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Oh jinkies I thought keeping healthy ones and small ones was a good idea... guess you won't appreciate an update from yesterday...
Can you link me RW charts? I've got people meeting me there next weekend to help start... THE CULLING

https://imgur.com/gallery/i9YqQY2

BEST day of fishing I've had there so far.

My FIL was put in charge of catching tilapia and bluegill and couldnt get any. To me that is confirmation of 0 bluegil since I've never known one to resist a liveworm.
Once I get feeders set up hopefully the tilapia will be attracted to one spot and I can seine a bunch out to make room for the bluegill I want to add.

I thought I read some threads about Tilapia providing forage for bass similar to BG? I dont think that's holding too true here.

What's the best structure to build for small BG to live in? Corrogated pipe "condos?"


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Let your fingers walk your eyes through the Pond Boss Common Pond Q&A (Archives). There's a lot of info there that is asked all the time. Here's a small sample: https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=160456#Post160456


www.hoosierpondpros.com


http://www.pondboss.com/subscribe.asp?c=4
3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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Found em in the thread, thanks I stopped going through those lists of links a while back since almost all those links are broken.


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Thanks for the updates. I'm enjoying this thread. Those "small" bass are good size for around here.


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Hey yall.
Only 1 day out there this week, yesterday.

Caught a bunch of small ones and let them back. Lost 2 or 3 big ones (2+ lbs) and was happy to see em.

i know i know I need to cull the small ones, but they were so cute I couldnt.

Almost killed myself getting into my canoe, but managed to only pull a muscle, making me feel old...

Accidentally left the lights on in my car, killing my car battery and had to wait over 2 hours for a tow truck bc my land isnt near. Took the time to take some nice walks around the property which led me tothe following thoughts...

1- How deep to bluegill need ot be in to survive? There is an exceptionally grassy bit that the ducks seem to avoid. I'm willing to bet as soon as the first hurricane blows through itll overflow into the lake. It looks to be from 2-8" deep. I've got a shipment of 2-4" bluegill coming March 6, only about 300. If I put them in here, you think they'd be ok until they get washed into the main lake? Just want to give them more chance to grow... And maybe spawn? How old/big do they need to be to spawn?
2- Based on the price of bluegill and my budget I'm definitely considering Raising some in a 250 gallon tank (repurpsoes LBC tote) at my house. Any articles or good reading on the subject? Even if all I do is grow em out there and bring them over itll be a good use of time/effort IMO.

3- Found a good way to connect my pasture areas and make shuffling animals easy!

4- Yall I'm gonna need to start mowing this. a 30 minute drizzel and Ive got 2' high weeds and grass. Or maybe I just need a cow.


Edi-t Every time I'm there I smile the whole time. Yall need to get vaccinated and come for a camp/fishout


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Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Did I use unwelcome expletives? My bad. In my defense I learned em from mom!
Ok maybe I learned em in college.

I'm closing a big deal on Friday. Gonna splurge a lil bit. I think that splurge is gonna be 3 of these

https://www.moultriefeeders.com/6-5-gallon-directional-hanging-feeder-1

Might even just get the piece to plug into a larger bucket.

And 2ish of these
https://www.moultriefeeders.com/xa-6000

Plus enough of this to make a little grow out area

https://www.thepondguy.com/product/...ch/water-gardens-fish-ponds-pond-netting

^^^ That a good net for what I want?


I know this forum is kinda Anti moultrie feeders, but I need more than 1 to make an impact so I'm gonna take the risk on these.
Also if my wife randomly googled the price on one of the big texas feeders I'd be a dead man.


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Pictures from Yesterday
https://imgur.com/gallery/cgNI2r9

The culling isn't going well because they keep looking at me with those innocent fishy eyes.... Next week some cold hearted anglers are coming to join me so will likely start getting caught up on culling.

I have an order of 350 2-4" bluegill coming on the 6th so I NEED to close off my mercy and got to town

I may add some crawfish to that as well. Budgets...

Hopefully before the come I will have the parts I need/want to convert an old 250g water tote into a grow out aquarium, otherwise Ill seed them in a grassy area and cross my fingers a few of them survive long enough for a spawn.
Option 3 is grabbing a bunch of milk crates cheap and sinking them and hopeing the BG are smart enough to hang out inside of them for a while under a feeder, should have 2 by next week. ALso need to order the water test kits from amazon

On a similar note in April-ish I'm going to spend some weekends trying to bill buckets with the limit of 50 bluegill to bring over to my pond. FIL has offered to help, so hopefully we can get a hundred or so larger bluegill to bring down.


Other things-
Tilapia have definitely started spawning, and Ithink I missed a bunch of it. I didnt bring bait for the minnow traps but there are large bowls in the sand and tiny fishes that dont look like the GAMs swimming around. How bad is having the big tilapia around? Should I leave them or try to cast net them out? Do they compete with bluegill for food?

I dont think I've seen any bass beds, but a bunch of the bass I've caught definitely seem to be preggers.

EVERY time I'm there I can see fish splashing around. I LOVE it. It's hilarious when I cast out and a school of tilapia gets scared shirtless and it makes a frenzy.

Definitely saw some plecos in the pond. Invasie buggers, not sure how to get them out.


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Get cold hearted quick. If Mother Nature gets her fingers in the pie, you won't be happy. She is MUCH more cold hearted than you ever think you could be.


www.hoosierpondpros.com


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Thanks for the report. I have been told by others on the forum that releasing too many bass might lead to them becoming hook shy, making it hard to cull them later. That might be something to keep in mind.


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@fyfer

Good point, I'm actually curious about this myself. This BOY is combined ~15 acres during low season, and just under 20 at full. (~5 is on "my" property).
It has Grassy areas, about 1 acre of just lillypads (this area is the "barrier" between the neighbors section of pond and mine), and tons of wood structure.

The other owners barely touch it/ I've never seen them fish.

Can 1 person fishing lets say 4 hours a week "overfish" this?



Another question for the brain trust. What should I do about this structure? Fish love it, but I'm starting to hate it... except for it's usefulness as a fish attractor. (follow imgur link)
https://imgur.com/gallery/UI58AR2


Also I was looking into the American Flagfish... how does this thing even exist? It only laws 20 eggs at a time??!!!?! And its perfect bass food size


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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If you cut it off below the water level you won't know that it's there and still get hung up on it.

As for the fish, it looks like a nice aquarium fish.


www.hoosierpondpros.com


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The others here would know better than me, but I'm also the only one who fishes my pond, although much smaller, and I don't see any issues with pressure. I know for a fact that bass in my pond have been caught multiple times, so whether or not they become hook shy, I am really not sure. With that said, I am concerned about hook shy fish and do not release many trout or bass. This summer I am planning on keeping all bass in order to prevent hook shy fish and reduce the population.

If you do not want to keep bass, know that they are good eating, at least in my pond, so there is not much downside if that's what people are recommending.


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First weekend I havent really been able to fish. Saturday I was prepping fence posts for animals coming in about a month, and Sunday I had a stomach bug that kept me home bound.

I did get a 2 hour recitation of the history of the property from the neighbor who rode her riding mower out to monologue to me about everything from Gator mating season to politics. Nice lady but I dont think I said more than 10 words in 2 hours.

She said there ARE bluegill but they only eat crickets. Maybe on her half of the lake? Ill do some investigating.

Also claims she catches tilapia on crickets and that she pulled one out that weighed almost 10 lbs. Which seems a bit of an exageration, but there are deffinately big tilapia in there.

Also a 14' gator she calls "Grandma" that shes going to try to ahve FWC remove


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Gator is fine eating. Do the big ones get gristly and tough, or do they stay good no matter how big they get?

If they stay good I'd be inclined to "remove" it myself, and relocate it to my freezer.

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No gators allowed at my pond. The buzzards need something to eat too.


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


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Haha! She cautioned me that the FWC does flyovers, so if I must eliminate a gator for self defense I need to be careful with where it ends up...

I wouldnt know how to process a gator! I bet my FIL does though. Havent been out there in 2 weeks due to the move, hopefully Ill get out there on Friday. Taking PTO do build fences for pigs and do some fishing. I want to see if there is any spawning for the bass yet as I've only seen Tilapia beds and I"m hoping some big bass finally come out to play.

I've decided to be a fairly intelligent individual and not invest in extra plantlife or too much forage until I see how this spring goes at least. With the alleged presence of bluegill I"m not as concerned. I will be getting at least 2 of the moultrie's I posted to try to feed the forage fish, probably this month.


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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CityDad, good luck on all of your upcoming projects!

We expect a full report of your family picnic next year that consists of bacon-wrapped tilapia as the main course, and beer-battered gator chunks as the appetizer.

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Once everyone gets vaccinated BBQ at my place absolutely! Hogs should be ready for July 4!


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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CRAPOLA I had a big post written and it seems like it didnt post w/e I'll do it again.

Got back out today to get work done on the hog pen. Its about 70% done and itll be 95% before they arrive on Sunday AM. For the first ~2 months theyll be kinda close to the pond, but then they are going away from it for their permanent pasture so itll be ok 9i swear).

I did get some fishing in, lots of observations/facts.

1- FREAKING HUGE TILAPIA EVERYWHERE. Seriously I was expecting to see the bass bedding but alas i see tilapia as far as the eye can see. A literal city traffic jam of em. At least from the area I like to fish from the most. I think they schooled up, drove most of the bass out of this area, and bedded.
I did take the canoe out and their were more scattered around, but heck the "prime" bedding area was overrun with TILAPIA.

Is this a bad thing or a normal thing in Tilapia/bass ponds? I'm worried these jerks are hurting bass recruitment. I honestly think their could be tilapia here that beat the Florida record.

2-I MISSED the bass spawn? I saw several schools of fish that I am 73% certain were bass YOY. ill try to set a minnow trap for em tomorrow. but like.... WHY DIDNT I EVER SEE EM? It blows my mind, did they all check my calendar see I was busy and do their thing? Kinda bummed that I'm past the bass spawn in my pond.

I'm so confused.....

3- Caught a bunch of dinks. I will recatch them and feed to my pigs when they get here sunday. 1 guy I swear I caught 3 times in 10 minutes. I love the aggression but I'm concerned hell die from the stress. Caught one that was almost 2 pounds, made me feel better but I'm still struggling to figure out where any big bass are. Theres gotta be some in the 4-5 pound range if there are bowfin that big right? but I also caught...

MY FIRST BLUEGILL! WHOOPEEEEE Dude ate a lure that never woulda gone in his mouth, maybe it was on a bed? I think ill put my minnnow trap near HERE tomorrow to see if any lil BG are around.

I also got my 2 Moultrie feeder attachments. Tomorrow Ill be grabbing hog feed and fish feed smile.


So questions concerns and comments-

Are these tilapia "Taking Over" by stealing bed space and eating bass YOY maybe? There seem to be trillions of big ones. I hope they gravitate to the feeders so I can cast net a bunch out. And by a bunch I mean like 150+ lbs.... which may not make a dent!.


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Bass and Tilapia reproduce at different H2) temperature. If you are seeing Tilapia making beds/spawning, you are at least a month behind the LMB spawn.

Get a really small mesh net, and scoop it through the "Cloud" of what you think are bass fry, or run a 4" crank bait through the cloud. Daddy LMB might take offense and bite on the crankbait.

I've ripped a treble hook through the cloud and impaled a few small fish on it, and they've had a horizontal stripe with black tipped tails - LMB fry.


www.hoosierpondpros.com


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I actually did the crankbait thing (by accident) friday and caught a bass. If your hypothesis is correct maybe he was chomping tilapia.

Pretty sure the fry had a stripe, thats how I ID them from the canoe.

Hopefilly I can grab some tomorrow for pictures, as long as the pigs dont take all my attention. Definitely lots of wee things in the water.

And I need to yoink all the 1lbers I can so the wee things can feed the 2lbers, and maybe the 3-5+s will start to show up soon.

It was STILL Tilapia city everywhere today. i think I got some photos of em Ill try to upload to imgur shortly... Nope... one photo that should have 4 had 1 kidna sorta shown, and the other photo had 0.

esshup- I thought bass were 65 and tilapia 68? At least that's what google told me when I asked.

How many Tilapia beds would you expect to see in like a 100' stretch? More or less than 10?


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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You are correct on the LMB temp (could be a 3-4 degrees either way based on photoperiod) but you are off by 10-15 degrees on the Tilapia. What is your water temp now?

How many Tilapia beds? That depends on the Tilapia population.

Last edited by esshup; 03/14/21 12:06 AM.

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So I got out to do more than feed the pigs... but couldnt do much more.

Tilapia are all done bedding. Temperature reads ~68* best I can tell from the termometer I used. While the winter lack of rain is definitely lowering the pond there is still a steady supply from the creek that maintains it. Still not seeing bass on beds.

The lower water is pushing baitfish from the grassy areas into the water, which sent a school of 1lb bass crazy, but I could only grab 2 before my wife made me back it in to bring her and the little one home. I was watching them jump and eat the whole time I was takin care of the bacon seeds.

Aside from needing to continue cullinb 1lbers, I wont stock any more baitfish until the water goes up, since their habitat is kinda going away and will probably stay that way until tropical storms move through.

Tons of lil baby tilapia. Didnt see any more BG this time around.

Set up a wildlife cam, Turkey have been hanging out with the pigs, and a deer. Some cool birds around too (lots of woodpeckers, and hawks I havent been able to identify yet).

Definitely ducks, herons and such eating up my baitfish too. Any ideas on cheap habitat to protect the fry from them? Just knock over more trees when I have time outside the grassy areas maybe?


Im going to ask a lot of questions, but only because I'm clueless


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Also- I felt personally attacked by 2 articles in this quarter's magazine. The ones about management and culling.

I GET IT I NEED TO BE MORE AGGRESIVE ABOUT CULLING OK??!!!!!

smile Good reading there.


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Enlarged LMB fry pic

[Linked Image from forums.pondboss.com]

Last edited by ewest; 03/22/21 01:44 PM.















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