Beavers and Muskrats OOH MY.
Occasionally I hear from people about beavers and muskrats in their ponds and lakes and what to do with them. WEEEEEEELLLLLLLL the beaver is classified as a nuisance specie and a muskrat is classified as a fur bearer. The muskrat harvest requires a trappers license and the beaver can have that "Remington" feeling any time.
Some times the beaver can enter a pond and not really cause a problem and some times the banks may look like an artillery barrage bracketed the pond. I have personally experienced both. Luckily before the artillery became too bad the boogers moved on and left me alone. Now I have at least 1 beaver on the Deep Fork River in OKC that does not give me problems so he wont have the "Bushmaster Burp" to contend with.
The muskrat is a different critter. He is a rodent, a water rat. He burrows into your dam whereas a beaver may not. He may cause leaks in your dam if you are not carefull. He will chew on ropes and generally cause havoc if given the opportunity to reproduce.
Neither are nice to have as neighbors. Let your conscious be your guide in this matter.
Hinton Lake Project Update
The owner and myself went to his 10 acre lake to continue trapping coppernose bluegills and thinning the bass population. We trapped 340 coppernose today and landed 23 12" - 13" LM bass. Since last year the bass have grown about 1" to 1 1/2". Those bass clobbbered a 7 1/2" purple worm with a white tail. This is my #1 color that I fish for bass with. The temp was 104 degs with little breeze and fishing was tough to endure. We each drank 1 gallon of fortified liquid.
An interesting thing happened to us as we were getting ready to leave. The owner had seen a LM bass last week that was approx 7-8 lbs cruising around his dock. The fish paid no attention to anyone on the dock even the people that were dangling their feet in the water. It kept cruising back and forth. They tried to catch it but it showed no interest. Tonight was different. The fish kept cruising up to our 2 stringers of 12 - 13" bass. The fish got within 2' of the stringered fish. The owner would walk away from the dock and come to the truck to load tackle and every time he returned that big fish was hovering over the stringered fish. This happened 3 or 4 times. We threw 2" - 3" lively coppernose at it and the fish ignored them. We released a 5" leopard frog near it and it showed mild interest. Finally the owner started throwing bass carcasses in the water for the turtles. The fish swam up and ate a carcass of a 12" bass. You read that right a 12" bass carcass. It disappeared after it got what it was after. This is an old female that has a territory and she was on patrol looking for a stressed bass. She is just a big old predator that is feeding on 10 -12" bass. She looks to be around 22" to 24" long. To catch that fish will probably take a 10" to 12" bass hooked behind the dorsal and fished under a bobber or freelined but worn down from continually fighting him so he becomes an easy meal for her. SHe is a real trophy fish in many peoples eyes. Since she appears to be continually by the dock we may start feeding her carcasses and observe her. That sure made my day seeing her. We do not plan on trying to harvest her. Remember she is a predator on these stunted LM so she is helping reduce the bass population which is our goal anyway. I am sure many people will think I am nuts for not trying to catch and have her mounted but I have no interest in doing that.
We do not have to kill or harvest everything we see in the wild to prove ourselves as humans.
A side note: I have been watching a pair of bobcats along the Deep Fork River in downtown OKC for a while now and it is interesting to see that they do not perceive me as an enemy. They pretty much ignore me and go about my business. Several people have suggested to me to shoot them. I have asked why? They are not bothering me they are just trying to make a living. The fur season is not until winter so shooting them would be out of season and the pelt would be thin.
That's all for now.
The cost to raise a 1 pound bass
Has anyone ever wondered what it cost to raise a 1 pound bass?:confused::confused: No, it is not very big is it? Who cares.... Let's see Dunn's Fish Farm once indicated that it takes around 9 pounds of minnows to grow a 1 pound LM bass. Rosy Red minnows cost around $65.00 for 8 pounds so 9 pounds of minnows should cost a little over $73.00. The next time you are fishing a lake or pond and catch a 14" LMB and think nothing of throwing it back because it is too small remember what it cost.
Now think of what it costs to catch and stock 10 mature pairs of bluegill in YOUR pond that you caught in a buddies pond. Insignificant isn't it. I bet you could do that in an afternoon with the kids and grandkids.
Last year I stocked 6 pairs of coppernose bluegill in a 1 1/4 acre pond that had gone dry 2 years before. This pond is located on the Hinton 10 acre lake project. There are no predators (bass, catfish, crappie etc.) in the pond. 14 months later I and a 30 yr fisheries dept veteran estimate there are between 1.5 and 2 million offspring in this brood pond. HHMMMMM now what was the cost comparison again????
Makes you think doesn't it?:eek::eek::D
The bluegill are still spawning on the full and dark moon phases right now.
Might be sumpin to do this 4th of July weekend. Help the kids enjoy some quality time with Mom and Dad and help your pond or Granpa's.;);)
Just plantin a seed.
Walleye, Hybrid Stripers, or Saugeye in my pond??????
The normal pond stockings are LM bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. Has anyone ever wondered why other fish are not stocked in ponds? Remember the cost to produce a 1 pound LM bass was 8 to 9 pounds of minnows. Well an impoundment needs to be able to produce in excess of 14 pounds of forage to produce a 1 pound striper, hybrid striper etc. Plus the environmental conditions are not right for their reproduction. This is why these fish are only stocked in large impoundments that can produce a larger amount of forage.
Does anyone have any questions that they may want answered?
OH Gosh -My bottom is leaking
Yesterday I returned a call from a gentleman that was concerned that his pond bottom had not sealed. The man indicated that he had just built a new 1/4 acre pond to water his cattle. He had dug too deep and had hit a shale vein in the bottom of a ravine that he had dammed and the pond would not hold water. NOW WHAT. He had added 3,500 pounds of bentonite clay and that did not work. He checked on a pond liner but that cost thousands of dollars. HELP! Luckily he stumbled on an advertisement of mine in the Oklahoma Living Magazine, a magazine published by the Oklahoma Rural Electric Coop, and called.
We had a brief chat and I suggested 3 options: 1) bring the dozer back in and push a bunch of clay in that was on the sides of the pond and pack it effectively sealing the vein of shale. 2) feed his cattle in the bottom and let them poop and stomp the bottom which is effective in packing the bottom. 3) drain and dry the bottom then spread more bentonite clay, till or lightly disc, pack it with a roller while you wet the clay. The third option will incorporate the clay into the shale, the packing seals the bottom and the water allows the clay to swell effectively sealing the deal. I expect he will use a combination of 1 and 3. He thanked me and hung up a happy man.
Gosh, I guess I should have asked him if I could trap his new pond for crawdads in about a year since he was not going to stock it with fish.
