bill, I talked to steve at Shelby fish farm. he was very helpful and I would recommend to anyone looking for fish. he said his YP will be dropping ribbons in the next 2-3 weeks. he told me transporting them when gravid and within 6 weeks of spawning poses a high risk for fish aborting the eggs. but, he said if I wanted some ribbons he would give them to me and they would transport great to the pond. so a win , win situation.
he said all his fish are pellet trained except for the RES which he said was a disaster, lol. so they all should take pellets pretty easily and he feeds around sunrise and sunset so I should be able to keep feeding at similar times which hopefully makes the fish pick up the feeding easier.
how many ribbons should I lay on branches in the pond this spring to avoid an overpopulation? I can always add extra HSB this fall if needed.
also will the annual rye I grew in pond bottom last fall at 3-5" tall in spots be good for GSH spawning? I will plant some more on rest of bare dirt around pond when It warms a bit more.
so here is my thinking for stocking.
this spring.
7lbs FHM
3 lbs GSH-he said he probably won't have any breeders available.
200 2-4" HBG
75 4-6" HBG-few extra for harvesting around 25
75 RES 3-4" if available, he said he should have them. he started 1" fish in the fall.
150 3-4" YP
50 4-6" YP
25 6-8" YP-post spawn-few extra for harvesting some 8-10"
5-8 HSB 3-4" more or less if you think numbers aren't right
probably more papershell crays in the fall
probably will wait on the SMB and few more HSB until spring or fall of 2018. guess that will depend on availability and how forage numbers are doing.
any thoughts ?
.75 acre pond dug in September 2016. YP, HBG, HSB, SMB, and RES.
