52 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

If my memory serves, you live on the water. Hiring me to manage your water property would be like hiring The Hamburglar to manage the grill!   I'd be fired before the sun went down!

Got one house near water and one house on it. Both need work 😂 

8 hours ago, greentrout said:

Pray you never encounter CORMORANTS. They are TOTAL bad news. 

Ive had them here as long as I can remember too. I personally can’t tell much difference with them here. We have ospreys too  but they don’t seem to deplete the fish population much either.

Otters on the other hand…

i saw a pond today

That's quite the observation.

i tried to stay on topic

You guys are funny!

 

 

12 hours ago, thediscochef said:

i saw a pond today

 

Sure, Chef, sure. And I caught a 27 lb. lmb today. Such wild assertions are easy to say, but where's your proof? Heck, where's my proof?

 

The Devil has eyes. And he uses them for looking at ponds 

     Saturday was work day and Sunday was river day. After the sun warmed up and dried my damaged liner, I cleaned with denatured alcohol and ran a line of double sided tap around the edge of the liner. This was followed by pressing, then rolling the edge of the new liner section over the tape. This was a bear, as I knew it would be. This 30mil liner is not flexible at all. After I was satisfied with the placement, the one sided tape covered the seam between old and new. This was followed by moving the extracted dirt back in the pit, bringing in new dirt from the farm, leveling, then folding and stapling the liner at the top. I regained my pond height, and am now ready for the rains. Next I will rip-rap the bank, (don't look forward to this), and when I succeed in getting my water level back, I'll dig post holes to fasten dock bridge to bank.

     One huge lesson I've learned is to be ever vigilant. Yes, the pond is a refuge from society, but it's also a refuge for the aquatic inhabitants that are endemic to my region, and as Glenn's forwarded articles make clear, there will be predation and habitation. It's just the way it is.

     

Hate to see the problems you're having Bob, but on the other hand you have three of the greatest things in life.....

 

1. Land away from people and concrete jungles

2. A private pond or lake

3. A tractor  

 

You're living right brother!  🙂

 

9 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

3. A tractor  

 

I had the same reaction when I saw it: A tractor!

 

Bob lives in Heaven, a Bob-built Heaven. Heaven's a LOT of work.

24 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Hate to see the problems you're having Bob, but on the other hand you have three of the greatest things in life.....

 

1. Land away from people and concrete jungles

2. A private pond or lake

3. A tractor  

 

You're living right brother!  🙂

 

Thanks! I see you noticed my tractor! Shame on me for being so proud of the BEAST that she was featured TWICE!  She was a estate sale, fence row derelict from Ardmore Alabama, many years ago. I had to winch her up on a trailer to get her home, but after I gave her a complete engine rebuild and converted to electronic ignition, she has more than earned her keep. I added the backhoe, had all the hydro cylinders repacked, and now she rules the farm. She's older than I am but starts easily in all weather. Way more dependable than the operator!

@Blue Raider Bob

28 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

She's older than I am but starts easily in all weather. Way more dependable than the operator!

 

Love that tractor Bob, way to bring her back to life.....you're a man of many talents that's for sure!  

 

If society broke down folks like you would be just fine.  

23 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Love that tractor Bob, way to bring her back to life.....you're a man of many talents that's for sure!  

 

If society broke down folks like you would be just fine.  

I own four antique tractors at the moment and have rebuilt many more. Always got to be doing something. Need to fish more and work less!

 

Here's my 1949 Ford fetchin' my jonboat out of the Duck river.

25 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I own four antique tractors at the moment and have rebuilt many more. Always got to be doing something. Need to fish more and work less!

 

Here's my 1949 Ford fetchin' my jonboat out of the Duck river.

My papaw had that one!!!

30 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My papaw had that one!!!

I've gotten off topic, but sure would like to see everyone's tractor. Maybe wrong forum as well. I feel the topic police creeping up on me!

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I've gotten off topic, but sure would like to see everyone's tractor. Maybe wrong forum as well. I feel the topic police creeping up on me!

 

Sigh. I have no tractor to share. 

 

 

Don't hate me for my shortcoming. 

Hey Bob you throwing any thanksgiving leftovers into the pond for your fishes ? 

On 11/23/2023 at 8:01 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Hey Bob you throwing any thanksgiving leftovers into the pond for your fishes ? 

Nope!

 

     Leftovers go just where the main meal went!   Actually, with the colder water, I'm seeing very little movement except the itty bitty ones in real shallow. I did get most of my riprap completed. Pictures to follow when I am finished. My auto feeder still feeds but I see nothing interested when the feed drifts to deeper water. The depth where the feeder is is less than a foot.

Hey Bob look who came to visit my dock this evening while I was catfishing. I think one of my dogs could smell it from the porch and kept barking and scaring it 😂 

 

On 12/15/2023 at 8:06 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Hey Bob look who came to visit my dock this evening while I was catfishing. I think one of my dogs could smell it from the porch and kept barking and scaring it 😂 

 

Bold little varmint! I'm still being plagued. My pond water is still very low due to my ongoing pond repair, and I found my big catfish skeleton on the bank, along with piles of skat. I never see them but they are never far away. Any ideas on a bait that would induce them into the live trap?

Is your live trap open on both ends? I think it’s nearly impossible to get one to walk into a cage and if it’s the cage you’ve caught all the coons in, he could probably open it and get out as well. Maybe try crawdads
 

people catch otters without bait, usually get them to swim or run thru a funnel like a culvert 

 

my boss was trying to catch one at a marina where they were pooping all over the docks. He found fish scales all in the scat so he would just put whole fish in a trap and never got a bite. They were coming onto the dock to loaf and poop, not eat. He eventually set an un baited trap that was open on both ends along his route and the otter ran thru the trap and got caught, ignoring several baited traps for weeks 

Finally had a major rain event. We received three inches of rain which created a strong flow in the wet weather creek. With more rain on the way this weekend, we may have a flowing creek until spring. This is great news for two reasons, first, I do not have to fill water tanks for horses and goats, and, I can finally begin pumping water for the pond now that the muskrats are history, the holes have been patched, and the rip-rap point is completed. The final water level will top the visible half barrels near the dock which will be planted in aquatic flora. The fish that survived the otters will now get more water over their backs, and room to run.

Looking good Bob! I forgot to tell ya I let 4 muskrats go there last week……..

 

just kidding !!!!