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    #16
    Originally posted by BitBackShot View Post
    Last summer in the drought, my buddy's tank near Enchanted Rock didn't go completely dry, but the water temperature got so high everything died.

    I just put 200 1" bluegill, 200 3" green sunfish, 50 5" channel cats, and 10 4" bass in, but I'm not sure if the bait fish will populate fast enough. Hoping bass that size can eat insects, etc until we get a good minnow population back in there. I saw a few when I walked the shoreline, so they're in there a bit, but nothing like prior to the die off.



    It's only a little over an acre.
    Those green sunfish will do more damage on your minnows than your 10 bass.

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      #17
      great thread idea - we are starting to work on enlarging and improving our existing tank, drilling new wells and maybe adding a new tank.

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        #18
        Originally posted by BrandonA View Post
        Those green sunfish will do more damage on your minnows than your 10 bass.
        Yeah, I went back and forth on them, but the sole purpose of the tank is for little kids to throw a bobber in and pull out a fish. Don't care if it's a bass, catfish, or sunfish. I specifically put them in there because they're aggressive and easy to catch.

        Your point is well taken though. I know a lot of people don't like them.

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          #19
          I have a little 1/2 acre pond on my place with a windmill powered aerator (currently not pumping air. I don't know why) I've only seen what folks describe as "google eyes" come out of it.
          It's not really my hobby but I'd like to be able to have eating size fish to catch. I was thinking maybe tilapia because they are very heat tolerant.

          Last edited by Gunnyart; 03-20-2019, 08:12 AM. Reason: add photos

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            #20
            A mistake I have seen made over and over on a new or renovated pond is folks not establishing their bait fish first. Put your bluegill in first and let them get established and some size on them before you put your bass in.

            I also highly recommend a feeder for the blue gill. Feed floating protein during the warm months -

            Also, depending on what type of pond and fishing you want, be careful with catfish. They will compete with your bass for the bait fish.

            Finally if you have or buy an existing pond and your bass are established then culling bass is invaluable. Just like deer - taking some mouths out of the chain will greatly improve the size of your other fish. I have seen too many ponds where no bass are ever taken out and they become stunted -

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              #21
              I have a small catfish pond. Grass moss is building up though. Anyone used anything good to rid of it?

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                #22
                Originally posted by BrandonA View Post
                My journey began 5yrs when my parents bought our ranch. It had a 15 acre lake on it as well as several other tanks ranging from 1/8 acre to 6 acres. I focus primarily on the 15. When we got it it had only been stocked with minnows, Bluegill, Cooper Nose and Red Ears 2 yr previously . We stocked an additional 10,000 shad the first year we had it and add shad each spring each yr. The following year we stocked 1000 Camelot Bells... Well fast forward to this year and caught this this past weekend. 9.5lb Bell. Lots of work but its starting to pay off


                .
                Dang Brandon! That is awesome bud....what a chunk!

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                  #23
                  If you are able to, line the bottom of the lake with limestone. We did this to our 35 ac lake when we re-dug it and we went from 1"-2" of clarity to a couple feet of clarity now and the bass are thriving.

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                    #24
                    If you are having clarity issue drop a couple of rounds bales in it. This is what the old timers did to change the PH and clarity

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                      #25
                      Watch out for Hydrilla

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by BrandonA View Post
                        If you are having clarity issue drop a couple of rounds bales in it. This is what the old timers did to change the PH and clarity
                        Have you seen the price of hay lately!

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                          #27
                          Originally posted by Rubi513 View Post
                          Have you seen the price of hay lately!
                          When compared to the amount of lime and or chemicals needed to change a 5 acre lake....Hay is a bargain

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Originally posted by Huntingfool View Post
                            A mistake I have seen made over and over on a new or renovated pond is folks not establishing their bait fish first. Put your bluegill in first and let them get established and some size on them before you put your bass in.

                            I also highly recommend a feeder for the blue gill. Feed floating protein during the warm months -

                            Also, depending on what type of pond and fishing you want, be careful with catfish. They will compete with your bass for the bait fish.

                            Finally if you have or buy an existing pond and your bass are established then culling bass is invaluable. Just like deer - taking some mouths out of the chain will greatly improve the size of your other fish. I have seen too many ponds where no bass are ever taken out and they become stunted -
                            So this is why I’m glad this thread was started and I sure don’t claim to know what I’m doing but a few things here:

                            Like I mentioned, our new property has about a 3/4 acre tank.


                            According to the seller the tank has been there for at least 20+ years prior to him owning it for only about 5 years. He never stocked it and only actually fished it a handful of times. My son and I have been fishing it fairy hard since mid October and have been able to catch ONLY blacks and crappie.....absolutely nothing else. We have tried worms and whole kernel corn for bluegills, brim or perch with nary a bite....nothing. We’ve also tried fishing blood baits and stink baits looking for catfish. ZERO, nada, no luck at all. I’ve even thrown whole pieces of white bread in the tank and have yet to see a single bait fish hit the stuff.

                            Now the good news is I really like catching black bass and we’ve actually caught some decent size fish in it (biggest being about 4lbs) but it seems to be over populated with too many smaller 1 to 1.5 lb bass. I have a neighbor that just built a tank and would love to take some of my fish but what is the best “culling method” for bass? Do I just pull the obvious small fish...under 1.5lbs??

                            Also, since I hadn’t had any luck with catfish I just stocked 200 pounds of channel cats a couple of weeks ago. But now I’m concerned about the baitfish.


                            Do I need to be finding some baitfish? If so, where? I can buy minnows at a local bait store but what else is recommended? I’ve been on the pondboss site but IMO it’s not very user-friendly.

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Originally posted by RascalArms View Post
                              So this is why I’m glad this thread was started and I sure don’t claim to know what I’m doing but a few things here:

                              Like I mentioned, our new property has about a 3/4 acre tank.


                              According to the seller the tank has been there for at least 20+ years prior to him owning it for only about 5 years. He never stocked it and only actually fished it a handful of times. My son and I have been fishing it fairy hard since mid October and have been able to catch ONLY blacks and crappie.....absolutely nothing else. We have tried worms and whole kernel corn for bluegills, brim or perch with nary a bite....nothing. We’ve also tried fishing blood baits and stink baits looking for catfish. ZERO, nada, no luck at all. I’ve even thrown whole pieces of white bread in the tank and have yet to see a single bait fish hit the stuff.

                              Now the good news is I really like catching black bass and we’ve actually caught some decent size fish in it (biggest being about 4lbs) but it seems to be over populated with too many smaller 1 to 1.5 lb bass. I have a neighbor that just built a tank and would love to take some of my fish but what is the best “culling method” for bass? Do I just pull the obvious small fish...under 1.5lbs??

                              Also, since I hadn’t had any luck with catfish I just stocked 200 pounds of channel cats a couple of weeks ago. But now I’m concerned about the baitfish.


                              Do I need to be finding some baitfish? If so, where? I can buy minnows at a local bait store but what else is recommended? I’ve been on the pondboss site but IMO it’s not very user-friendly.
                              I would kill it and start over

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Originally posted by BrandonA View Post
                                I would kill it and start over
                                **** Brandon...thanks for all the advice. Hope you didn’t overwhelm yourself with all the typing

                                It’s a gorgeous tank with some decent size healthy bass and crappie. Why would I need to kill it?

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