What weird things are going on in your ponds?

[oosik]

Every year I find it very interesting and kind of peaceful to go out on one of the cliffs, overlooking the lake, and watch the bass. My last barn cat, and one I though was pretty smart, started coming out with me and watching the bass also. I would go in the house and he would stay out on the cliff for hours watching.

One day he was intently watching the bass - you could see him from the kitchen table, thru our big glass doors - and obviously he wasn't the only one watching. A big red tailed hawk dove down and nailed my last barn cat.

The local vet is a friend of mine and his receptionist is looking for a "sack full of barn cats" to replace the ones I've lost to hawks, owls and coyotes.

Dam, something is alway hungry out here. This spring the pocket gophers have made my yard look like I've got wild hogs.

 

[MossRoad]

The biggest predator of goldfish around here is great blue herons. I have a friend (the one that had the poison mushroom dinner in the other thread) that had a small, maybe 8' round pond in his flower bed and had some goldfish to keep the mosquitoes down. His yard has a privacy fence around it. Heron must have been flying over and saw the gold snicker's bars, swooped in and ate them all in a short time. He captured it on his game camera.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's an excellent PDF file booklet on Fish Pond Management from the Indiana DNR.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fishmgt.pdf

In it there are some recommendations on stocking ratios for bass and bluegill, regarding numbers and size.

Anyhow, its a really good read. I've been reading variations of it for about 40 years.

 

[General Lee]

The biggest predator of goldfish around here is great blue herons. I have a friend (the one that had the poison mushroom dinner in the other thread) that had a small, maybe 8' round pond in his flower bed and had some goldfish to keep the mosquitoes down. His yard has a privacy fence around it. Heron must have been flying over and saw the gold snicker's bars, swooped in and ate them all in a short time. He captured it on his game camera.

While a heron is possible around here, it is unlikely it was one of those that took mine. I'm wondering if a raccoon snatched them. They survived several years before and hadn't had a problem with predators being interested. I truly think they couldn't dive deep because of the leaves and that made it easy for something. Who knows??

 

[MossRoad]

While a heron is possible around here, it is unlikely it was one of those that took mine. I'm wondering if a raccoon snatched them. They survived several years before and hadn't had a problem with predators being interested. I truly think they couldn't dive deep because of the leaves and that made it easy for something. Who knows??

I've never seen raccoons catch live fish. Lots of crayfish, lots of dead fish, but not live fish. Herons on the other hand, YIKES!!!! FEARSOME predators. Fish, mice, ducklings, snakes, gophers, you name it. Voracious!

 

[General Lee]

See I thought I've heard people mention raccoon's could snatch fish from a pond. I'm talking gold fish ponds, not really the large ponds and lakes. I don't really know though.

 

[CajunRider]

That's an awful big fish - pic in post #1. Have you ever considered bringing in a gator - ha,ha. I don't think I want to swim in your pond if there's gonna be fish or something big enough to eat that Red Fish. But you have the right idea there, CajunRider - you got to eliminate the fish you don't want so when you plant the desirable ones - they will stand a chance. Otherwise, its simply, feeding time at the 'ol Cajun watering hole.

When I was landing the big fish, a 7ft gator came out and investigated. He didn't come close to me to steal my red cuz he was afraid of me. If he were bigger, he probably would have grabbed my fish.

 

[MossRoad]

See I thought I've heard people mention raccoon's could snatch fish from a pond. I'm talking gold fish ponds, not really the large ponds and lakes. I don't really know though.

You could always get a game/trail camera and set it up next to the pond. Heck, I'd make a low 3' diameter ring of 1/4" hardware cloth and set it in the pond near the shore and toss a goldfish in as bait and see what shows up on the camera to eat it.

 

[rekees4300]

Here's an excellent PDF file booklet on Fish Pond Management from the Indiana DNR.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fishmgt.pdf

In it there are some recommendations on stocking ratios for bass and bluegill, regarding numbers and size.

Anyhow, its a really good read. I've been reading variations of it for about 40 years.

Excellent document thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

 

[keegs]

I have a small pond (catch basin) just under an acre. It's fed by surface runoff, an artisan well, and some springs. We drained it and dug it out some a few years ago. It's about 12-15 feet deep now. I had the guys place some stumps and tree trunks around the bottom to provide screening from predators. We boarder a river that runs about 1000' from the pond. Great blues are pretty common visitors. My guess is they're feeding on frogs and minnows. Some time back I saw a river otter swimming around but there's nothing really for them to eat so it was likely just passing through. The previous owner told me he tried stocking the pond with trout but something or someone cleaned him out almost overnight. My guess is it was an otter. There's many a hot summer day when I'd like to take a swim in the pond but it's loaded with leeches. A few large fish would probably go a long way to fixing the leech issue and provide some sport and a meal or two but I don't think they'd stand a chance against the otters. Maybe I'll try stocking a few fish to see what happens.