My first attempt at migrating my Gar and Bowfin to my farm pond has ended in as best I can tell 100% disaster!
I placed two male Bowfin both 18"+, one LNG 22"+ and around 14 Florida gar (smallest still > 12") into the farm pond last spring. None of the fish were YOY. Depression is starting to set in, as I have only seen one of the fish (the LNG) dead by the bank with no clear physical damage and extremely little decay. This leads me to believe that the LNG froze!
I have not spotted a single Florida gar and without ever hitting the surface for air, they must all be gone!.
The Bowfins I have not spotted this year either?
All species I saw the entire spring, summer and fall. There are two 18"+ large mouth Bass, an albino channel catfish, a blue channel catfish, two brown bullhead catfish, masses of golden shiner minnows, a dozen small feeder goldfish survivors that are all 14"+ and green sunfish so grossly over-populated that they are now maxing out around 5" in the farm pond.
I was hoping for the "rough fish" to help control the green meanies!
I witnessed all species face to face with the bass throughout the year and saw zero aggression of the bass toward any of the gar or bowfin. The resident snapping turtles had already left the pond for the season last fall when I was still seeing gar and bowfin, so they can be ruled out!
Depression is setting in from a horrific hunch that I have. I am plagued with a mated pair of Blue Heron that have taken up residence in the woods around the pond. They do take a couple of the huge goldfish leaving the giant heads by the ponds edge. I have tried the fishing line perimeter, a fake Heron, and a woof hound none of which bother these monster birds. ($10,000 fine for shooting PER heron in Maryland has removed that option from the table.
Well, it is back to the drawing board. All of my indoor Gars and Bowfins are now moved to larger grow-out tanks. I guess I will shoot for the 24" mark for future additions!
I placed two male Bowfin both 18"+, one LNG 22"+ and around 14 Florida gar (smallest still > 12") into the farm pond last spring. None of the fish were YOY. Depression is starting to set in, as I have only seen one of the fish (the LNG) dead by the bank with no clear physical damage and extremely little decay. This leads me to believe that the LNG froze!
I have not spotted a single Florida gar and without ever hitting the surface for air, they must all be gone!.
The Bowfins I have not spotted this year either?
All species I saw the entire spring, summer and fall. There are two 18"+ large mouth Bass, an albino channel catfish, a blue channel catfish, two brown bullhead catfish, masses of golden shiner minnows, a dozen small feeder goldfish survivors that are all 14"+ and green sunfish so grossly over-populated that they are now maxing out around 5" in the farm pond.
I was hoping for the "rough fish" to help control the green meanies!
I witnessed all species face to face with the bass throughout the year and saw zero aggression of the bass toward any of the gar or bowfin. The resident snapping turtles had already left the pond for the season last fall when I was still seeing gar and bowfin, so they can be ruled out!
Depression is setting in from a horrific hunch that I have. I am plagued with a mated pair of Blue Heron that have taken up residence in the woods around the pond. They do take a couple of the huge goldfish leaving the giant heads by the ponds edge. I have tried the fishing line perimeter, a fake Heron, and a woof hound none of which bother these monster birds. ($10,000 fine for shooting PER heron in Maryland has removed that option from the table.
Well, it is back to the drawing board. All of my indoor Gars and Bowfins are now moved to larger grow-out tanks. I guess I will shoot for the 24" mark for future additions!