# where are all my panfish going



## alumcreeker (Nov 14, 2008)

my father owns a 3acre quarry in morrow county and when he bought the place we fish the crap outta the pond and never seen a crappie or bluegill. so we went to a friends pond and loaded up on bluegill and then got a bunch of 9in or bigger crappie and released them it seems everything we put in that quarry gets really big and the colors explode on the fish. so here is my problem. In a matter of 3 years we cant hardly find any crappie and the giant bluegill that were there are now gone and i know the were spawning because i have seen baby fish in the water so any ideas on where they are going i know we have some people that sneak in but i doubt they could have or would have fished them out i have never ran off anyone with fish so idk. 
the pond has the following fish in it that i have seen in the last 6years

largemouth bass more of these than anything
smallmouth bass
channel cats
either bullhead or yellow bellies they are pretty big so idk
a few snapping turtles
yellow perch just a few we put in
saugeye/walleye and are doing great 

also i could use a few flathead cats to get rid of the bullheads and would be nice to get some big cats in there rock quarries grow big fish


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Flatheads will clean everything out of there, not just what you want them to eat.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

all the big fish you list are meat eaters, between the sneak in people your crew and nature , there pretty well wiped out, my pond has some huge bass, you rarly see a small gill.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

READ your post again, small fish HAVE TO HAVE hidding places ,a strip pit has none , start dumping trees in there ,and other places for fish to hide , ever watch a bass cruise the shore line , first minnie that gets out just a hair to far is lunch. might put a camera in the woods someplace, could be more people fishing than you think.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Generally, quarries aren't very productive as most of their water comes from infertile groundwater. Relative to typical Ohio ponds and lakes that receive surface runoff, quarries cannot support nearly as many pounds of fish per acre, 1/10 the typical production capacity is not unheard of. The clear water and oftentimes lack of cover make predation on the forage fish easy. Team together low productivity, 6 predators, clear water with no cover and only 1 forage species and you usually end up with 1 predator species with a few outstanding individuals and a bunch of intermediate starving predators with possibly a few outstanding bluegills.

Am I on the right track?


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## alumcreeker (Nov 14, 2008)

im sorry i should have gave details about this quarry its deep yes however it has 4 underwater rock islands and 2 above water islands all underwater islands come up to less than 3 feet with trees sticking outta the water all over them not to mention the rock underneath if anyone would see this and knew about fishing you would think its a paradise a dream pond come true its everything you want and it was shut down in the early 50s so its old thats what makes me so lost on this because i realize that i did talk about a lot of predator fish but there are a ton of hiding spots idk anyone close to delaware want to ride up sometime and see it maybe youd have a better idea thanks for everyones input


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

It's pretty hard to tell how good a lake is just by looking at it.

Catch a variety of fish and record length and weights. If you're not in too big a hurry, do this all year. Use this data to compare against Wr (relative weight) charts. Here's a link to a Wr chart for largemouth bass and how it's used http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache...+Largemouth+Wr+chart&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us 

Water clarity would be useful information too, how deep can you see? Here's info to make the tool to take clarity measurements http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/vlap/documents/secchi.pdf

Is rock and wood the only structure/cover? How much? 

Any plants? What kind and how much?

Set some minnow traps and see what you get this spring and summer. 

What is the source of water for the quarry. If you don't know for sure, your county soil and water may be able to help find out. Fertilization may increase production but may not be practical or a good idea in this case.

All of this will give good insight to the species and size classes that need help and give a good basis for formulating a plan based on your or your Grandfather's goals and budget.


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

well not to bust you down but just cause your not getting them dont mean there gone,but big fish half to eat,and cat can eat a lot of pan fish,there are places you can buy minnies buy the pounds if your lucky they will produce young and that may help,but strip pits are very deep so the bigger the gills get the deeper they stay.but with spring here keep a close eye on the shore for the nesting beds ,good luck


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