New )V(onster for my pond?

[Oompa Loompa]

Well, both of my big bass are officially dead. I even donned a mask, fins, and cheap LED flashlight and dove around in the pond - there's definitely not another big bass in there (one or two pushing 1/2 a pound though, and a few small turtles). I think an osprey got ahold of my 4 pounder - seen them around a bit lately. The larger 6.5 pounder, I think it may have been parasites - only thing I can think at this point. This really sucks, but the silver lining is I get to find some new fish for the pond.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a free/cheap fish that will get pretty big and fight SUPER hard to live in this pond? Food source is sunfish - lots of them, ranging from 2" to like 10". I can also throw in some more from my other pond. I have thought about a catfish, only problem with that is it might wipe out its food source pretty quickly. I was going to go with a redtail catfish, probably rescue it from somebody (the pond isn't connected to anything so it would be okay, the sunfish were stocked and the pond was dug by somebody - nothing natural). However I think it would clear through those fish too quickly

Perhaps a couple of pacu would work? Or maybe an alligator gar (probably thinking a bit extravagantly there, lol). Do you think a catfish would work OK? I've run out of any other ideas, so does anybody else have some?

Thanks and happy early labor day!

 

[Deadliestviper7]

A couple spotted gar, 1 bowfin, Georgia giant bluegill, weather loach, 1 channel catfish, 1 black bullhead and for the warmer months some tilapia. If u feed a mixed diet of bread and fish pellets u can get some good growth

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Lol one of my dreams is to head to Georgia and get some big bluegill, I think I'm going to go and find some new bass today in a nearby pond I have found. I made a buddy who fishes the ponds I do, he said he went to this pond one day (middle of nowhere in the woods, I have seen it before but not fished it) and he hooked something that was big enough to snap his 50 pound braid - that's going to be the one that goes into my pond, one way or another.

In the pond I caught the 6.5-er in, there are plenty of massive bluegill pushing a pound or more, I will likely grab a few of them as well and get them breeding in the smaller pond. Water level has gone down about a foot for some reason, we had heavy rains all week which is weird

Spotted gar, will they fight too hard? I'm under the impression they won't. Bowfin - great candidate, just have to find one. Weather loach - doesn't look like a species of interest to fishermen. Channel cats/bullhead, I don't think bullheads will fight as hard as I'd like and channel cats will just wipe out their food supply in a matter of a few weeks when they get big. I don't want to destroy the whole pond.

I am probably going to post an ad on Craigslist about rescuing some pacu. If I can get a few decent sized ones, I'll take the big bass out (assuming I get one) and relocate it to the bigger pond with the big bluegills. That way the big pond can be the pacus' territory and the pacu's territory only. The big pond is going to get a grass carp or two or three or more soon as well, there's some major algae growth in there and they fight insanely hard, I hooked one in a friend's farm pond a few years ago and it flipped the canoe I was in (had the drag locked down though). We saw a big carp the next day, thing must've been at least 4-5 feet long and about 18-24" wide, truly massive fish. There's a canal in the shopping center by where I live that used to have a few big guys, absolutely the biggest grass carp I have ever seen. Well over 5 feet long and 18" wide each.

 

[Thekid]

Lol one of my dreams is to head to Georgia and get some big bluegill, I think I'm going to go and find some new bass today in a nearby pond I have found. I made a buddy who fishes the ponds I do, he said he went to this pond one day (middle of nowhere in the woods, I have seen it before but not fished it) and he hooked something that was big enough to snap his 50 pound braid - that's going to be the one that goes into my pond, one way or another.

In the pond I caught the 6.5-er in, there are plenty of massive bluegill pushing a pound or more, I will likely grab a few of them as well and get them breeding in the smaller pond. Water level has gone down about a foot for some reason, we had heavy rains all week which is weird

Spotted gar, will they fight too hard? I'm under the impression they won't. Bowfin - great candidate, just have to find one. Weather loach - doesn't look like a species of interest to fishermen. Channel cats/bullhead, I don't think bullheads will fight as hard as I'd like and channel cats will just wipe out their food supply in a matter of a few weeks when they get big. I don't want to destroy the whole pond.

I am probably going to post an ad on Craigslist about rescuing some pacu. If I can get a few decent sized ones, I'll take the big bass out (assuming I get one) and relocate it to the bigger pond with the big bluegills. That way the big pond can be the pacus' territory and the pacu's territory only. The big pond is going to get a grass carp or two or three or more soon as well, there's some major algae growth in there and they fight insanely hard, I hooked one in a friend's farm pond a few years ago and it flipped the canoe I was in (had the drag locked down though). We saw a big carp the next day, thing must've been at least 4-5 feet long and about 18-24" wide, truly massive fish. There's a canal in the shopping center by where I live that used to have a few big guys, absolutely the biggest grass carp I have ever seen. Well over 5 feet long and 18" wide each.

How big is this pond? It might simply not be able to carry that many big fish without supplementation.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

How big is this pond? It might simply not be able to carry that many big fish without supplementation.

It's a little over 1/2 acre but lots of small, 2-6" bluegill in it - talking thousands of them

If I go with pacu, I will make friends with someone at the grocery store and try to get some fruit/veggie scraps from them to keep them well-fed

 

[Thekid]

It's a little over 1/2 acre but lots of small, 2-6" bluegill in it - talking thousands of them

If I go with pacu, I will make friends with someone at the grocery store and try to get some fruit/veggie scraps from them to keep them well-fed

Having thousands of bluegills only makes the carying capacity lower for other fish. Bluegill are notorious for overpopulating pond like this, hence why you only had one or two over 3lbs. In the south you should be able to get 6-8lbs possibly more with proper management. In our pond we can consistently catch 3-4.5 lbers with a few over that.

It sounds like you want a pond more so to catch than to put-grow-take. Hybrid sunfish don't take over the pond like bluegill and are very similar to their cousins in most other regards.

If I was in your spot I'd take a step back and think about what your long term goals are rather that what seems cool and hip now.

 

[Thekid]

It's a little over 1/2 acre but lots of small, 2-6" bluegill in it - talking thousands of them

If I go with pacu, I will make friends with someone at the grocery store and try to get some fruit/veggie scraps from them to keep them well-fed

How about a picture? What's the depth, bottom substrate, shelves, how many reed/ weed beds, or anything of that nature?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I'd still go with a channel cat to eat some of the smaller bluegill, I would also only do one grass carp as they eat a ton, I would then add a good predator or 3 to eat the smaller bluegills, feeding leftover foods like bread, low fat dog foods,deli chicken, cooked pasta, can help

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Will snap a pic in an hour or so, omw to dinner.

Will give a longer reply too

 

[Deadliestviper7]

It has been well over an hour now, where pics? Don't make us beg