MS coppernose

Comment

Comment by Walt Foreman on February 16, 2012 at 8:54am

For the most part, it has not been a problem.  So far I've stocked coppernose in nine ponds that I manage; five of them were just stocked last spring, so the jury is still out on those.  Out of the other four, I haven't observed any die-off in three; the fourth pond is shallow and was stocked initially with coppernose in October of 2010, and I wasn't seeing many of them last spring, but I subsequently discovered there were dozens of snapping turtles in that pond, and I did see a couple of the coppernose from that 2010 stocking this year (they were growing rapidly, already 7" or better though they were 3-4" when stocked), so I can't say yet about that pond, which was stocked with several hundred fingerlings this past March (some of which were already 6" or better by November).  One of the ponds is a half-acre pond that is maybe 10' at its deepest point; it was stocked in June 2010 with fingerling coppernose, and by last March some of them were already 8" or better.  I also know of a 20-acre lake about fifty miles northwest of my hometown that has had coppernose for several years now, and they're doing wonderfully in that pond as many over a pound have been caught; there's also a ten-acre lake that I'll just be beginning to manage in a couple weeks but which has had coppernose for several years now, and according to the owner they're doing very well in that lake. 

 

There's a hatchery that has posted once or twice on this site, and is located in Maryland, and they raise coppernose.  Some of the Southern hatcheries that raise them say they've had customers successfully raise them as far north as Michigan.  While I doubt they would do well that far north, and am certain winter-kill would be a major issue at that latitude, it's my personal opinion that the range of coppernose has been mis-reported at times. 

 

I will say that the two larger lakes I mention above, neither of which was stocked with me, probably have fish that are not pure-strain coppernose; I have fished the twenty-acre lake, and there's little doubt in my mind those are not pure-strain; I haven't yet fished the ten-acre lake (will be doing so in a couple weeks, as soon as it warms up), but strongly suspect the coppernose there are also not pure-strain.  But every pond I have stocked has received pure-strain, so it will be interesting to see how they do.  I do know they grow pretty dang rapidly - the half-acre pond I mentioned was not even fed that first year.  It was fertilized a couple times, but the fish achieved that growth without supplemental feeding. 

 

There's one pond in particular I'm excited to fish in a couple weeks.  It was devoid of fish, thanks to years of watermeal infestation, up until last March, when it received 250 3-6" , and 50 6"+, pure-strain coppernose that came all the way from Overton's in Texas (I met Todd Overton in Arkansas to get them); then in May it received several hundred fingerling coppernose from American Sportfish out of Alabama (also pure-strain).  The pond has a Sweeney feeder on it, and is also aerated with three diffusers (one-acre pond).  It should be very interesting what comes out of that pond in a couple or three weeks when I fish it for the first time. 

Comment by Tony Livingston on February 16, 2012 at 8:14am

Walt, you must be close to the coppernose's northernmost range, have you experienced any issues with winterkill?

Comment by Walt Foreman on February 16, 2012 at 7:48am

The pond this fish came from is not managed for bluegill - just has some nice ones due to fertilization and not being fished much.  I should have some flying saucers showing up this year in some of the ponds I manage.

Comment by Leo Nguyen on February 15, 2012 at 7:45pm

Oh! there is the flying saucer!  It needs a bit of Condello's love to make it into the fly saucer flagship. Very beautiful color scheme.

Comment by Walt Foreman on February 15, 2012 at 7:05pm

This one was caught from a Mississippi pond.  I should have some significantly bigger than this coming out of ponds I manage in a month or two...Stay tuned...

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on February 15, 2012 at 6:09pm

LOOK IT'S A FLYING SAUCER!!!!!!!!!!! NICE ONE WALT!

 TOOTY

Comment by Patrick "Bullworm" Olson on June 20, 2011 at 5:36am

Great fish! I wish we had those copper nose up this way!

 

Comment by C Barb on June 20, 2011 at 4:37am

Nice fish!