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Comment

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on April 5, 2014 at 9:28am

I have to agree with you on all counts. AND I like learning from your by pushing your buttons.
You know more than I could ever forget.

Pissing In a pond is a form of management, since it will affect water chemistry, at least in micro fashion. The good folks at the "Ranch" are most definitely managing their operation. By definition.
At the same time the degree to which they do so in the lake is minimal, again simply due to the scope of the thing. They have other, smaller ponds that are more closely monitored, shall we say?

I suppose we could drill down, as is our nature ( :-) )and say for the lake, "as natural as you might get with minimal input."

PS I offered my own bit of management yesterday, by adjusting the Ph off the bow of the boat. We'll see what effect that has.

Comment by Tony Livingston on April 5, 2014 at 7:46am

Very true, a pond does not have to be managed to produce trophy fish. But I believe we need a little clarification on the definition of management. I haven't gone back and checked, but I believe that Don mentioned these folks fed a little feed once a day?  You've seen my photos, and you are aware of my ponds....would you consider them to be managed? The reason I ask is because I feed once a day. And there are no mechanical feeders throwing pellets here either. It's done by hand, a little each night. And I don't breed fish either. My hybrids are purchased from hatcheries each year, not produced in our ponds.

Predation by bass, and the holy grail of a "balanced" pond.......I've never seen these ponds, although I would surely enjoy doing so. But, from your description, I think most folks would describe them as being in a natural balance. Big fish, small fish, fish of different varieties, all coexisting together. The ideal scenario?

Let me tell you.....those ponds have been trying to get unbalanced since the day they first filled with water. It's the nature of a pond to do so, and while we may not consider it management, any intervention in the pond's ecosystem by man is a form of management. Picture those ponds unkept, unmowed, uncared for, and open to the public always.....would you still be catching bluegills of the same caliber? I doubt it, at least not in very good numbers. Ponds are always trying to go out of balance....the size helps, as larger lakes tend to resist change for longer periods of time, but it still occurs without intervention.

"Natural" can be misleading at times.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on April 5, 2014 at 7:18am

Ditto.
There is an assumption out there that because one has a pond, it MUST be managed to produce only trophy fish. I've made this assumption, and I know others can be led to it.
But that isn't the case, at all. These ponds have big fish because of three factors that I can see:

1. Predation
Lots of bass roam these BOWS, and they are on the job.
2. Recruitment
Many fish live long, undisturbed lives here. They get to grow....
3. Overall good aquatic health.
Part coincidence, part manipulation

But this pond was very large; it shows on maps as a
lake. I'm sure some runts slip under the radar. You could probably snag a few punks at RM, too, due to the sheer size of the place. In fact, it would be best if we were to remove these little ones when caught.
But I suspect the owners leave it in a more "natural" state on purpose.

Comment by Tony Livingston on April 5, 2014 at 7:02am

I'm not picking on you David.....I'm simply using your excellent photo to illustrate to the membership what an actual, stunted bluegill looks like.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on April 5, 2014 at 6:44am

Like I said the kind I'm used to catching.
From this same pond comes decent bass and huge bluegill.
I'm certain not every critter is accounted, catalogued and groomed - remember this BOW isn't "managed" so each fish will become a trophy. Some small ones are bound to slip through the cracks.

Comment by Tony Livingston on April 5, 2014 at 5:10am

Check out the big eyes, and thin belly......stunted.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on April 4, 2014 at 8:28pm

The sort of gill I'm USED TO CATCHING.

Here I just wanted to show the yellow foam bug that worked so well today.