Blue Raider Bob

The Cicada buffet is waning, much to the disappointment of the pond critters and the owner. To set up this observation, please let me explain. My pond is within six inches of full pool and I am holding back until my aquatic plantings have established. Meanwhile as seen in the photo, I have a line of mature crabapple trees that have branch tips overhanging the water. I have discovered that Cicadas love crabapple trees. While the Hackberries, Elms, Oaks, ect. are nearly bare, the crabapples and willows are loaded. One real good shake of a low limb sends a cloud of them flying. Another thing is Cicadas are not very strong fliers. OF the cloud that takes to the wing after a limb shake, the majority fly out over the pond and circle back to the Crabapples. Most make it back but there are always several splashdowns. This brings me to my observations about fish behavior that I wanted to share. It did not take long for the LM and BG to associate me with mealtime. There is a pack of seven LM about 15" that follow my every move. This group includes several BG and younger bass. If I walk down the bank, the bass follow. If I walk halfway around the pond, the bass follow. If I sit in my pond chair and relax, I have a school of bass and BG staring at me from three feet away. When I toss Cicadas into the pond, the fish react with lightning speed. Two weeks ago only the boldest took a Cicada near my position. Now, I can practically hand feed them, they are so inured to my presence and generosity. How does this help my fellow anglers? I do not know, but it may be of interest to some. Bass are definitely quick learners (and BG), and they stubbornly stick to know food sources. One other observation of interest......LM and other fish use visual, as well as vibrational means to locate food sources. In my observations, the vibrational are not as important as I once thought. This is what I mean by that. If a struggling Cicada is within 5' of a visible LM, the Cicada is doomed. Past the 5' radius, the Cicada stands a good change of surviving the LM. In addition, a Cicada that is dead, or too weak to move, will be passed over by the LM every time. The Cicada MUST show movement before it is consumed. Not so with BG. They will investigate all possibilities and readily consume dead and weak insect. This tells me that even though we use lures with vibrations to target LM, we must get within a closer radius with our offering than I once thought. The visual radius could possibly be even smaller.

Katie, 169 acres is a lake! I've got a "pond". If 169 acres qualifies as a "pond in Maine, then what I have would be considered a pot-hole! Congrats on the heavy lifting and thanks for sharing. I feel like I was there getting rained on with you.

No your not! My job productivity has been in freefall since I joined up! That's OK because my BR friends are worth it!

Murph, your getting into dangerous territory again. Gimruis said he was taking a break from hair enforcement citations, he didn't say he was giving it up! You and Bazoo are poking the bear!

Hats off to Lynn!!! Stay Strong! Enjoy every moment!

This picture is going up on my wall. Too beautiful not to see EVERY day!

You're my hero Murph! Love your attitude and determination!

Dang Dwight!!! What are those fish eating? I've never seen bass so fat. Is it solely the Gobies, or is there another food source that creates those Erie Giants?

What an EPIC Day!!! Congrats and keep it up! You caught more quality fish in one day than I will catch all year.....make that years!

Dang! Zcoker, your fish could eat all my fish and still be hungry!

Thanks....forgot to mention Gigi hatched one chick this year. She sat on eight eggs, but between my daughters puppy harassing her, and my daughters goats trampling her nest, she ended up with only one chick. Yes, the pond is back to physical health, and I am back to mental health.....I think 🙄

That bass is fat! Looks like yours wasn't the first cicada she found. Just got back from visiting the Duck river. Water is still a little high and muddy but a procession of cicadas were moving downstream and nothing was eating them.....NOTHING! Don't understand it.

My plan is to swim out there with a marker buoy. Tie the buoy to the chain, and return with my jon boat. Hook a come-along cable to the counterweight chain and winch up over the transom of the boat, scull over to the dock and hook chain to its mooring. That's the plan! I'm waiting for a warm spell 'cause that water is chilly! 🥶😬 I had to get into the water to position the dock and attach the grounding cables, and that was not a pleasant experience.

BTW, both of these pictures were taken from nearly the same spot. I had to move the dock from its location above the saddle to the right because I needed to inspect and repair the area it used. It is beached in the last photo. After the pond level increased, I was able to tow it back to its permanent location where the water is now 34" deep and will be 43" at full pool. My next adventure will be to locate and move the dock counterweight seen in the last picture, to its place hanging off the left side of the dock in the first picture. The counterweight is a concrete filled white half barrel seen in the middle of the puddle. It weighs 320 lbs. and is under 6' of water. Haven't figured that one out yet!

It's been a while but things are happening at the pond. After the partial draining of the pond to repair the numerous holes located, I have nearly finished the process of re-filling. Thanks to a 7" rain, and daily pumping, I am within a foot of full pool. The dock has been relocated and secured, and I have resumed loafing. Here are the observations I wanted to share. First, I am amazed by the ability of the fish to adjust to their new surroundings. Just a week ago, this was no more than a 2' deep puddle with the fish vying for survival, and elbow room. Now, just one week and 8' later, they have resumed life as before. I am basing this on the cicada emergence. The fish are really enjoying the emergence and especially the ones that attempt to fly over the pond and come up short. There was no lag time between pond filling and normal feeding behavior. When a cicada lands on the water, it does not last. Second, while still on the subject of cicadas, the gentleness in which the LM take the cicadas is completely surprising to me. We have all witnesses the explosions our addictions have displayed for us in the past, but in my pond, on many occasions, the LM rise to the cicada, and gently takes the meal with no fanfare at all. If you are not watching, you will easily miss the event. Unlike the BG's with their small mouths, the LM's do not make a show of it. It may seem morbid in a way, but I have been collecting live cicadas, (they climb my metal fence T-posts), as well as dead ones on my driveway, and toss into the pond from the vantage point in the picture. Same results, only the dead ones take a little longer. Now would be a great time to break out the fly-rod with a black popping bug. I'm actually wishing the emergence would continue. Thanks Bob

It was your choice though wasn't it Murph? Gimruis didn't file a complaint did he?

Right on! I second this. I keep long nose cutters as well and always cut the hook on deeply hooked bass to prevent more damage. I don't mind sacrificing my lures if it saves the fish.

You guys are the greatest! Thanks everyone for the support. I never realized that my BR friends would someday become my family. I am truly blessed in so many ways, not the least of which my BR friends that support, encourage, and motivate me daily!

Thanks for the kind words Eric! With age comes wisdom....right? Well, experience anyway. I've got bigger issues to overcome. My wife has been ill and her peace, health, and comfort are my passions right now. I'll get the pond fixed this spring and post some prettier pictures. If I would have known how much work this would have been, I'd.........well, I'd do it anyway!

Thanks Alex! I'm not really sweating it. Just a stumped toe in the walk of life. I'm grateful for yours and Eric's interest, as well as others. I would like to everything back to normal by late spring so I can plant my water plants and avoid farm work!

Back in my Memphis State days, (showing my age), the Orange pants would have been a violation! I vote for the first manual!

The pond problems continue. For those who have shown an interest, after lowering the pond three feet in my battle with the Muskrats, I once again raised the level to full pool with the late winter rains and my pump. Unfortunately, I noticed the pond level dropping a whopping 1-1/2 each day. I refilled hoping it was a bad dream, but alas, it was not to be so. The pond was dropping daily and there was nothing else to do but to find the leaks. The liner is a 30 mil. product produced to line ponds for livestock production, so It is a very tough liner. With that said, I was facing the daunting task of solving this problem. The pond has a saddle right in the middle with a full pool depth of 42 inches at the saddle. The two left and right sections have a full pool depth of 8' and 5'. I moved the dock to the deepest part and started pumping out the water. This took several days and a couple dozen tank fulls of fuel but the pond is now separated and the saddle is dry. Here is where the devil is plaguing me. Hydraulic pressure from ground water is floating the liner and will not allow me to complete effort. This is not an issue when the pond is full, as the weight of the pond water negates the pressure from below, but with the absence of counterweight, the pond liner just rises to the top of the water column. I will have to wait until the ground water level lowers itself as the drier seasons progress. With all that said, I have begun to solve the issues of leakage. There are a couple dozen holes in the liner and almost all are at seams and folds in the liner that were caused by the uneven pond bottom topography. They are the size of a quarter and I do not have a clue what is causing them. My guess would have to be turtles, but that is a guess. One of the photos will show the hole and my repair which consists of stainless steel staples. Another issue is how to save as many fish as possible as I do this repair. If I drain one side, I can net as many as possible to transfer to the other side and repeat. At least that is the theory. I'll post the progress. On the subject of fish and observations, the LM are clearing off and defending beds albeit in only 12" of water. There are only three or four LM of two pounds that I can see as the otters relieved me of all my prizes, but there are a large number of smaller age classes, same with BG.

Drifting the Tennessee yesterday......well actually I wasn't. Nickajack was not letting any water out so the river was very low and the fish were nowhere near the banks. But, I finally did get on the board with my first two 15" plus fish. Got a Smallie on a swimbait and a Spot on a Ned. Caught a variety of littl'uns on a Tiny Rap including a Crappie to make Team9 jealous......not really! That Crappie proves hunger is a powerful motivator! PS if someone can explain to me how to prevent pictures from loading sideways, I will be grateful.

Way to go DAD!!!! Congratulations!! Bringing along a new BR member in a few years.

Looks like she's ready to drop a whole new generation....class of 24. Maybe you can get permission from the land owner. Hope so! I own land on the Duck River in middle Tennessee and I've yet to be able to say no to someone who asks politely and is respectful of my property.