ideal. Unfortunately, this would only work for people who live at their pond full time, so not for me.
Last edited by anthropic; 08/22/20 09:59 PM.
7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282 |
Never heard of a dog killing beaver. I have 5 German shepherds. How do you train them to go after beaver?
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
I have trained several different breeds of hunting dogs. If i wanted to train a dog to kill otters or beavers, would get a dead one and start using it to train with. After the first training event freeze the otter and us it again a few times. Using your excitement when doing it and that will transfer to some dogs but not all of them. It goes to a dogs genetics and aggressive behaver. If the dogs are not gun shy, you might throw it around and shoot around it while tossing it around the water and shore line. Beginning trainers might teach some bad habits but some dogs will work around that.
Last edited by TGW1; 08/23/20 06:21 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,904 Likes: 109 |
In the lower fingers of Mark Twain lake I have seen tons of Cormorants in trees out in the water, like a nesting tree or something, I have seen one or two in my lake here in central MO but then I havent fully stocked it yet, only baitfish and CC. I need to spend more time over on the big lake. I’m just pretty poor at crappie fishing. I need some schooling. Hopefully I won’t see any more cormorants on our pond. It sits about a mile east of the dam.
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
I am trying to figure out what fish I have left after the fish kill that happened awhile back. Paying close attention yesterday to what is hanging around the feeders. I saw 3 or 4 lmb and one looked to be it the 17 " others were in the 12 to 15" sized. I don't see lmb feeding around the pond. I just see a few at the feeders. I am also seeing some large bg in the 9 to 10" size and good numbers of 5 to 6" bg but not seeing the numbers of smaller 3 to 4" bg I was seeing after the fish kill. Makes me think they are being eaten or they have doubled in size over the last month. One 12" male Tp was in the group of bg. And a few weeks back when I was raking the pond weeds I found good numbers of 1 to 2" lmb fry in the vegetation matts. I feel like I have lost my confidence when it comes to what I have in the pond when it comes to the lmb. This is making my mind run in all directions as to what to do next and my patience is running thin. . I feel like I want to add some golden shiners and some fathead minnows also for feeding the small lmb fry I found in the pond. This is driving me nuts.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,952 Likes: 184 |
Dang Tracy As hot as it is I bet there is a lot less visible feeding going on that you can see . I guess I missed the thread where you had a fish kill. That sucks for sure. I stopped feeding about a month ago.... got too many BG interfering with LMB and BCP reproduction I would think adding shiners and fatheads would benefit your fish plus’s might get a population of shiners going
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 148 Likes: 2
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 148 Likes: 2 |
Catching BH's !! We had a 500 year flood this spring, wiped out two dams not far from here(now they are only rivers) and acquired BH's. Not happy about it, but what can ya do? So far we have about 85 BH out of the pond and keep fishing for them a few times a week. They are fun to catch, and the cats love'm !
half-acre pond, LMB, HBG, BG, GSH and CC ....goal is to have fun fishing. And I subscribe!
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