CntryBoy777 - The Lazy A** Acres Adventures

[CntryBoy777]

I have always wanted a grill made from a drum, but they became harder to find and most welding shops seem to be prouder of them, than I wish to pay....I never have been around any metal working or learned to weld myself, so was unable to make my own. This comes really close. That one ya use sounds great to me @greybeard , if I had something like that I wouldn't have spent to get this one either. I actually prefer my ribs, but all are requesting for me to do wings. I plan on doing both, I just hope I can get a 30lb box at the meat place in Hernando of bulk wings. That's the place I'm getting a whole sirloin butt cut for the teriyaki steak. If nothing else, they will be full by the time they leave. The grandkids want a fish fry, too...so, I gotta make time to vet some fishing done before they get here to have enough on hand for them....

 

[Latestarter]

Oh no! Let THEM do the fishing when they get there! So much better and I'm sure the grands will love it. Of course if you have a few already caught and set aside it will be better should they lose interest or not be successful fishing.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Yeh, we'll go fishing but that is for Fun....I like to make sure that PawPaw keeps his promise for a fish fry. I can get rather serious in the boat fishing....I've been in a boat from sun-up to sun-down just fishing. I love it, but I can't fish seriously with them around....cause they bump, kick, or are always moving and in an aluminum boat the sound waves travel Fast and far. So, with them it is about them catching fish and when they lose interest we will fish and get one on the hook for them to reel in. The oldest boy wants me to teach him how to filet the fish. He wants to catch it, filet it, and fry it. I'm also going to do some whole fish to show them how to remove the bones from the meat. I never had a son to pass anything down to, so making up for it with the grandkids. If they have an interest, then I will teach....but, unless ya have a child's attention ya can't teach them anything. I started fishing farm ponds from the bank when I was in 3rd grade, so I know what works for me....and the fish around here...

 

[greybeard]

Oh no! Let THEM do the fishing when they get there! So much better and I'm sure the grands will love it. Of course if you have a few already caught and set aside it will be better should they lose interest or not be successful fishing.

1st time I had 4H & Boy Scouts here together, I had to put an early stop to the fishing. They were cleaning me out and I have a LOT of pond. Restocking channel cats aren't cheap here.
Next time, it was C&R rules on everything but black bass.
I need to get some hybrid blue cat to eat some of those bass out.

 

[Latestarter]

How long does it take for the channel cats to re-build their numbers naturally? I would think a year or so. Maybe not to big enough size to keep/eat...I need a fishing pond here

 

[greybeard]

Takes a couple of years before they can reproduce from 4"-6" fingerlings, and that's if you feed them regularly.
I don't know how long from birth, probably 3 years. At 12-13 inches long they should be sexually mature.

I always had some in the ponds, but stocked it in '09. Don't remember how many but I started let people fish it heavy in 2012. Restocked it with 300 fingerlings again in early 2014. Had lots in there last year early when I would feed but lost most of them when the river got up and into the pond in late May 2016.
I have good grass bottoms with lots of cover including water lily so the bream and bass population is overwhelming, but that gives the cats plenty to eat too. Got way too many bass--they have big heads and not so big bodies.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Dad had the pond built back in '94, it is stocked with bream, bass, and catfish with 5 Israeli grass carp. We let it sit for a yr and then I started to fish it. It gets no fishing pressure, so eveything ya catch is kept, if it is too small it is either thrown in the woods or buried in the garden. The bream run up to a pound- pound and a quarter, the bass are up to the 8-12 lb range and the cats are 15-20lbs. I will put some of the bigger ones back to keep the larger end predators in there.

 

[greybeard]

my bream never make it to pan size, but I can catch a boatload of trotline bait size with a fish trap..sometimes with a cast net.

I don't want any carp or tilapia either in my pond.
Can't anyway, with the river this close.

 

[CntryBoy777]

These are hybrids and don't reproduce. We were having problems with several invasive plants and with all the leaves falling in it in a yrs time, we needed to fight the silt problem. The pond is only a little over an acre, so not very big overall.

 

[greybeard]

I solved that problem. Got rid of most of the dang trees. All they were doing was obscuring the view, falling on fences, and dropping limbs on fences and roads anyway.