Creating a Lake

[philbuilt]

Hi Eddie,
Did you transport the fish yourself or will they deliver? Adding fish is a great reward for putting in the lake. It will give back allot of pleasure.
So the bass will come next spring? Here in Maine they are not allowed to be stocked. We can only do JUNK fish like trout all thought there is allot of bass fishing in this state.
Congrats on the fish
Phil

 

[EddieWalker]

Phill,

Yes, I transported them myself. Guess I should have taken some pics, but it wasn't really planned. I've been meaning to buy them for a few months, but haven't been in the area until yesterday afternoon. I was close, so I decided it was now or never.

The fish were put into about ten seperate bags. Each bag gets so many fish, some pond water and a shot of pure oxygen to inflate the bag and help out the fish. Then it's double baged and tied with a super duper rubber band.

Most of the bags fit in my front seat next to me, where they were kept cool with my trucks AC, but a few went under my tool box in the back of the bed. They were a little worried about the black bed liner and heat, so they dumped allot of water on it and had me park inside the fish barn while they were bagging the fish.

It was about 20 miles to my place, so it's not that bad. I drove straight to the lake and let them go as fast as I could. No waiting around to climatize or any of that, just cut open the bags and dump them in!!!

I lost about two dozen fish. Mostly bluegill. They just seem to be more sensitive.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

Eddie,
Looks like you did pretty good then. I presume you bought 4000 bluegill and 3000 minnows for that $490? Then you only lost .034% ... not even 1 tenth of a percent. Of course some more may turn up dead, but the loss is negligible. Unless you are one of the 1 tenth percent of course.
Your lake is turning out really, really nice Eddie. What a great project.

 

[jinman]

Eddie,
Looks like you did pretty good then. I presume you bought 4000 bluegill and 3000 minnows for that $490? Then you only lost .034% ... not even 1 tenth of a percent. Of course some more may turn up dead, but the loss is negligible. Unless you are one of the 1 tenth percent of course.
Your lake is turning out really, really nice Eddie. What a great project.

Yeah Rob, I'd say Eddie has a six sigma fish stocking process if he lost no more bluegill than that.

Eddie, does this mean I need to bring fish food to the Oktoberfest?

 

[patrick_g]

Eddie I too stocked my catfish from bags but I tempered the bagged water a little (about half way) and didn't get a single immediate loss (who knows what happened later.) I did lose a few fat head minnows but a very low percentage.

We had yet another overflow event in virtually all of our ponds due to yet more rain. I went out yesterday morning with my visiting cousin to pick some blackberries for cereal topping for breakfast. We found some 1 inch fish in some puddles a hundred feet from one of the ponds. Then we notices a few hundred of the little buggers (some even smaller) dead in the grass. The emergency overflow swale for the one pond is a few hundred feet long leading to another pond and it is wide and well grassed so no erosion. It was also littered with dead fry.

I had not been aware that the pond in question even had that kind of fish. I suppose they could have come from one of the two ponds upstream that were over flowing. I don't see a simple preventative measure as any kind of mesh will get plugged up too easily.

Pat

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie,
Looks like you did pretty good then. I presume you bought 4000 bluegill and 3000 minnows for that $490? Then you only lost .034% ... not even 1 tenth of a percent. Of course some more may turn up dead, but the loss is negligible. Unless you are one of the 1 tenth percent of course.
Your lake is turning out really, really nice Eddie. What a great project.

Rob,

It was 2,000 bluegill and 3,000 minnows for $490, but he only charged me $480 as I gave him five $100 bills and he gave me $20 in change. He only takes cash, so I told him how much I brought, the size of my pond and my goals. He figured out what I needed and then decided how many to put in each bag. He then filled a bucket with water, weighed it, and added a pound of fish. Then he dumped the water and counted the fish by hand. He took that number, did some magic on the calculater and figured out how many fish to put in each bag by weight. Then they added some to that number.

My guess is that even after the ones that died, I still put in more then I paid for. But it really doesn't matter, in a few months, they will start spawning and the cycle will begin. By next year I should have tens of thousands of fish in there, if not more.

Jim,

You really ruined us when we where at your place and saw you feed your fish. Until then, it was something I'd only read about, but never seen. After seeing them feed in person, we knew it was something we had to do ourselves!!! The kids still get exited about feeding the fish every evening, but right now my parents are here visiting, and my Mom has taken over fish feeding duties. She has her chair that she sets out on the dock and it's her evening ritual. We join her sometimes, but she's totally content to just sit there and watch them feed all by herself.

Of course, thats in my small pond by the house. The lake is not going to get any feeding of the fish. It's too far from the house and we're too lazy to make that sort of commitment. hahaha

Pat,

It never occured to me to stop and cool off the bags of fish on the way home. I drove past a truck stop on the Interstate, and probably could have done so easily. In fact, if I had thought about it, I guess I could have brought my ice chests and kept some cold water or bags of ice too.

I must have had tunnel vision and was too focused on getting them home and into the lake. hahaha When I buy my bass next year, I'll plan ahead.

I've also noticed some bluegill downstream from my spillway of my small pond. They are coming through my pipe and when the water dries up, I've seen them dead in the mud. The racoons are cleaning them up, but it's sad to see them die this way. Fortunately, bluegill are such prolific breeders that I'm not concerned with there loss numbers wise, just hate to see them suffer.

I tried putting a screen on my pipe, but it got plugged up and I had a flood issue. Then the pipe was two feed deep and I had to put on my duck hunting waders to clean it out. Not fun at all, plus that really sucked up allot of fish. Way more then normal when it started flowing. I think that was because it was so deep at the time, and not just the surface like normal. I'll never do that again!!!! hahaha

Thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I'm still amazed at how nice it's turned out. The more the grass fills in, the more exited we get about how it will end up looking.

Eddie

 

[GaryBDavis]

You know Eddie, you had one of the driest periods to dig your lake followed by one of the more wetter times to watch it fill up. Will you buy a lottery ticket for me?

 

[schmism]

remember for each pound of fish food (basicly dog food) youll see a half a pound of fish weight added.

my FIL has been feeding the cat fish in his tinny little pond for 3 years now and they are HUGE... but they dont ever eat any....

 

[patrick_g]

Pat,

It never occured to me to stop and cool off the bags of fish on the way home. I drove past a truck stop on the Interstate, and probably could have done so easily. In fact, if I had thought about it, I guess I could have brought my ice chests and kept some cold water or bags of ice too.

I must have had tunnel vision and was too focused on getting them home and into the lake. hahaha When I buy my bass next year, I'll plan ahead.


Eddie

OOPS, Eddie, I apparently was not crystal clear with my previous comments...

By tempering I mean adjusting the temp of the water in the bags to the temp of the water in the pond so as to not thermally shock the fish (can kill or set back fish.) My fish farm source bags the fish in plastic bags with oxygenated water and oxygen atmosphere. When I arrive pond side I place the bags (still closed) in the pond. I find string to tether the bags is good, especially if there is wind and you don't want to chase across a pond to retrieve the bags of fish. The water in the bags takes on the temp of the pond prior to release and thermal shock is virtually eliminated. You can speed the process by opening the bags after a "partial wait" and add a little pond water to the bag water.

When the water in the bags is essentially at the pond temp you are good to go and release the fish with minimal shock.

This is the instructions that the fish farm (that I use) puts out and is consistent with the Koi handlling instructions that all the Koi suppliers give to my S-I-L the Koi fancier.

Pat

 

[czechsonofagun]

I buy my fish from Fish Wagon - they travel from Arkansas twice a year up the east coast and stop here and there for 40 minutes. The Coop in Warrenton is my stop. They bag the fish exactly how Edddie was describing and I usually bring a big cooler to put bags in.

Before release I let them sit in the bag and ad the pond water in small increments. The reason I always do it is adjusting to different ph of the pond water. Last time I lost one minnow from 3 pounds - it could beend dead on arrival and one catfish went nose down after release.

Hard to say how much is lost afterwards since snappers take care of anything dead in the pond.

 

[EddieWalker]

I misunderstood. When I've bought fish before, I've le the bags sit in the water for a time and the cut the bags. Then I let the pond water work it's way into the bag and mix with the water already in there. It just takes a few minutes, but the fish will swim out on there own this way.

This time I decided that i would get them in the water right away. There were a couple of floaters in each bag, so I knew I was close to loosing more. After dumping them all in at once, a few fish sort of just floated there, but were not dead. Usually they came to live and swam away in a few seconds. A few stayed there for longer. I taped them with my finger and they took off.

With a few dead in the bags, I decided to do it the fastest way possible. Hopefully they got over the shock of it, but if not, that's not something I can change. hahaha

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[bigdeer2000]

wouldn't put any catfish in a bass lake. those 2-3pound cats grow pretty fast and eat a lot.they will probably enjoy your 2 dollar each bass next year. i did the same thing several years ago. now i have 2 ponds one with cats and brim and one with bass and brim. o yeah both have a few grass carp to keep the ponds clean. those grass carp get big! the kids always enjoyed watching them cruise by the dock.

 

[EddieWalker]

bigdeer,

You're probably right about mixing catfish and bass in the same pond, but because some people like one over the other, I'm hoping that I can do both. It might not be as good a bass pond as I'd hoped, but then again, I might get lucky.


As far as being lucky, there really is no way to describe all the lucky breaks I've had building this pond. And yesterday, it just got better. When I figured out the boundries of the shoreline, I was on my dozer, driving throught the jungle we call East Texas. I pointed the dozer in the direction my topo map said might be a good location to build a lake, and started knocking over trees. After a bit, I found a wet spot and turned to the right. Then I followed the wet areas, trying to stay above them. There is no way I wanted to get the dozer stuck in that mess, so it was kind of interesting.

Those wet areas were what I called natural springs. There was standing water in pockets all along the hillside that I hoped would help keep a lake full. During construction and two years of drought, those wet areas all dried up. This was about the luckiest part of this as I was able to dig out a very deep and large pond in the dry conditions. Any other time and it would have been impossible. I got very lucky.

This year the rains are way above normal and those wet areas have returned. I don't think they will have much impact on my water level, but anything is better then nothing. The biggest thing I didn't fully comprehend is what it takes to mow around the shoreline and avoid those wet areas. I've burried my tractor to the frame at least once, every time I've mowed. Four mowing sessions and stuck seven times. Twice was because I was pushing it too close to the edge, but the other times were suprises from the springs.

Yesterday, Steph and I were walking around the shoreline and I showed her were I got stuck a few days before. It was a nice grassy area that was at least a foot above the water, but close to a really wet area. While looking at it, she noticed that my drainage ditch that will eventually handle the vast majority of my water shed was flowing water.

This ditch runs along my property line and has the potential to pull in dozens of acres of watershed. It's a fairly long and in places, deep ditch. It's also bone dry for it's entire length, except for the last twenty feet. I didn't pay attention and thought it was just wet from the rains and hadn't dried out yet. There is some erosion there and it's deeper then the surrounding land.

After she noticed the water was moving, we took a closer look. It's coming out of the ground and flowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to get a one gallong container and time it to see how much water I'm getting from it. It's nothing huge, but it is steady, cyrstal clear and very cold.

This has become such a fun and interesting project with unforseen suprises that just keep getting better.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

We've noticed an oily film in some of the springs and wet areas. It's fairly clear, but of course, the rainbow color makes it look like an oily film. Is this normal? Does anybody know what it is or why it's caused?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[pekabu]

We've noticed an oily film in some of the springs and wet areas. It's fairly clear, but of course, the rainbow color makes it look like an oily film. Is this normal? Does anybody know what it is or why it's caused?

Thanks,
Eddie

Your in Texas! Ain't that Bubbling crude? Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[patrick_g]

Eddie, I have seen that "film" lots of times in various places when there is standing water.

The reading I did on ponds says that crappie and bass together in the same pond is a bad idea unless the pond is quite large or you just happen to be lucky. I was just lucky and had a couple ponds like that with good success and you have a BIG pond so you can probably do it too. I know in large lakes there are often bass coexisting with catfish. Where the scale factor starts to destroy the compatibility I don't know.

Regarding your spring... I'd be digging around to find the buried channel carrying the water and driving a pipe with a perforated section on the end into it. Then cover the pipe and pack good clay or cement around it to try to force the water to come out of the pipe. Instant artesian fountain possibilities. How neat does it get??

Pat

 

[Iowachild]

We've noticed an oily film in some of the springs and wet areas. It's fairly clear, but of course, the rainbow color makes it look like an oily film. Is this normal? Does anybody know what it is or why it's caused?

Thanks,
Eddie

Eddie,

Oily sheens can also come from natural sources. Some bacteria (Leptothrix discophora) that live in waterlogged places get their energy from iron and manganese, and as these harmless bacteria grow and decompose, the iron may appear oily or form red or orange films, fluffs, and coatings.

To tell the difference between petroleum spills and natural oil sheens, poke the sheen with a stick. If the sheen swirls back together immediately, it's petroleum. If the sheen breaks apart and does not flow back together, it is from bacteria or other natural source.

 

[patrick_g]

IowaChild, If there were residual soap or detergent on your poking finger from a previous hand washing then that would likely part the film for a while if it were petroleum based and maybe be mistaken for a film of biological source. I've seen this effect with my poorly rinsed finger.

Pat

 

[GaryBDavis]

Eddie,

Have you settled on a date for the fall get-to-gether at your place?

 

[EddieWalker]

Gary,

No date set yet. I was gonnna start asking what might be a good time everyone in August. We're good with any weekend in October or November, so it will really be up to when most of you can make it. The tempatures will be really nice then, but there's no guessing if it will be dry or not. Our last two family get togethers have been canceled because of the rain, and the one before that was Christmas, where it rained all day long. Three for three isn't very encouraging. hahaha

If anybody has some dates that are better or worse then others, please post them at http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/meetings-get-togethers/95116-oktoberfest-east-texas.html

Thanks,
Eddie