Fish colonization

[fuillihc]

I have a man made land locked pond on my property. I stocked it with minnows and largemouth bass. This summer I have been catching baby sunfish and baby bowfin in my minnow traps. My questions are how did they get into a land locked pond that is fenced in and only used by me. Can birds such as cranes bring them in?

[ron4blues]

Can birds such as cranes bring them in?

Yes. And don't be surprised to find other species like carp and pickerel there eventually.

[riverfisher22]

where is thsi pond located? i can check it out for you and see whats happening

[Guest JPCT]

My bathtub grew a musky last year.

[Dan Andrews]

Where'd did you catch the minnows?

[The Ketchican Kid]

I have a man made land locked pond on my property. I stocked it with minnows and largemouth bass. This summer I have been catching baby sunfish and baby bowfin in my minnow traps. My questions are how did they get into a land locked pond that is fenced in and only used by me. Can birds such as cranes bring them in?

Thats pretty cool! Maybe you didn't realize they were in there to begin with.

[lara4228]

My bathtub grew a musky last year.

you wish!

[lara4228]

Where'd did you catch the minnows?

that is a very good thought.

[fuillihc]

that is a very good thought.

Minnows are from the local bait shop. When the pond was first dug out I would throw any leftover minnows from fishing in there. After a few months I no longer needed to buy bait as the little buggers reproduce like crazy. I talked with a neighbour and he says that the sunfish and bowfin eggs stick to the legs of birds and few might even make their way through the birds digestive system unharmed. If this is true, I am amazed that the little eggs are this tough.

[fuillihc]

My bathtub grew a musky last year.

Impressive. You should try salmon this year. Bathtub raised salmon is a delicacy in many restaurants.

[ron4blues]

If nothing else, it seems you've created a little fishing haven for yourself. Try tangling with one of those bowfin when it grows up.

[Guest LockedInTheTrunkOfACar]

Minnows are from the local bait shop. When the pond was first dug out I would throw any leftover minnows from fishing in there. After a few months I no longer needed to buy bait as the little buggers reproduce like crazy. I talked with a neighbour and he says that the sunfish and bowfin eggs stick to the legs of birds and few might even make their way through the birds digestive system unharmed. If this is true, I am amazed that the little eggs are this tough.

In due time any pond will develop fish assuming it is deep enough and meets many of the requirements (oxygen levels, some greenery, depths, shade, etc). If the pond is of a decent size that will attract birds such as ducks, the eggs are known to get caught up in the birds when they are in the water and can be transferred that way. The perfect example of this is almost any quarry or pond on a golf course ... it seems every quarry has bass in it ... I was actually golfing last night and put a rod into the golf bag just for that purpose ... I have never seen any fish in the one pond, but we had a few minutes to wait ... so I took a cast and before I could switch the hand the rod was in a fish hit the bait ... two casts ... two bass ... then it was time to tee off again.

If you have put any plants into the pond or around it there is always the chance they had some eggs in them ... I used to buy "water lettuce" for my pond and one of the places I would buy it from ... we got a few free gold fish as you could see the eggs attached to the roots of this floating plant.

I have tried to dig up some plants from a pond in the area for my pond ... along came a few snails with the plants. I have scooped duckweed out of martindale and found really small sunfish in batches of it (hiding right below the surface under the duckweek) ...

[Guest LockedInTheTrunkOfACar]

Impressive. You should try salmon this year. Bathtub raised salmon is a delicacy in many restaurants.

Im rather fond of 'tub sturgeon ... the caviar is even tastier

[Court Rose]

At my cottage in the Haliburton Highlands the lake only has Rainbow trout, smallmouth bass and some shiner's, been fishing it for over 15 years..no sunfish, rock bass, perch etc.