Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Rod, good idea on the flags. I used a small electric post to mark my water level at the dam when it started going out the emergency spillway. Now that I'm looking at raising the water level about 3' I wish I would have done something like that to verify how much I can raise it before it overflows.

Will be getting some so I can mark it once we get enough rain to push it out the emergency spillway again.

We had our fish fry at the neighborhood pond yesterday, and it was fairly successful. We wanted to remove (100) large adult bluegill, but only ended up with approx. (50) that we harvested, cleaned, cooked and ate. We used an approx. 8" length and over for keepers.

We probably caught another 100 bluegill that were under the size limit.

I was also surprised to see several LMB caught as well as a large channel cat and a large blue cat.

I added pea gravel to Smallmouth spawning beds. It's easier when the pond is a foot and a half low.

I walked by (yesterday) and tossed some bluegill pellets close to shore. Lots of fish, some pretty big, came to the feed. Thats different from 3 or 4 days prior when I tossed feed and nothing came.That’s never happened and I feared cormorants had been by. Evidently not but it reminded me that I need to re install my excluder lines over the pond. Well, actually my grown grandsons do it..

we have had an unusual hot and dry spell for fall time in MI. We are hovering between 85-90 and yards are taking a beating. This is probably balmy for Texas but we are used to the nip in the air for sure by mid September. I have a very wonderful bloom going on for the past 2 weeks. Probably the heat and a little run off from my lawn fertilizer combined to produce. Hoping the shiners pull off one more spawn before water temps drop.

I note we now have 2 volunteer bulrush plants. They add a neat look but if they try to become 20 or 200 plants I'll be pulling them out again. Pickerelweed plants from last fall did not survive winter. I have a big crop of buttercup plants all volunteering to come up in more and more locations around the edge of the pond. Their single stalk doesn't do much for adding places for fish to hide but the blossoms are just coming out now and are a big favorite for the pollinator insects.

Clear sky last night and lots of bats swooping around the pond. Plenty of bugs to go around...

Feeding continues at the neighborhood pond, however, the LMB seem to only eat a few of the 1" Optimal Handthrow before losing interest. Granted, these LMB are less than 12" long, but still, I would think they would gorge themselves.

Cooler weather and rain, raised the pond 2.5 inches. Feeding activity is excellent, going to do some sampling by fishing with the grandsons this week.

Good luck on the "sampling". I hope a great time is had by all!

Sampling for catfish didn't produce what I had hoped, only 2 YBH, looks like seining is going to be the best option. LMB were active, caught 3 in 6 casts, 97%, 101% and 112% RW

Looks like a good time to me. Is that a tag I’m seeing in the LMB?

Yes, I have weighed, measured and tagged 8 of the 10 LMB that I have caught in order to track their growth, help determine how many are in the pond, and catchability, as I have read that may also be a trait that may be passed on.

I have not caught one that was previously tagged but have only targeted LMB a few times.

The other 2 were caught before joining PB and beginning to learn about pond management but were very similar in size, I took pictures and documented what they were caught on.

The Grandkids also caught 5 GSF (6-7") which were removed to be used for trotline bait and 1 HBG 6" which was released.

Feeding at the neighborhood pond has been progressing. Today, it was bluegills, blue and channel catfish, and large adult shiners that showed up for the feed bell. Oddly, it took about 20 minutes before I even saw an LMB, and in the end, I only saw three or so.

Normally, they wait for me to arrive at the waters edge and follow me around to where I throw the feed.

I also got over to my neighbor Lee's pond. I'm almost certain that I see SMB hitting feed, but its so fast that I can't be 100% sure.

I did the old rope-a-dope by putting a rubber band on a 1" Optimal Hand Throw pellet, and then hooking the rubber band. Throw a pellet in, create demand, and then hang on. I failed to set the hook the first 5 times, and I think it was a SMB a few of those times. Finally did catch a nice HSB.

Good times.

Go Steelers.....for all you Dallas Fans!!!!

Fun times indeed, good information on the rope a dope method, I will have to try a similar method for my CC. Can't catch one with conventional methods.

Caught a nice 9" BG in a Z trap while surveying a neighbors pond.

Trap was left in less than 2 hours. I don't like what I see in regards to the damage the trap does. Any suggestions for a trap that is less harmful would be appreciated.

Lots of members use traps in their ponds for surveying and/or culling their fish populations. I don't remember any discussion regarding the fish getting beat up in the traps. (Was it you, or someone else earlier in the week that also mentioned the trapped fish showing damage?)

Seems like for surveying and returning fish to the pond, that limiting damage would be important!

Maybe some experts will chime in?

I think BG under a dock feel much more secure than BG out in full sunlight. Can you put your trap under a dock, or just put a piece of foam board over the trap so the trapped fish feel less exposed and anxious? (Just speculation on my part.)

Good luck on your ongoing BG enhancement project!

A trap made out of fabric instead of wire mesh will damage less fins. Look into a small modified fyke net. Make sure the leade is a couple of feet taller than the opening for the first modified hoop.

esshup (and others),

Can the people with commercial traps glue/zip tie some fabric onto the mesh in the trap sections and reduce the fish damage?

Do the fish beat themselves up in the corners of the traps trying to find a way to escape?

Would putting some gentle fabric curves in the corners help the fish?

I visited with Memphis Net and Twine about this solution this morning, they did not think it would help. They also stated that It could be an option to try to make a Z Trap out of their Delta fabric on a wire frame but did not know of anyone who had done that, It would also be very time intensive and difficult to make the entries as they would need to be reinforced to hold their shape.

If anyone has done this please let us know.

I'm going to try it someday when I get time. Going to start a different thread to see if someone has done studies on mortality rates with using wire traps like the Z Trap.

Thanks all for your input.

I am going to try putting some small mesh netting in the corners with Hog rings to see if this will help.