Farm pond followup

On a side note, if you shoot a snapping turtle in the head with a 75gr 5.56 handload, it sinks. (That's the good news)

Bad news is it comes back in a few days. The smell of a rotting snapping turtle is hard to explain. It's unforgettable.

Snapping turtles you say?

We have hauled 16 out of the pond here in the last month, the biggest was a little over 3', the smallest was a little bigger than a dinner plate. The water clarity has substantially improved with out those nasty things stirring everything up.

I am more than slightly creeped out thinking of all the swimming and fishing we did last summer and never saw a thing.

I have had decent success with #4 hook with chicken gizzards on either a bush line or jug line. It is time to build a trap though, cause there must be a hoard of little ones with that many big ones.

Had one spit a hook at the waters edge while hauling it in in the dark 2 weeks ago. Managed to get 2 shots off with suppressed .22 pistol, I was pretty sure I got it but of course it disappeared only to do the bloat float a few days later. I was able to net it from shore and put it in a small clearing on the opposite side of the property, the buzzards had it stripped clean in 2 days. I now have a nice clean shell with 2 .22 holes in it. I kind of impressed myself with the fast draw on that one considering it had the can on it.

The snappers along with the otters have given me something new to obsess on, so I've got that going for me.:D
 
We've discussed building a trout pond at our place in W. Jefferson. Now I am thinking of just sitting on the deck with a cold drink.

From what I've learned so far, trout are very high maintenance. Common theme is folks build a trout pond and it quickly becomes a catfish/bass/bluegill pond.
 
From what I've learned so far, trout are very high maintenance. Common theme is folks build a trout pond and it quickly becomes a catfish/bass/bluegill pond.

I was planning on putting a large salt water aquarium in my man cave at one point too. Then I did some research.
 
Snapping turtles you say?

We have hauled 16 out of the pond here in the last month, the biggest was a little over 3', the smallest was a little bigger than a dinner plate. The water clarity has substantially improved with out those nasty things stirring everything up.

I am more than slightly creeped out thinking of all the swimming and fishing we did last summer and never saw a thing.

I have had decent success with #4 hook with chicken gizzards on either a bush line or jug line. It is time to build a trap though, cause there must be a hoard of little ones with that many big ones.

Had one spit a hook at the waters edge while hauling it in in the dark 2 weeks ago. Managed to get 2 shots off with suppressed .22 pistol, I was pretty sure I got it but of course it disappeared only to do the bloat float a few days later. I was able to net it from shore and put it in a small clearing on the opposite side of the property, the buzzards had it stripped clean in 2 days. I now have a nice clean shell with 2 .22 holes in it. I kind of impressed myself with the fast draw on that one considering it had the can on it.

The snappers along with the otters have given me something new to obsess on, so I've got that going for me.:D


Bloat float...yea, that's exactly what it was.
So gross.
@Professor Chaos helped me with the last one, 3 gun shotty, slug to the melon.
We got that one out but this most recent one was a temporary loss.

Knock on wood, no otters yet.
I've heard they can decimate a pond in no time flat.
 
Bloat float...yea, that's exactly what it was.
So gross.
@Professor Chaos helped me with the last one, 3 gun shotty, slug to the melon.
We got that one out but this most recent one was a temporary loss.

Knock on wood, no otters yet.
I've heard they can decimate a pond in no time flat.

Yeah, but then you have awesome pet otters, which are waaaay cooler than bluegills.
 
The Talapia have been in the water for a a week now. They are already making beds in the shallows. Interweb says they will spawn 6 times a summer, so I'm looking forward to a good easily caught falltime forage base for the bass.
I did not witness them eating alge.
No tilapia showed up when the feeder kicked off. I was suprised, since they were tank raised on pellets. The catfish are VERY aggressive on the pellets so it may take some time for the tilapia to get over the shock and awe.
 
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Damn fish feeder motor quit working.
Found a solder joint broken on the upper 6V auger motor.
I replaced the whole motor since it was such a PITA to get to it.
This feeder has been a huge pain to own.
I have replaced both motors so far.

My $20 moultrie 5gallon bucket feeder has worked 100% since day 1. I don't think this "high quality" feeder has worked for three days in a row since I bought it.

Fingers crossed that this fix will square it away. I'm hoping the "ghost jam" issues were related to that bad solder joint.


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Water is clearing up nicely.
I think pond plants have a big influence on water quality/clarity. No plants in the winter and visibility goes way down.
I have limed and treated with Gypsum and I'm convinced that plants are the single biggest influence on water quality and clarity.
I also suspect that a large population of crayfish kept things stirred up some.
My channel cats are finally getting large enough to chow on the crawdads, so that may help some also.

 
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Digital PH and TDS meters plus the API master pond water test kit showed up today.
Now I can verify my readings and accurately see the water chemistry to judge aeration vs biomass load vs water amendment effectiveness.

I stocked and feed fairly heavy so it will be nice to see accurate ammonia & nitrite levels. Knowing the ammonia level will allow me to potentially increase the amount of feed while maintaining water quality. Ammonia is bad juju.


Of course it rained all day today so the numbers will be all wonky.
 
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Caught a few of these green sunfish for bass chow today.

Eta: I have been told it's a bluegill not a green sunfish. That's good news.

Green sunnies spawn way too much for such a small pond (3x per year) and are near impossible to remove once established.
Also, the size of their mouth allows them to compete with the juvenile bass for forage fish. Definitely not good for trophy large mouth growing.
They also eat lots of bluegill fry, so it's a double wammy to the large mouth.
Bluegill spawn 1x per year, so you can see how the green sunfish can easily overtake a small pond and upset the balance of predator/prey.

Pulled this pic of a green sunfish off the web. Much more bass-like mouth and the dorsal fin has a shark like upswing at it's rear. Body shape is also very different.
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Yesterdays test results from the new high accuracy water testing kit.
All acceptable ranges for an aquarium or farm pond :)

Still working on KH and GH values.
They are difficult to amend and maintain in a naturally acidic clay pond with heavy pine tree watershed.

The current water values confirm that I am not overfeeding nor overpopulated.
Basically, the "carrying capacity" of the pond vs the current biomass load is ok.

I suspect aeration is playing a big role in
getting rid of ammonia and nitrates.
As the spring stocked fingerlings grow out, they create more waste and use more oxygen (increased biomass), so things could change by the summers end.

NITRITE:
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PH:
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NITRATE:
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AMMONIA:
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Those numbers are surprisingly good. Ammonia kills by burning the gills, Nitrate limits growth through a mechanism I don’t understand, it just does. I could go for a few bluegill for breakfast!
 
Those numbers are surprisingly good. Ammonia kills by burning the gills, Nitrate limits growth through a mechanism I don’t understand, it just does. I could go for a few bluegill for breakfast!

While I'm not willing to try it for the sake of science, it would be interesting to see how much and how fast the readings would change if I stopped aeration.
 
While I'm not willing to try it for the sake of science, it would be interesting to see how much and how fast the readings would change if I stopped aeration.
Depends on bioload. Sounds like you’re keeping yours pretty low so I wouldn’t expect it to be too bad. If your ammonia starts to climb you’ll need to reduce feed or build a filter. Filters require pumps, but can greatly increase capacity...and you can float them.

Speaking of which, how are the June bug feeders working?
 
Depends on bioload. Sounds like you’re keeping yours pretty low so I wouldn’t expect it to be too bad. If your ammonia starts to climb you’ll need to reduce feed or build a filter. Filters require pumps, but can greatly increase capacity...and you can float them.

Speaking of which, how are the June bug feeders working?

No Japanese Beatles have shown up.

I have never heard of anyone using a filter in a farm pond. My guess is the water would clog it in no time flat.
I think they are used more in aquariums and fish farm tanks.

From what I read, simple water exchange, controlling/reducing nitrogen load and aeration are the primary methods used.

I'm sure reduction of biomass is the preferred method, since that's the source.
 
Saw the fish yesterday. Was amazing turn around of this pond in a year.
Cats are getting fat. And, Bass are attacking giant bluegills and just sucking them down.

Luckily I didn't fall into water, as the feeding frenzy would have been epic. I fell down back levee instead, thankfully.
 
No Japanese Beatles have shown up.

I have never heard of anyone using a filter in a farm pond. My guess is the water would clog it in no time flat.
I think they are used more in aquariums and fish farm tanks.

From what I read, simple water exchange, controlling/reducing nitrogen load and aeration are the primary methods used.

I'm sure reduction of biomass is the preferred method, since that's the source.
Yeah, have never seen a filter on a farm pond, but they are used for high-density aquaculture and could be adapted to increase your pond capacity. One really cool filter is simply a screen installed in a water channel at an angle so particulates get pushed up the screen, it is virtually unpluggable, the output is then sent to a large biofilter to ensure O2 saturation. None of this matters as long as the load is relatively light.
 
Yeah, have never seen a filter on a farm pond, but they are used for high-density aquaculture and could be adapted to increase your pond capacity. One really cool filter is simply a screen installed in a water channel at an angle so particulates get pushed up the screen, it is virtually unpluggable, the output is then sent to a large biofilter to ensure O2 saturation. None of this matters as long as the load is relatively light.


Keeping the biomass load light may potentially be an issue this coming summer.
I stocked 150 channel cats just this spring.
Both 4"-6" and 3"-4" fingerlings.
Once they start eating pellets, the load will easily double.
I plan to harvest them around 1.5-2 lbs.
The fingerlings are not yet taking pellets, but will start mid to late may of next spring.
They will be ready for harvest around September, if all goes well.

My water quality and temps are above average, so I should see good gains by fall. I have to take into account the food weight wasted and whats eaten by the bluegill, shell cracker, carp and tilapia, so the formula is not perfect. The cats are by far the most aggressive feeders so they get the lions share.

I'm paying $11.49 per 25lbs for sportsmans choice multi species game fish chow 36% protein.

(Cheaper than cat food and cats taste horrible unless cooked by 1st generation Chinese)

The exchange rate on channel cats is every 2 lbs of food = 1lb of fish gain.
That's 12lbs of fish weight gain per week in ideal conditions for cash outlay of $11.49 per 25 lbs.

Once this springs catfish fingerlings start on pellets, I plan to mix the game fish chow with plain catfish chow of 32% protein. It is $12.99 per 40lbs.

So long as the ammonia levels stay low, I can increase the feed amount.
The cats will eat as much as I will feed, so it's a balancing act of weight gain vs water quality.
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Have you figured out what the price of your channel cat is going to be as compared to say fresh salmon or tuna steaks?

I need to go fish my little neighborhood pond and see if I have bluegill or greenies, I’m afraid greenies.
 
Have you figured out what the price of your channel cat is going to be as compared to say fresh salmon or tuna steaks?

I need to go fish my little neighborhood pond and see if I have bluegill or greenies, I’m afraid greenies.

Not really sure where to start on that math problem. Beer cost or fish chow ?

It's probably a lot like reloading....and we all know how much $ that saves!
 
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Feeder lasted 5 days before it quit.
That was a record.

Tore it apart and found my solder joint repair had failed. The ultra cheap factory aluminum stranded wire is just not up to the task.
After examining everything closely and having several beers, I noticed the replacement motor was 6V.
The original was 12V. Hmmm....

Called the folks at wild game innovations and they swore that the 6V motor was the correct one and that only 6v was ever used in the upper motor.
Sounds like a fish story...

So I ordered an inexpensive waterproof 12V to 6V transformer and replaced the factory wire with quality copper stranded. I soldered the new wire to the motor and ruggedized the joints.
I wired the transformer in line close to the timer in case it needs attention.
I now see 6.2V at the motor leads. That should help with longevity and heat build up.

Here is the nice part- upon testing, I found the upper motor spins about half as fast as when it was on 12V. Thats a good thing, since it fed feed to the lower motor way too fast.
Two seconds of feed time now equals what 1 second would feed previously, plus it throws further out and gives the thrower motor a chance to clear the chute out fully prior to shutting down.
A fully cleared chute means less ants, coons and potential jams.

I buttoned it all up, filled it half full of tractor supply catfish chow, said a prayer, had a beer and left it for the week.

Time will tell.
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Planted orange hardy dwarf water lilies in a kitty litter tub in the shallow end of pond.
According to the experts, a farm pond should be 20% covered in "heavy feeder" aquatic plants. The dwarf water lily is a heavy user of phosphorus and nitrogen and provides shade, cover for fry and is easily controlled.
The trick is choosing plants that won't take over the pond. Many of the wild lily varieties are prone to choking out a small pond, so choose the dwarf variety if possible. I got the rhizome at Petco.
It's sold for use koi ponds.

I planted the rhizome in a 18"Ă—6" kitty litter pan @ about 16" depth so I can move it to deeper water once it roots and leafs out.
I covered the soil with crushed rock so the bluegill don't dig it up.
Worst case, the tilapia chow the new green growth before it has time to reach the surface. Not a huge deal since they are seasonal resident's and won't be returning next spring.
The flowers open in the day and close at night and last about 4 days.
I hope the bees like them.

If successful, I may take rhizome cuttings off this batch and transplant into additional containers.

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Bluegill fishing Saturday my buddy caught a Green sunfish. Positive ID.
it was 9-10" and thick. Very mature and large for its species.
Looked exactly like this one but larger.
At first glance I thought it was a tilapia!
A 9" Green sunfish is a monster.

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The plan is to catch the larger ones on a flyrod and the small ones in a trap.

They are more aggressive than bluegill, so catching on rod & reel is not impossible.
The smaller 1-3" are the hardest to eradicate.

I bought some Chernobyl ants to use with my ninja 4 weight 9' flyrod.
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Good news is the water lily root has sprouted and is headed towards the surface with 2 shoots. Hopefully nothing chomps it off. They should be at the surface by weekend.
My pond has little to no bottom rooted plants so I'm excited by these since they are going to prove the water is adequate to support these plant types.

I have a theory that the heavy population of crawfish kept the rooted plants chopped/pinched off.
Time will tell.
 
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Looks like a nice eating size cat. Enjoy reading and learning about pond management. Keep up the good work.
 
Why eradicate the Greens? No love for a Green/Bluegill hybrid?

-Direct competition with bass forage wise.

- They aggressively eat bluegill and bass fry and eggs.

-They eat pellets that would be better eaten by a fish I can eat.

-They only grow to 6-9" tops.

-They are not good eating.

-They out Breed everything 5 to 1.

The "hybrid" bluegill that fish farms sell are a green sunfish/Bluegill hybrid.
They are primarily sexed male or sterile so reproduction is low.
 
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Ah hah. Did not know that. Didn't realize there were so many differences between the sunfish species.
 
Ah hah. Did not know that. Didn't realize there were so many differences between the sunfish species.

Generally, the bluegill and red ear sunfish are desirable. They eat bugs & snails so no competition with bass (small mouth gape.)
They also spawn 1x (sometimes 2) per year and lay a reasonable amount of eggs.

The green sunfish lays 10,000 eggs x5 per year and can survive in horrible water conditions.
The predator prey relationship is extremely important in a small pond to avoid stunting and maintain a balance.

Rule of thumb: If you look down on the top of a bass' back, and its gill plates are wider than its torso, the fish is underweight. This is likely from too many mouths and not enough forage.
Green sunfish are often to blame by eating fry and eggs of the prey species (bluegill.)

Underweight:
(All its needs is a fly to crawl in its eye and Sally fields to lay on the guilt)
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Generally, the bluegill and red ear sunfish are desirable. They eat bugs & snails so no competition with bass (small mouth gape.)
They also spawn 1x (sometimes 2) per year and lay a reasonable amount of eggs.

The green sunfish lays 10,000 eggs x5 per year and can survive in horrible water conditions.
The predator prey relationship is extremely important in a small pond to avoid stunting and maintain a balance.

Rule of thumb: If you look down on the top of a bass' back, and its gill plates are wider than its torso, the fish is underweight. This is likely from too many mouths and not enough forage.
Green sunfish are often to blame by eating fry and eggs of the prey species (bluegill.)

Underweight:
(All its needs is a fly to crawl in its eye and Sally fields to lay on the guilt)
View attachment 66349
Dead on....size of head and jaw do not match size of torso.....that fish could easily be 1.5 pounds heavier if it waa eating better.
 
It took some time but I finally caught & culled a green sunfish. I don't know how to tell the sex. I hope it's a female though.


Eta, I was told by the experts that this is a hybrid bluegill. It is a cross between a green sunfish and a bluegill.
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Looks like the tilapia I stocked have successfully spawned. That's great news. They provide an excellent late season food source for the bass.
As the water cools, they get slow and are easy prey.

The adults have done an excellent job cleaning up any fish pellets that floated into shore or sunk. I have not found a downside so far. I will add another 10 or so next spring. I will try to sex them female heavy this time. According to most, the smaller fish are more likely female.

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Damn coons bit right thru my 5 gallon feeder lid. 3 gallons of food ruined by water getting in.
That is rugged plastic!
Those teeth are crazy sharp.
Time for operation trash panda to commence.
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