Catch(es) of the Day

[Lively]

Thought you guys would get a kick out of these pics.

First, seems our pond is stocked with lots of little fish! Hubby and oldest daughter did some fishing yesterday, if you can call what they did fishing. You can literally catch these guys skimming the hook over the surface, they are biting at everything! Might have something to do with the massive cricket/grasshopper population we have and the fact the stupid insects just jump in the water to commit suicide. The bigger fish (I know we have them, I've seen them) seem to be a bit smarter.

Pond fish in a goldfish bowl

Anya with the "Catch of the Day"

Now, I know that DQ's snapper was bigger and most definately impressive... this little guy was hungry! He chased after the grasshopper lure - determined to have a snack. Hubby lured it to the bank, making sure it didn't grab the hook and I scooped it out of the water. I took a few pics of him and then let him loose in the pond - where he headed straight for the muck on the bottom.

Lovely markings, don't you agree? I can't figure out wht he is - the red markings on the lower area of the shell are throwing me - maybe a yellow bellied something or another?

 

[jonclark96]

I think it may be a painted turtle. Didn't have much time to read this, but maybe has good info.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/turtles/WesternPaintedTurtle.php

 

[Lively]

Yup! I think you're right - it is an Eastern Painted Turtle. How lucky are we that we have what is considered to be one of the prettiest turtle in the world living in our front yard!

Thanks, Jon!

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

thats so cool lively! we used to catch those little guys and boxed ones too. i know your kids are loving it! tell them congrats on the fishing expedition too. looks like they had fun.

 

[F8LBITE]

great looking fish. What are they?

 

[Lively]

Sunfish, I think. They have yellow bellies and some nice blue spangles on the gills - I think they are called bluegills as well as sunfish. They are really easy to catch near the bank - of course those are the small ones. The bigger ones are more wiley... lol I think the biggest so far was about 6"

Sad thing is, we don't remember what we bought to stock the pond with! LOL

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

alot of times bluegills/sunfish with overpopulate and stunt themselves with mass numbers and not enough food. resulting in more and smaller fish. Awesome catches though, that turtle is gorgeous.

 

[Lively]

That's interesting to know - we wondered why we weren't catching larger fish. We do seem to have lots of little fish, so that is probably the case in our pond. Maybe we'll get some bigger ones in a few years...

 

[Sonny Disposition]

HiYa Stacy. Bluegills are a species of sunfish, Lepomis machrochirus. It's tough to I.D. your fish from the photos, but if I had to guess, I'd say they were either green sunfish, (Lepomis cyanellus) or a hybrid between the two. BluegillXGreen is a common hybrid marketed for sport fishing.

Both are nice fish which can get big, but which breed like cochroaches and can overpopulate a pond if there isn't something bigger to eat them.

The best place to i.d. what you have is over at The Virtual Aquarium at Virginia Tech, http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/centrarchidae.html

(They don't call me "Sonny" for nothing.)

Sunfish, I think. They have yellow bellies and some nice blue spangles on the gills - I think they are called bluegills as well as sunfish. They are really easy to catch near the bank - of course those are the small ones. The bigger ones are more wiley... lol I think the biggest so far was about 6"

Sad thing is, we don't remember what we bought to stock the pond with! LOL

 

[Lively]

Based on the pics in that link, I'd say we have the green sunfish. Same shape and the blue line gill pattern is on the nose. They don't look anything like the bluegill on the page. We did put large mouth bass and catfish in the pond at the same time - my guess is there wasn't enough for the bass to eat and they didn't make it. I imagine if we put some bass in there next spring that'll take care of the overcrowding problem we have...

I guess I should start learning about good pond husbandry... we've already started a new catch and release into the creek policy (they are there anyway)... I know it won't make a huge dent in the population, but hubby and I got about a dozen out this evening. The girls are having a turn at it now

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

go catch yourself some nice big bass and couple big cats and your pond will be in good shape.

 

[Lively]

Ahh, the only fishing I do is in our pond! I have found out that I enjoy it as much as an adult as I did a kid - when my 2 year old gets older, we'll probably do some fishing trips, but for now the pond is as good as it gets - could be worse - no pond at all to fish in! lol

We could probably hit up Zetts in WV for a couple of big bass and cats. They have some pretty cool critters for ponds - luckily we already have all the other animals since the pond is creek fed. They actually have trout they's acclimated to pond life - but I don't think we have enough flow or are deep enough for them - but I think I might ask what thier requirements are. That would be a fish I wouldn't mind having in there!