Stocked my farm pond

What's the problem with turtles?
 
I have a kayak!!! Lol

DS

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We do too but the pond isn't big enough for anything but playing around.
We will have to get ya over for a tour,, then we can go get eaten by gators in Moores Creek and catch some stock for the pond.
 
We do too but the pond isn't big enough for anything but playing around.
We will have to get ya over for a tour,, then we can go get eaten by gators in Moores Creek and catch some stock for the pond.
Sounds good!

DS

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What's the problem with turtles?

These snapping turtles in particular can be very dangerous around small children and pets.

Other than when the kids were small, we generally leave them alone (other than eating one or two per year because they are delicious) except when you are trying to stock a pond with fish or ducks. The ones the size we cleaned today are murder on our fish, and will eat adult ducks as well as the babies.

We had a large snapping turtle come into the yard last year and kill one of our adult turkeys. I ate the turtle.

We did relocate two today from this batch. Which is fine as well, but you better know what you are doing or you can get hurt.
 
These snapping turtles in particular can be very dangerous around small children and pets.

So, it's just the snapping turtles you worry about. I didn't realize they were that voracious.
 
We moved into out new house Wednesday, took a minute to stick a line in the pond last night and among all the breem'ish worm wasters I got a few of these from out in the middle.. I am looking forward to finding the time to fish it a little deeper and a little bigger to see what we got..


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Good carfish bait. That is what happens when a bass minnow lives.
 
So, it's just the snapping turtles you worry about. I didn't realize they were that voracious.

Yup.
I welcome the other types of turtles.
I felt bad having to kill it.
Tried to get it in a sack but it was too smart for that. It was likely older than me.
They live 150 years or so.

Good carfish bait. That is what happens when a bass minnow lives.

Is that an overgrown fathead minnow?
Looks carpish.

I tossed in some dog kibble (small bite size) hoping to see a catfish or a grass carp but no bueno. Plenty of bluegill.
Hopefully the turtle didn't wipe them out.
The carp cost $15 EACH!!'
 
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Is that an overgrown fathead minnow?
Looks carpish.

Yep. It's just the minnows you buy at the bait store. That's what they look like when someone dumps 'em outta the minnow bucket and they grow up.

Little bitty mouth bait stealers - get rid of all you can. You don't want them competing for food.
 
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Yep. It's just the minnows you buy at the bait store. That's what they look like when someone dumps 'em outta the minnow bucket and they grow up.

Little bitty mouth bait stealers - get rid of all you can. You don't want them competing for food.

I just bought 2 lbs and dumped them into my pond! Luckily it's full of starving bluegill. I bet 50% of them didn't make it through the first night.
I bet the pond it was caught from has zero predator fish.
 
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We moved into out new house Wednesday, took a minute to stick a line in the pond last night and among all the breem'ish worm wasters I got a few of these from out in the middle.. I am looking forward to finding the time to fish it a little deeper and a little bigger to see what we got..


View attachment 7645
Shrek's right, pond roach! Stripers love 'em that size as well!
 
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I just bought 2 lbs and dumped them into my pond! Luckily it's full of starving bluegill. I bet 50% of them didn't make it through the first night.
I bet the pond it was caught from has zero predator fish.
You'd be surprised. Some will make it. And they are a pain. You've already seen that you've got a viable population of them and you don't really want them unless you plan on using them for bait yourself.

And if you've got bass large enough to eat em at that size - I wanna go fishing!
 
And if you've got bass large enough to eat em at that size - I wanna go fishing!

You better up your line to 20lb test!!! Anything more is like throwing dynamite in the pond. It gets the result but it's not the same. :):):):):):):):)

-R
 
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Don't rule out fertilizing a pond either. Without enough nutrients a pond can stunt.

We had a pond about 2 acres. From the time we dug the test pond we started stocking from the river. Big livewell and good aerator is needed. You need some big mature fish to really get a quick start. Bream are a necessary part of the equation.
If your pond is already full of stunted bream you need to break that cycle, and fingering bass won't do it any time soon, maybe never. You can't ever catch them hard enough to swing that pendulum.

Get someone to tell you where a good population of Jack's are, and get 3 or 4 and put in there. They will take care of stunted populations and set the balance right. Then put some larger bass in there. Forget stocking minnows.
You need structure. Sink a couple Christmas trees or scrub cedars in there.

7.5' is mighty shallow, without fresh water source dissolved oxygen could dip way low in summer. This could be another reason for stunted fish.
 
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Fertilizing a pond requires sunlight to
Penetrate the water to create an alge bloom. My pond is much too murky still.

I have 275lb of powdered Gypsum getting delivered today. I plan to make a slurry with it and broadcast it across the pond.

The gypsum is ph neutral and will not hurt the fish.

Gypsum is supposed to bind with the suspended clay particles, sink them and in turn clear up the water.
It's currently about 6-7" Visability.
It worked great in my test jar.

They recommend 500 lbs per acre of pond, so hopefully I bought enough.
In theory, once it clears up, I should only add 100 lbs a year +/- to maintain.

I also plan to lime the pond with ag lime.
Having a correct Ph creates a buffer in the dissolved oxygen by reducing the PH swing, and may help with water clarity.

What type of fish is a Jack?
Sight hunter?
 
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http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species/Fish/Bowfin

Dang.
Sounds like a bad fish to have in a pond to me.
They breath air and can burrow in the mud and survive droughts. They eat the same stuff a bass does.
Make sure I'm right first. Once, I thought I was wrong, but I found out later I was mistaken...

Been a long time since I heard 'em called jacks, so double check that's what he means.
 
If he means what I think, around here a jack is another name for a blackfish/mudfish/bowfin.

NO. You dirty man. He don't want them in his pond. Some of you Bowfin trophy fishermen may though.


@Slacker a jack is what they call a chain pickerel down east NC.
They are small pike, very sporty fish and tasty. They don't get real big. A five pounder would be near trophy size. They will keep your pond healthy as long as you do a survey and make sure you keep the little ones caught out.
 
It just seems counter productive to stock a fish that competes with LMB for food, when I have already stocked LMB.
I dunno.

I've eaten pickerel before, very boney fish with mushy flesh. Not my idea of a good eating fish.
 
It just seems counter productive to stock a fish that competes with LMB for food, when I have already stocked LMB.
I dunno.

I've eaten pickerel before, very boney fish with mushy flesh. Not my idea of a good eating fish.

It'll be a long time before 25- 3" bass can whittle down those stunted bream. You'll need to at least put some 14-16" bass in there before any meaningful balance can take place.
 
It'll be a long time before 25- 3" bass can whittle down those stunted bream. You'll need to at least put some 14-16" bass in there before any meaningful balance can take place.

I transplanted a few larger bass from another pond. I bet they will eat some of my LMB fingerings, but hopefully they chow on bluegill also.
I suspect that increased Visability will speed up the predation significantly.
 
Instead of guessing why not call NCWRC and ask for one of their biologist to come take a look and make some recommendations??
 
NO. You dirty man. He don't want them in his pond. Some of you Bowfin trophy fishermen may though.


@Slacker a jack is what they call a chain pickerel down east NC.
They are small pike, very sporty fish and tasty. They don't get real big. A five pounder would be near trophy size. They will keep your pond healthy as long as you do a survey and make sure you keep the little ones caught out.
Now that you said it....

I told yo it had been a while since I heard it. What else can you expect from a dirty ol' swamp ogre?
 
Lake Mayo has plenty of Jacks. We used to whack them on the gunnels of the boat when we caught them there. We called them "hammerhandles".
 
In theory, that sounds like a great idea.
In practice, it's inviting "the man" into my life. I avoid that, if in any way possible.

Nothing to hide here, just not a fan of .gov in my buisness.

(Slacker pulls his Renoylds wrap hat down over his ears)

He could give a shit less about you or your pond, He's a resource for advanced information, nothing more, nothing less.....
 
Put 1000lbs of Ag lime in the pond yesterday. If I'm lucky, it will increase the PH by one number. They call for 1 ton per acre.
The idea is to cover the pond bottom. Your trying to change the PH of the pond bottom. It's pulverized limestone so it sinks. Slow acting, so the fish don't get freaked out.
Quick lime or hydrated lime works way too fast if you have an existing fish population. It also does not last as long.

Raising the PH also often reduces the suspended clay, clearing the water up.

I did some 2hp wide open high speed maneuvers to mix up the thermocline water. The fish got very active feeding that afternoon.

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I spoke with the local farm pond stocking company as well as a local State Hatchery employee Thursday, very helpful. Both gave virtually identical advice.

I am told that if I am serious about getting the balance and population in check I need to kill everything and start over but it looks like buying a few dozen 6"-8" Large Mouth Bass for $2.50 each will possibly help and give us some fishing entertainment beyond catching undersize Crappie and Bluegill on a bare hook every cast..
 
I spoke with the local farm pond stocking company as well as a local State Hatchery employee Thursday, very helpful. Both gave virtually identical advice.

I am told that if I am serious about getting the balance and population in check I need to kill everything and start over but it looks like buying a few dozen 6"-8" Large Mouth Bass for $2.50 each will possibly help and give us some fishing entertainment beyond catching undersize Crappie and Bluegill on a bare hook every cast..

I considered "reclaiming" also.
Requires a permit and the NCWRC folks have to do it. They want you to draw the pond down low so less poison is required. It is also less likely to drain out poison water, possibly contaminating other bodies of water.

I'm realizing that I jumped the gun adding fingerling bass and cats. I really should have gotten the water quality corrected, then added larger bass & cats to wreak havoc on the bluegills.
Live and learn. It will work out in the end.
Worse case, I'm out $100 worth of fingerlings.
 
Are either of your ponds so deep that you couldn't seine them? No permit or NCWRC involvement.
 
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Are either of your ponds so deep that you couldn't seine them? No permit or NCWRC involvement.

I bet mine could be but it would be a big PITA. If two canoes were used with the net between them, it would work better.
Too many trees on the banks.
Unfortunately, the banks are where the small bluegill hide.
 
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I bet mine could be but it would be a big PITA. If two canoes were used with the net between them, it would work better.
Too many trees on the banks.
Unfortunately, the banks are where the small bluegill hide.

Can you pump it down to make the banks wider?

Breech the levee to drain it, repair the levee, then refill during the spring? That would also provide an opportunity to install an overflow pipe, assuming you don't already have one.

Just throwing out ideas...the very few times I've seen ponds poisoned didn't work out well.
 
I would sooner pump it down and sien it than poison it. I bet a trash pump would drain it down in less than a day.
It's not that big of a pond.

It has a stand pipe style drain that works well. I would not consider breaching the dam.
Trash pumps usually have 20ft of hose.
That would work fine.
 
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I would sooner pump it down and sien it than poison it. I bet a trash pump would drain it down in less than a day.
It's not that big of a pond.

It has a stand pipe style drain that works well. I would not consider breaching the dam.
Trash pumps usually have 20ft of hose.
That work work fine.

Sounds like our ponds are pretty similar..

Cast net, blender, dog food.. Happy dog..
 
Are either of your ponds so deep that you couldn't seine them? No permit or NCWRC involvement.

My kid tried chasing the power cord for the stupid fountain and chickened out at around 8-10' for lack of vision and extreme cold.. The anchor line for the fountain is 15' and pretty taught.

I intend to set up a casting depth rig and map it at some point.
 
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