10 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

It is almost one continuous school from one side to the other. Makes me wonder how we ever catch Bass with that constant, easy to catch, food supply.

 

I also had no idea too, Bob, and I'm with you too on not knowing why they eat our lures with so much real food in front of their faces.

Probably the same reason we eat McDonalds...they put them right in our path of travel 😅

16 minutes ago, Functional said:

Probably the same reason we eat McDonalds...they put them right in our path of travel 😅

 

If you're right, then where we cast is so important because X cast might not put our lures in front of a bass, but Y cast will.

16 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

If you're right, then where we cast is so important because X cast might not put our lures in front of a bass, but Y cast will.

This has been my experience on some days. Sometimes a few feet in either direction or depth was all it took. Coincidence? Did the first cast get the fish on alert for the 2nd to be eaten? Are they just that lazy? I guess with FFS you could figure it out but a fish is going to do what a fish wants to do and when it wants to do it. 

     Huge mystery.  Went to Nickajack Sunday. Only fished a couple hours because floating eel grass covered the surface. Lost a really good one but that was my only bite. Found a baitball and tossed the cast net. I carry two 55 gallon plastic barrels with me most days. I fill them two thirds full of lake water with a bilge pump in my livewell, and also run an air bubble pump from a battery. Only took two perfect tosses and I had at least a couple hundred threadfins to bring back to the pond. Here is where the frustrating mystery begins. Began moving nets full of shad to the pond expecting the usual reaction but nothing.....I mean nothing. I could not even spot a bass. Got to wondering if the otters ate them all until finally a few started to show. The pond was crawling with shad but the bass showed no interest. How could this be? Weak shad were swimming right by the bass with no reactions. Air temp was 50 with sunny skies.

     The pond had just recovered from a freeze a few days before so the pond water was very cold, but that had never stopped feeding before. Stumped in Tennessee.

A. I love pond updates.

 

B. I don't have a clue, Bob. Maybe Alex/@AlabamaSpothunter does or Tom/@WRB.

I don't think I would read too much into it until it happens another time or two.

 

The big freeze would be my pick for the culprit.    It's a real possibility that you had an existing population of Shad still in there, and when the temps crashed those Threadfins began to die and get stunned.....then for the last couple of days the Bass were at an all you can buffet.   They might just not be hungry. 

 

Fingers crossed it wasn't those dang Otters.   

Speaking of otters, do you have a Bazookas R Us store in your area, Bob?

11 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Speaking of otters, do you have a Bazookas R Us store in your area, Bob?

I mean he lives in TN....

9 minutes ago, Functional said:

I mean he lives in TN....

 

Oh, yeah. Dumb of me. I've heard they're on every street corner there. I have to drive to Portland for Maine's only Bazookas R Us outlet. Dang inconvenient! 

I know of some tater launchers that can be had for free 😂 

38 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I don't think I would read too much into it until it happens another time or two.

 

The big freeze would be my pick for the culprit.    It's a real possibility that you had an existing population of Shad still in there, and when the temps crashed those Threadfins began to die and get stunned.....then for the last couple of days the Bass were at an all you can buffet.   They might just not be hungry. 

 

Fingers crossed it wasn't those dang Otters.   

The pond has proven that it isn't large enough to sustain a Shad population. They are always gone in a day or two. This time was so different. None of the Bass showed any interest. Maybe with todays warmup they will. I'll know when I get home this afternoon. We should have temps in the high 50's!!!

 

Otter update. I surprised one of the varmits Friday and got off four shots. Two landed very close and that rascal hit the creek bank running wide open. He swan under the culverts, headed for Arkansas. Hopefully I scared the life out of him and he won't return. 

29 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Speaking of otters, do you have a Bazookas R Us store in your area, Bob?

No but four quick rounds from a Remington straddled the rascal Friday and sent him flying. Fingers crossed. 

19 minutes ago, Functional said:

I mean he lives in TN....

NC ain't that different from Tennessee friend!   🙂  Ya'll just as packed as we are!

4 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Remington

Now you’re cooking with gas!!! 

     This info is not in the chronological order that I have been using to relay pond observations, but its interesting to me just the same.

     My immediate neighbor, to the east, has a small pond that dries up every summer. The pond fills during the rainy season via a ditch that extends a few thousand yards across a hay field to a copse of trees that hide a very tiny, marshy, pondlet. In the summer, the pondlet has maybe a couple inches of water. Nevertheless, the neighbors pond quickly becomes saturated with zooplankton when the water warms in the spring. I harvest the zooplankton with a fine mesh net with a collection bottle at the end. I transfer the thick, soupy, zooplankton solution to my pond just for the fun of it. I also bring a tiny amount into the house to observe in mason jars just to observe and learn. There are always a myriad of swimming creatures of different sorts. The beginnings of the food chain are fascinating to me.

     The question it poses is how do the zooplankton get there? Or perhaps, what are the vehicles that introduce the zooplankton. Obviously, the first is transfer by field overflow from the pondlet. Second, is the question.....do the zooplankton have a mechanism to survive drought in the pond bottom soil?  I am not talking a few here and there, I am describing zooplankton so thick, you can see with unaided eye from the pond bank. We know that mosquito eggs can stay viable for long stretches of time in dry soil, only to be activated by moisture. Do various species of zooplankton have the same survivability, or do they just have the ability to reproduce at an amazing rate?

     I have solar powered dock lights on my floating dock that shine green lights into the pond water from a few inches above water line. During warm water seasons, the zooplankton become visible soon after dark. Tiny BG will soon appear below the lights and feed on the ZP. If I move the lights, the ZP will follow. If I use a bright white light, the ZP will follow, but the BG will scatter. Just something to ponder while I avoid work.

We have a parking garage with drains that are always clogging up at work. I’ve seen plankton swimming around in the resulting puddles, nothing but rain and concrete 

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

We have a parking garage with drains that are always clogging up at work. I’ve seen plankton swimming around in the resulting puddles, nothing but rain and concrete 

 

So cool.

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

nothing but rain and concrete 

Amazing!

     Just a small update concerning the lack of appetite the last shad release........went by Stones river yesterday and caught a couple dozen. Wind was terrible and there was little boat control so I didn't catch gobs of them. Pulled up to the pond and as soon as the net was emptied, the LM moved in to attack. What a difference three days make. Sunday they wouldn't sniff a Shad, and yesterday, the Shad stood no chance. Why? Why is this possible? This forum contains anglers that enjoy catching Bass, enjoy learning about Bass, and enjoy understanding the different moods, reactions, and complexities of Bass. Will we ever understand them to the point where we can predict ahead of time? For me, not likely, but for others on this forum.....I think you are already there. Nevertheless, the constant hunger for behavioral education drives the bulk of us. Hope some of these observations help you as much as it helps me.

     This is where we are at the pond, last week of February in middle Tennessee. Smaller Bass and BG schooling together in north coves. South coves and banks fishless. The Bass and BG are at the top of water column and scatter when I move. The larger Bass in my pond, (up to 3lb.) do not school with the smaller bass, but school together offshore in deeper water. They certainly make their presence know when Shad are released, but do not normally come close to the bank. Air temps were in the low 70's yesterday and falling but water temps rising. More later.

     Couple interesting observations yesterday. Water temp reached 68 deg. and I saw the first swarm of Bass fry. A plucky little guy, no more than a pound was herding his brood and chasing away threats. Wind was blowing the water so no good pictures were taken. They were grouped around a big barrel, water lily pot with lots of vegetation. 4-13-2025 so the spawn should be reaching into the midwest now. Hang on a little longer my northern friends!

 

     Second is the mortality rate between Gizzard vs. Threadfin.

I often try to net some shad when I am leaving my fishing spots and depending on the drive, there are varying mortality losses. Threadfin loss from 1 hr-15Min Nickajack can reach over 70%, more so when crowded. I, therefore just try to net Threadfin from lakes much closer. However, yesterday, below Nickajack Dam, clouds of baitfish showed on sonar and a couple of tosses brought pounds of Gizzard Shad to the boat. My half full 55 gallon barrel was seriously overcrowded, and I worried about a terrible mortality % as I sped home. Much to my surprise, the Shad were still alive and well, with less than 10% mortality when I pulled up to the pond. I must have released 10 lbs. or better and the survivors began schooling right away. Best shad release ever. Also, the Gizzards were much larger than the Threadfins and that might play a part. The LM noticed the Shad release as well.

Bob, I find the tales of your shad to be as interesting and exciting as tales of your bass. 

I always though the threadfin looked more dainty than the gizzard in our lakes here. Kind of a Filet Mignon vs Sirloin. 

Threadfin will start dying off in water temps in the low to mid 40s, not the case with Gizzards.   I would agree fully with your observation Bob, Gizzards seem much hardier. 

It's interesting that they can survive in a smaller pond, good thing is that they likely won't ever reach full adult size which is the only drawback to stocking them in lakes.  I found a 12-14" monster one dead yesterday, ain't nobody eating that sucker 😁

Regardless of water temp (40 degrees, 80 degrees, anywhere inbetween), threadfin will always die quicker than gizzards in my buckets or livewell 

4-23-25 Water temp. 74 deg.

 

     It's been a couple of weeks since I was able to confirm LM fry free swimming in the pond. The past few days I have observed this guy watching over his scrapped place along the bank. Yesterday he had a visitor but by the time I got my camera, she had moved on. They were gently swimming side by side in circles around his bed boundary. What this shows me is the staggered spawning season that we have read about in regards to Largemouth. I have not observed eggs on this bed but I will get closer in the next day or two to confirm yea or nay. I also, don't want to discourage this process so not sure how I will accomplish this. Algae is beginning to become a very serious problem as the Chara is covering the bottom and reaching the surface even in the deepest, 8' part of the pond, and filamentous algae is all over the place. This is by far my biggest disappointment. It's either use copper based chemicals to control (which kill invertebrates), or live with it. I'm living with it. You can see the Chara in the background past where the bass has cleared his place.

Great photos Bob. If you could see bass eggs in there, you’ve got better eyes than me. They lay tiny eggs, way smaller than the salmon ones you put on a hook. I think a bass lays like 30,000-40,000 of them