Turtles in my pond

[eric sammons]

 Hi Fellow Fishers,

I have a new pond, about 1 acre, stocked with cc and hbg. We had some flooding here, after things settled I found I have acquired 3 turtles, not the loggerheads I normally see in farm ponds here, but 8" snappers anyhow. So the Question is, do I eradicate them, or, tolerate them?

 My pond outflow is 40 yards from a creek and 5' in elevation above standard level of the creek. The creek rose to within a foot of the outflow elevation, while I was dumping water at a tremendous rate, filling a 15" culvert. After the water dropped I was checking to see how many fish I lost, not too many it doesn't appear, but I found I had gained 2 @9"  Lmb.  i suppose they entered the outflow during high water?

Thanks for your input, Tight lines all!

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Enjoy them.  They are no harm to your fishery.

[Zach Pierce]

Only time will tell what all you now have in your pond.  I hope you did not too much of anything you did not want or can be taken care of. 

 

May be an interesting time to find out.  So keep us posted.

[C Barb]

They will be fine. I have turtles come and go from my pond on a regular basis. And even ifthey decided to stay long term, the fact that its a cc and hbg pond I really wouldn't worry about it. The issues that turtle cause are eating the small fish and eating the eggs. You cc probably wont reproduce in your pond at all and the hbg wont reproduce much and will need to be restocked anyway. So for the most part there wont be alot of fish to loose the the turtles because of their size and limited reproduction

[eric sammons]

Thanks guys, I think they are to stay awhile. I enjoy watching them just didn't want to lose many fish.