Farm Ponds and Raising Fish for Alternative Protein

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hairy78
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Farm Ponds and Raising Fish for Alternative Protein

Post by hairy78 »

Does anyone else on here have their own pond, not including Dozermac?

My family has always tried to be as self-sufficient as possible JIC, and this has included raising a several acre garden, maintaining deer plots, creating habitats for the rabbit and squirrel population to flourish, and keeping 2 farm ponds stocked. After my grandfather passed, I have become in charge of the ponds.

Do any of you guys have any suggestions for proper pond and fish mass management? I have a feeding schedule in place, and I added minnow habitat to allow the fingerlings a fighting chance, are there any secrets out there that I haven't heard yet?

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dryvalleyboy
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Post by dryvalleyboy »

The acre feet,fertilization and areation of the ponds are what determine the fish mass it will carry.What made the water that color?
BWT
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Post by BWT »

dryvalleyboy wrote:The acre feet,fertilization and areation of the ponds are what determine the fish mass it will carry.What made the water that color?
+1. That's not standard lake water color.
pdemos
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Post by pdemos »

That color is a dye they use for shade for the fish, I think he used just a little to much. My advice for a pond is make sure you have lot of air in the water and either feed them or make sure it has a lot of natural foods. Here are some pic's of my pond and what it produces.


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Cortland
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Post by Cortland »

My grandfather had a 2 acre pond on some of his property that I fished on. There were mostly large mouth bass and brim, maybe some perch too. He had it stocked when he bought the property and I am almost positive he never did anything to it thereafter. There were plenty of fish in it 20 years later.

The blue does look ever so slightly unnatural (just a little bit). :lol:
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hairy78
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Post by hairy78 »

Thanks guys.

The blue is a dye that a customer of mine who raises fish professionally, told me to try. This was the first day the dye was applied. The next day, and 2 weeks later it now looks more natural, and is a slight turquoise.

The ponds have been stocked with bluegills and large mouth bass, for about 20 years. In the last few, the bass have been shrinking. Yet, bluegills could be caught on a bare hook. We have now started culling the bluegills, and added cats to the mix.
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pdemos
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Post by pdemos »

Yeah bass, bluegill and crappy are pretty much self sufficient. But trout aren't quit as easy, they require a highly oxygenated and fairly cold water system to survive in. I had the pond dug out to 12 feet to make sure they had some cold water and put some objects in the water, like rocks and things for shelter. So far it seems to be working good. Good luck your pond looks fun.
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Post by Cortland »

I notice I said brim and now everybody else is throwing "bluegill" around. We call 'em brim, dammit.
dryvalleyboy
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Post by dryvalleyboy »

If the ponds are over run with brim you might be better off to put rotenone in it and start from scratch.It takes the oxygen out of the water,and the fish will surface so you can net the biggest and move them to the other pond.You can safely eat the fish you don't want to move.After a few days you can restock it with the fish you want.Then do the same to the other pond.If you want to have brim in the ponds get Georgia Giants.They are around 90 percent males,and won't throw the ponds out of balance by over breeding.And they get huge.
pdemos
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Post by pdemos »

Cortland wrote:I notice I said brim and now everybody else is throwing "bluegill" around. We call 'em brim, dammit.
Sorry man, but here in the Northwest we don't wear hats with brims.
But it does sound better then those damn bluegills. :P
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hairy78
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Post by hairy78 »

Image

This is an updated pic, especially for the Brim Reaper himself, Cortland. :wink:
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hairy78
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Post by hairy78 »

This is one of the one year old cats. They were about 3-4" long last Summer when we stocked.

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flip
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Post by flip »

Biggest problem we have at our lake is lack of fishing. We have probably 2 trillion bass between 10=14" and no weight. 10 years ago we were pulling 5-6 pound bass out of there on a regular basis. Crappie were in the 12-16" range and you could catch those all day, now if we are lucky we will pull one or two out per trip. We have tons of BLUEGILL and REDEAR and between 2 guys and 4 hours can easily knock out 100+, all big fish. There have been a few flat heads caught 30+lb over the last 6 years. Best advice I can give is slot limit and have DNR come out some time and do a survey of the lake to see if fish pops. are at good levels for the size lake you have.
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Post by 57fairlane »

there is indeed a lot of reading material out there on culling, which it sounds like you guys may want to look into.

Growing large bass takes a lot of work . . . I helped a buddy of mine dig out a 3 acre pond and helped manage/fish it for 7-8 years. It eventually supported several 6-8lbs largemouth but has gone to crap here in the past 2 years since he moved and sold to a developer.
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