Creating a Lake

[Torrak]

Man, some of my best childhood memories involved a minnow trap. Try a piece of white bread with peanut butter smeared on it.. that always got alot of minnows for me! =)

JB

 

[patrick_g]

I seined minnows with my dad when I was in grade school but never used a trap. I used to go out after dark in the summer and catch night crawlers (large earth worms.) My dad paid me 1/2 cent each for them. I caught hundreds and he and mom took them out and drowned them (AKA catfishing.)

Pat

 

[Farwell]

It won't be long before Peyton will not want to turn those minnows loose; he'll want to put them on a hook for bait for bigger fish. And yep, Spring is getting close. I mowed today for the second time this year, and I noticed the buds are just starting to open on the Bradford Pear trees; ought to have white blossoms soon.

Bird,
We are having white blossoms here in Mid Michigan and they are piling up to about two-three feet deep with a lot of moisture on them. Yup, we are getting a nasty storm and lots of things are shut down due to a bunch of snow this morning and rain this afternoon. The ice is starting to build up on the wires and trees. The wind has been blowing quite a bit and we will probably loose power before the storm is over. Sure glad I don't have to go anywhere.
Texas is starting to appeal to me more and more.
David B

 

[Bird]

Yep, David, I've seen some parts of Michigan in the summer; not sure I'd want to be there in the winter. Of course, in July and August you'll be glad you're in Michigan instead of Texas.

 

[jinman]

I seined minnows with my dad when I was in grade school but never used a trap.

I did the same thing Patrick. I've got some stories about what I saw swimming around the end near the seine pole. They say they won't bite under water, but I wasn't going to test that theory if I didn't have to.

Eddie...You don't want to know what I'm talking about.

 

[Bird]

Jim, when I was a kid, I heard they didn't bite under water, too, so we didn't worry about them even though we knew they were in the stock ponds we swam in, and we saw them occasionally. However, long after I was grown, my Dad & I were crappie fishing in the shallow water of a small lake just north of Ardmore, OK, when one came swimming under water and started out onto the bank right at my feet and it had a small crappie in its mouth. I moved back from the edge of the water, but when it saw me, it turned and swam away under water still holding that crappie in its mouth.

 

[EddieWalker]

Alissa is 9, and she's been sick all week. Her tempature hit 103 with several days over 100. Today she's allot better and after resting all day, I agreed to let her come out side with her brother to help stock the lake with minnows.

This was her first time, so her little brother got to show her how, but she picked it up pretty quick.

Eddie

 

[gemini5362]

I know I am really old because I remember glass minow traps. The looked like a gallon jar with a funnel made into the glass.

 

[Farwell]

Yep, David, I've seen some parts of Michigan in the summer; not sure I'd want to be there in the winter. Of course, in July and August you'll be glad you're in Michigan instead of Texas.

Bird,
It was 26*this morning,the wind was really blowing and snow was falling steadily. I decided that I should snow blow the drive. I was wearing a pair of sweats, rubber boots, and an insulated hooded sweat shirt. I loved it. I usually wear my heavy duty insulated coveralls, thermal boots, face mask, military hat and mittens. I sweat like crazy. Today dressing lightly, no sweat and total comfort. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to finish the drive, just in time to beat the sleet and rain when the temperature raised to 32*.
I can dress for the cold but there is only so much you can take of in the hot weather. Think I will stay here even though Texas is tempting to think about.
David B

 

[3RRL]

Eddie,
That is so cool that Peyton and his sister are in charge of the minnows now. Those pictures you posted are priceless. Moments neither of you will ever forget.
That is one heck of a project you did there dude. I may have to get a motor home just to visit you and Steph and stay at your park.
Stick your chest out!

 

[KentT]

Eddie,

Are there any minnows in the creek near the dam of Lake Marabou? If so, that wouldn't deplete the ones in your small pond...

Just a thought...

 

[philbuilt]

Eddie,
Congrats on a great project. I've been on the TBN for several years but only in the last 2 weeks started reading post other than the Massey tractor pages. Well I just read this complete thread today. I could not leave it and besides theres a snow storm going on. I started digging my pond labor day in 2005. Fortunately I have a piece of land that required no damming.
The pond is spring fed with natural water run off. Water depth 0-12' Temp mid summer 48deg to 60deg. It took 68 days to fill up. This pond will continue to be a work in progress for many more years to come.
Thanks for the great thread
Phil

 

[gemini5362]

Eddie,

Duh I forgot you were in texas. I am going to houston the end of march. I looked at my map I might go via shreveport or come back via dallas. How far out of the way are you from either of those areas. I am going to be starting out in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I might stop by and see what the pond looks like if you are entertaining sight seeing tours.

 

[ronjhall]

Bird,
We are having white blossoms here in Mid Michigan and they are piling up to about two-three feet deep with a lot of moisture on them. Yup, we are getting a nasty storm and lots of things are shut down due to a bunch of snow this morning and rain this afternoon. The ice is starting to build up on the wires and trees. The wind has been blowing quite a bit and we will probably loose power before the storm is over. Sure glad I don't have to go anywhere.
Texas is starting to appeal to me more and more.
David B

Now I know why I left MI last month. The Colorado river looks much better than the white blossoms. Just to keep this thread on topic. I am visiting a TBN member that helped Eddie build dam for the lake

 

[Bird]

That sure is pretty, Ron.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never cought minnows before, so this is something new to me. In fact, if I ddn't happen to see the minnow trap at Walmart, I would still be clueless to the fun of minnow catching!!!

Torrak,

I'll give the peanut butter a try. Sounds like more fun for the kids!!! Thanks.

Pat,

What do you mean, seined? I don't know what this is?

David,

Blossomes are coming out on the redbud trees here. They are a native tree and quite common. Nothing else is blooming, but the dogwoods should be blooming pretty soon.

Jim,

I'm even more confused. What's a seine pole? How does it work?

Bird,

I see you and Jim have brought up my dreaded foe. The snake. hahaha My nieghbor has 240 acres and has had the land for about 2 years. In that time he's only seen one snake!!! What the heck???? It's just not fair.

One thing he told me is that the easiest way to identify a cotton mouth in the water is that it's whole body floats. I've never heard this before. Can anybody confirm this?

Rob,

Thanks for the encouragment and kind words. Peyton was talking in school when he shouldn't have been yesterday, so he received a yellow bear. The first thing he told me when he got off the bus was that he couldn't let minnows go. He was upset, but he also understood he'd messed up and had to live with it. I was very proud of him for that.

Kent,

Yes, there are minnows in the creek, but I don't know what type they are. I'm pretty sure a few got sucked up in the pump and are in the lake already. Steph has spotted ripples of something swimming, but we haven't seen any to know for sure. One of the concerns with stocking unknown fish, or native fish, is there could be negatives to it. I know that Fathead Minnows are a highly desired feed fish for my other species. Once I get a stable population of fatheads in there, then the pond is guranteed to produce large bass. Or at least if I do it right and take my time.

Phil,

Thank you for the kind words and compliment. It's always very nice to hear that you enjoyed reading this. How long did it take to read? hahaha I've gone back to the first few pages and skimmed over it to organize my pictures on my computer. This thread is a fantastic record of what I did and when I did it.

As you can tell by the number of views to this thread, ponds are very popular. Almost as much fun as a barn!!! I'm sure I'm speaking for allot of others when asking for you to post some pictures of your pond project!!!

gemini,

I'm just about dead center between Shreveport and Dallas, right on Interstate 20. If you look at the map, you'll see Tyler real easy. I'm just North of Tyler.

Just send a pm with your personal email address and I'll email you a map on how to get here. I always enjoy having people over here and showing off the place.

Ron,

Hope your having fun. I know you're with good company as we really enjoyed visiting with Garry and Jenny when they were here. Have they seen the pictures of Lake Marabou with water in it? I think I emailed them a few, but it's been awhile. Say hi to little Bailey!!!!

Eddie

 

[jinman]

Now I know why I left MI last month. The Colorado river looks much better than the white blossoms. Just to keep this thread on topic. I am visiting a TBN member that helped Eddie build dam for the lake

Hey Ron...Why don't you get out and do a few things since you retired?

You are havin' way too much fun.

 

[patrick_g]

A seine is a net operated by one or more folks for catching inhabitants of water. In schools, minnows will ball up in a group when disturbed. Supposedly it increases survival chances for the individual even though it is not good for the group. You can stir up some mud in the water and the minnows will hide in the turbid water. You then pass the net through that volume and catch the school.

Pat

 

[gemini5362]

A seine is a net operated by one or more folks for catching inhabitants of water. In schools, minnows will ball up in a group when disturbed. Supposedly it increases survival chances for the individual even though it is not good for the group. You can stir up some mud in the water and the minnows will hide in the turbid water. You then pass the net through that volume and catch the school.

Pat

LOL patrick I have seined minnows a lot of times and I am not sure I understnad your description

A seine is a string net with very small openings in the net. Normally it has a pole attatched to each end of it that is about 4 to 6 feet long. Seines are various lengths the ones we used were probably about ten feet long. You take two people and have one take a pole at each end. you stretche the poles across some water usually a shallow creek. move the net from downstream to upstream and at some point you both rotate the net from verticle to horizontal while pulling it out of the water. If everything goes right it will contain several minnows. The usual procedure is to be at the edge of the water the current has the net pushed downstrem of the poles making a u of the net. It is a very good way to catch minnows. It does have the drawback of being in the water with anything that is there as in snakes.




Eddie I dont know if they float or not but cottonmouths do swim on top of the water. They are also extremely agressive. One of the main ways to tell them from a black snake is size. Black snakes will be long and slender
Cottonmouths will be relatively short and depending on age they will be very big around. There are also differences in the head with the cotton mouth haveing the triangular head. also the tail is different. I would spend some time online looking up the differences

 

[ronjhall]

Ron,

Hope your having fun. I know you're with good company as we really enjoyed visiting with Garry and Jenny when they were here. Have they seen the pictures of Lake Marabou with water in it? I think I emailed them a few, but it's been awhile. Say hi to little Bailey!!!!

Eddie

Your name came up this afternoon. All three are doing great. Told them about the great times we have had in TX.