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Fish Barriers, Risks, Feeding, and Other Information
Whether
you plan to observe the fish in your pond, manage them intensively, or leave them to eat, there are steps you can take
to protect them. Make certain that any outlets
on your pond are effectively screened to prevent the fish from escaping. Carp will try to escape upstream or downstream
in as little as a inch of water depth. But screening a pond is risky. Never use chicken wire, hardware cloth or
any screen with a square pattern that will easily clog up. The photo to the left is of a customers upright overflow
pipe with a commercial barrier designed for plastic or metal pipes that he purchased on the internet. A proper
earthen overflow or emergency spillways barrier is made from rods spaced one and a half inch apart, parallel to the surface
of the water and extending to the bottom of and a few inches above the surface (but not so far as to completely restrict flow
if the barrier gets pugged). If you have a concrete spillway, you can have a local welder or engineer fabricate a barrier that attaches to the
concrete. Make sure it is
only as hight as maybe 6-12 inches over the lip so it still functions to release water by overtopping the barrier f it gets
plugged up. The greatest concern is for high water floods during
periodic storms- the time you will not want to venture outside to clean a barrier. If you have installed a fish
barrier, you must follow a regular program of screen cleaning, or else you run the risk of blockage. In a sudden
flood, water could breach the dam if the outlet is plugged up. It's never worth risking losing the dam to save
a few fish. Carp most often stay in schools that cruise
the shoreline, moving around the entire pond. They won't stay in one or two coves, they will find the weeds wherever
they are. You don't need to spread them around the pond when you stock them because they spread out on their own.
Some pond owners worry about overstocking, but if you use the stocking rate calculations we provide, this is unlikey. If you ever
run out of weeds, you can feed carp with a commercial pelletized fish food at a local feed store or pet supply, or just
put grass clippings in the pond. Floating foods are probably best. Feed at the same
location daily, preferably at the same hour.
Please visit the VADGIF website for more information on pond managment (http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/pondmanagement/). The Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protectin has a nice publication on pond and weed management at this website: http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/water/lakes/Caring_for_Our_Lakes.pdf |
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