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Thread: Pond Mgmt 101

  1. #11
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    CG, Sounds like you guys had an eventful trip. Sorry to hear that the fishing was a little off. I like to catch fish when I go but have found that spending time with friends is just as important. Look forward to meeting you some day. The pond management stuff is interesting. Odie
    Common sense isn't always that common!

  2. #12
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    Thanks to all. I will keep the info coming.

    LR - We have missed the second spawn at our favorite little lake. I may have to make an exploratory trip in about a week up there. I REALLY need to jerk some jaws.

  3. #13
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    I hear ya; Think I will order some waxies and initiate Mrs. Ripper to the wonderful art of the bull Bluegill expererience!!! Oh I almost forgot, if you fish the edges of those weedbeds there with worms...be ready to get ripped by an occasional channel cat. :p
    "Never Fry Bacon Naked"

  4. #14
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    GOTCHA, In a coupla weeks the waxies need to find a home in some bulls mouth. Watch for the full moon in June and hit the lake 3 days before at least and you should find the females on the beds.

  5. #15
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    Mar 2008
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    Gibson and Oologah NE OK.
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    The gill spawn is still going in my pond but it has slowed some in the past few days.

    George I have another question about the grass carp I stocked last month. We had a huge floood 2 weeks after stocking and I was wondering if there is any way to tell if they got out. Water went over the spillway for about 12 hours. I've never seen them feeding but I have noticed some patches of coontail that looks like the skeleton or stem of the plant is all that is left. Could this be the carp or part of the life cycle of the plant.
    Thanks Gene
    Last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it!

  6. #16
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    Gene- Weeeeellll I got good news and bad news. The bad news is the carp most likely left the pond with the high flows. The good news is they ate some of the plants before they left. American Horse lake had too many grass carp in it and then a monsoon hit it a year or so ago. The water breached the entire length of the dam and has severely damaged the dam. The good news is that they grass carp decided to go visit relatives in Lake Hefner,Overholser or parts downstream. Since their departure the vegetation has returned When the repairs are completed and the lake returns to normal level we will see an explosion of bluegill, I think.
    When you stock grass carp you need to understand what you REALLY are wanting to accomplish. Are you wanting to eradicate your vegetation or just "trim the grass"? Most people just need to trim the grass instead of nuking it with too many carp. If you have any more questions let me know I will be glad too assist.

  7. #17
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    Default Hinton Lake Project

    Hinton Lake Project- This project is a 10 acre private spring fed lake. The lake has a continual discharge 24/7/365. The lake had a little timber removed in order to build the dam. The canyon was left alone so you have to climb over down timber to fish it from a tube. The water is clear to very clear depending on the time of the year.

    The problem is that the crappie were "stuck" at 12" to 12.5" and the bass were stuck at 8-10". What was wrong? There was insufficient forage to feed to fish. So what were they eating? They were cannibilizing their young to survive. So what do we do? 1)We started harvesting a minimum of 200 bass/year. Fillet them,throw them on the bank,just get them out of the pond.Last year we harvested about 250 bass. 2) I was able to stock 7 redears 3 males and 4 females in the lake, all adults. They should have spawned. The lake is chock full of snails which is a T bone steak for them.
    3) I stocked 6 pairs of coppernose bluegill in a vacant 1 1/4 acre pond. This pond would be our brood pond. Since there were no predators in the pond to dine on a coppernose we knew what would happen. The ODWC fisheries biologist, John Stahl, and I expect that there are approx 400,000 small coppernose in the brood pond now, mostly 2"- 2.5" long. 2 weeks ago I installed 3 perch traps in the brood pond and harvested them twice in an afternoon. I transferred approx 150 - 200 coppernose to the 10 acre lake and stocked them at multiple sites. Some will be eaten but some will survive and spawn this year. I will reset the traps before the next full moon to hopefully catch a few larger coppernose before they spawn so that they can spawn in the bigger lake. I hope to stock another 200. My goal is to stock around 1000 coppernose this year or 100/acre. Why coppernose bluegill? Why are they so special? They are special because they are more prolific than our "regular" bluegill, more agressive on the bite and they grow faster and slightly bigger. Nough said on that.
    I noticed on my recent trip to the lake that the bass we caught were approx 1" longer than last year and the crappie were running 1" to 1.5" longer.
    I was hard to release the 8 - 9 13.5 to 14" crappie that we caught. All the bass were filleted. Next year with the coppernose stocking I hope to see an additional 1-2" increase in the size of both fish. I also hope to catch some small bass and crappie indicating that some of the spawn is not being eaten and are surviving. This tell us that our plan is working and the perch are doing their job. I would like to catch or see some small bluegill in the shallows too.
    I will post again on this particular project after my next trip. The Canadian Co 3 acre pond is going to be focused on this weekend.

    Jerk a jaw this weekend and take a young child with you.:D

  8. #18
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    Default Clearing the water in a new pond

    Recently I was asked what could be done about clearing up the water in a new pond. There are several possible answers to this question.
    1) Add agricultural lime to the pond around the edges and allow wave action to help dissolve the lime and move it around in the pond.

    2) Add and separate into pieces several square bales of any type of hay. This will rot, add nutrients and change the chemical makeup of the water allowing the clay particles to settle out.

    3) Plant grass around the edge of the pond to reduce the speed of the incoming runoff allowing the soil particles to settle out or be filtered.

  9. #19
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    Default small pond info needed

    Cricket George,

    I have been interested in your pond mgmt info. Great information for me since I know nothing about pond mgmt. I have a couple of questions for you.

    We have a small pond on our 18 acres. A housing addition was added next to us, and they built a road beside our pond. They also put a large pipe across that road. The pipe brings runoff directly into our pond. Should we worry about pollutants in the pond since the water runs off of people's yards now? Are the fish okay to eat? We had a lot of vegetation so we got 3 grass carp. They are gone now and the water primrose is growing back. Does this mean there might be fertilizer or something going into our pond?

    Also, how do we know if we have too many of one kind of fish in our pond?

    How do we know if we get enough fresh water into our pond? My husband won't eat the fish in it because he thinks there is not enough fresh water coming into it. We haven't had cattle on the land for 2 years so cattle have not been in the pond.

    Anything we should do?
    Thanks for any suggestions you have.
    Patti

  10. #20
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    Patti- Ok, I do not know how many acres your pond is, but if you have 3-4 grass carp/acre then you would be fine.
    Were you consulted about the addition of the culvert under the road on to your land? In answer to your question about fertilizer runoff from your neighbors into your pond being a problem. YES IT IS A PROBLEM. The addition of added nutrients will accelerate the aging of the pond and you will have more algae and plant growth which you may not want. Regarding whether the fish are edible in the pond. Yes, they should be fine to consume. You should not glow in the dark after eating a few bass or perch. You need not worry about the freshwater runoff into the pond that I think your husband had a concern with. The runoff water is not a concern but the extra nutrient load from the neighbors yards is a concern. City folks typically over fertilize their yards to keep it nice and green and do not understand or care about runoff. You may have been able to have stopped the developer from installing the culvert had you caught it in time because his runoff was and is impacting your property.

    Several years ago I had a lady that was determined to drain a swamp because she wanted to develop the land and sell " mini ranches " of 5 acres. So she hired a dozer operator to channelize the swamp and increase the drainage. He stuck the dozer a time or two until I realized what she was doing. Her increased water from the drainage ditch would increase the erosion on my property causing me harm. I traced her water source all the way to the formation of a creek which flowed for several miles until it entered the Kiamichi River East of Antlers,Oklahoma. The Kiamichi River is a navigable waterway. All drainages which enter a navigable waterway that might impact the waterway are controlled by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Long story short, an inspector from the Corps contacted me on his cell and I directed him to the subject site. He was able to confirm the drainage ultimately entered the Kiamichi River.Hehad a chat with the lady neighbor and her drainage project stopped dead in its tracks.

    I hope I answered all of your questions, if not let me know.

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