Many folks dream of
living on a lake. To be able to fish from your own backyard appeals to
many of us. Imagine catching the big one just a few
feet away from a cold one. Sounds great huh ?
What people fail to
realize is that a lake or pond is more than just a
bass factory. A lake is an entire ecosystem. The size and
health of it's super predators (bass, pike , etc.)
depends on the strength and
diversity of that
ecosystem. It takes more to create large fish than just a watery hole in
the ground.
It takes a healthy vibrant lake. The kind of
lake teeming with fishes
of all types, game and
non game species. The non game species are the foundation of the
food pyrimid on which great fishing is made. Without them you have
nothing but a few skinny Bass and Bluegill chasing each other
around desperately seeking enough food to survive. A
food stick of sorts.
Hardly the type of
fishing that is memorable. I live in the Panhandle of Florida
near Pensacola in a coastal town called Navarre . When
we first moved to the area, the proximity to the
Gulf of Mexico (less than a mile away) and the lure of fresh
seafood seemed to be
all I could have asked
for.
Imagine my surprise
when we
moved
into a home that backed up to a 2 acre
drainage
freshwater pond masquerading as
Fox Den Lake. I was ecstatic.
For you see I am an
avid fisherman of a different
type . I spend much of
my free time out in the waters collecting and studying non game
fishes of all sizes and types. I have aquarium reared a
great many North American Native Species and thought perhaps
this lake would hold some unusual species for the home
tank. You know catch
a
few
bass while loading up the fish tank with some
nice
Killies
and shiners.
I was dead wrong. After
settling in to the House I began to sample my lake , which I share
with 10 other homeowners. I was unpleasantly surprised. It
held high nitrites due to the run off and scant few fish and
plants except for Gambusia affiniss the dreaded mosquito fish
and huge floating mats of algae. All in all it was a water
hole not a lake. I was disappointed at first and then
challenged. The few Bream in there were skinny and of poor
health . No Bass were collected by hook, net or dynamite
(Just kidding on the dynamite part).
The water temperature
in the summer soared to the mid 80's. The lack of
vegetation and flat surface of the water created a perfect solar
panel. The pH was a respectable 6.5. All in all I had
a mixed bag to work with and decided to start from the
ground up.
First off the lake
lacked any significant structure. The barren sand that covered the
bottom provided very few places for fishes to hide. That
problem was going to have to be addressed and fast. I took a
two pronged approach. First I put (threw) a series of fish
boxes, logs, and five gallon plastic buckets into some of the
deepest holes.
The branches and boxes provided cover for the
younger fishes and the plastic buckets with several 1
inch holes in the sides and a cement bottom provided necessary
nesting sites and cover. If by chance you have
access to cement pipes throw them in there .I have found that
cement piping makes excellent structure.
I was limited to using
things I could drop in from the shore or a canoe.
You must also keep in mind that on a private lake you
may take some liberties that you could not on a public lake. So
check with your local Fisheries personnel for any
restrictions you may have.
The second problem was
the more serious one and required a more long term fix. The lack of
suitable rooted vegetation had allowed hair algae
to dominate the lake. As this huge mat of algae rotted in
the summer heat, it used up all the oxygen, the subsequent
fish die off's and foul odor made the lake unsightly and
unpleasant.
I realized if the lake was gonna grow some worth
while kind of plants, it was up to me to decide what
they were going to be.
After
a little research was
undertaken I decided to establish two main plants, native lilies were to
be on the surface , and underneath the water, giant
vallisnaria.
I chose those species for a variety of reasons,
the foremost being they were native to my area and I could
easily collect them from
other locations . The
other factors included , durability, looks and reproductive
rate. I wanted plants that would thrive in my lake but
not take over.
Native plants were my only practical
solution.
I spent
the better parts of several weekends standing
waist
deep in
the lake planting Lilly tubers and eel grass
root
balls
in a mess of strange places. The neighbors
seemed to
find it
amusing and would cheerfully sit and watch me
muck
around
in the lake finding the occasional deep spot
the
hard
way.
I felt a little foolish
but I knew it was the right approach so I stuck to it. I
was rewarded in my second spring on the lake, with a
very large bed of eel grass ( giant vals ) and lily's
popping up in the mid range
shallows. Their crisp
white flowers made the lake stunningly beautiful.
My neighbors who before
looked at
me as
if I was a bit nutty, began to trickle over to
the
house
and to get the inside scoop on the resurrection
of Fox
Den
Lake.
The second step was to
add diversity in the available forage. Contrary to the hype
mosquito fish make poor forage and even poorer mosquito fish!
Their primary forage consists of plant matter, free
swimming insects, and eggs and young of other fish . True
they do eat mosquito larvae on occasion but not at nearly the
rate of many other common native species. In addition, their
habit of remaining in the shallowest water makes them
generally unavailable as forage for the predatory species.
I did a little research
and
talked
with some of the folks in my Native Fish Club
(North
American Native Fish Association)
and came up with a species list which would cover the
full range of forage from the very small on up ! For
starters I added banded pygmy sunfish(Ellasoma zonatum)
this tiny guy (under 1.5 inches ) hides in the weeds at the
edge of the lake feeding primarily on mosquito
larvae and in turn becoming food for larger fishes. He is
prolific and very tolerant of harsh conditions. This is one
of the hidden fellas that
makes a lake that much
healthier. We know he does good.
We just don't know how
much good he does !
I also added the minute livebearer (Heterandria
formosa) and the equally small least killie (Leptalicania
ommata). These little guys
make an excellent
mosquito control group while being
forage
for the young sport
fishes.
My
second addition were several members of the
killie
family.
killies or top minnows as they are
sometimes
called
are colorful, tough mosquito eating machines !
I
have observed killies
in an Aquarium eat nearly their halve body weight in mosquito larvae in
a day !
They also have so much species diversity that you
can get them in all sizes from the less that two inches to
the whoppers of over six inches. There are different types
of killies common all over the United States so adding a
local variety to your own lake should not be to hard.
They are prolific,
colorful and
very
durable. All in all they make an excellent pond/lake/aquarium species.
I went with three types
of
local
killies that I could collect locally with
relative
ease
and which met the conditions and needs of Fox
Den
Lake. I chose golden
topminnow (Fundulus chrysotus) a colorful tough Killie that grows
up to four inches in size. My second choice was a killie
(Fundulus cingalatus) my daughter calls the pink lemonade
fish because of it's pink fins and brilliant displays in the
home Aquarium .While just as durable as the golden
topminnow this species remains well under three inches in size. I
also added (Fundulus escambia) a hefty durable killie
which quickly established
itself in my lake.
You of course have
Killies near you that are equally suitable to the
task. Check out the Peterson's Field Guide to
Freshwater Fishes by Larry Page and Brooks M. Burr for species in
your area.
Do yourself, your lake and your fish a favor
only use species from your area. Importing non local species
can have devastating
results.
Finally I added a small
sunfish to bridge the gap between the sport fishes and the other
"forage fishes". I chose the Dollar Sunfish (Lepomis
marginatus). This 5 inch and under southern sunfish is a beautiful
addition to any home aquarium , pond or lake. He is
easy to keep and very prolific. Bass find these
small-mid size sunfish their preferred forage. For those of you
in the northern half of the United States the orange spot
sunfish fills the same role .
I highly recommend you
collect either or both species for your lake/pond or aquarium.
They are personable beautiful and easy to
keep.
I collected two dozen
plus of each individual "forage " species and released them in a
shallow oxbow in the corner of the lake. Within ninety days I
was able to collect young and juveniles of all species
with a dipnet.
Now over a year later the killies have
begun to surpass the gambusia in numbers. The Dollar sunfish
have propagated and are now numerous. A walk along the shore
will reveal flashes of color as killies and sunfish dart
along the surface and the bottom.
The bass and bluegill
have tapped into these new food sources and wait just below
the drop off for someone to cross the line. You can hear
the splash as they lunge towards a killie or Dollar
sunnie that has gone just a bit to far in search of food or a
mate.
Once I realized the
killies and company were prospering in their new home I took the final
steps. I purchased crawdads from my local seafood
market and released about forty pounds of the beasts (red
swamp crawfish) into the lake. They are strictly scavengers
and vegetarians and provide an excellent clean up crew
in the lake while
providing top notch
forage.
Red swamp crayfish are
local for
me , I
am sure you have a suitable species that you
can
collect
or purchase locally. Find a good local species
and
use `em
they will do the trick. Don't get brave and add
a
non
local crayfish species the risk is too high.
About one month later I went sport fishing
at several local locations and over the next 4 or 5
weeks brought back live fish to stock the lake. I brought
back thirty six adult bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus )
and eighteen 10-14 inch Largemouth bass ( Micropterus
salmoides).
All specimens were immediately
released upon my arrival home. I also began a regimen of weekly
feedings. The gentleman who owned the local seafood market
would collect the scraps for me and once a week I'd
feed the fish about one five gallon bucket of scraps.
The results were
astounding. All of
the fish spawned within a few weeks of
their
arrival
and by mid summer two inch bass and bream
were
everywhere. Even a bigger surprise
to me was the growth
rate .
With the year around
warm weather and regular food the fish grew at a fantastic rate.
The first spawns were sexually mature by fall. By early
winter the size and number of fish had increased so
much that regular fishing could be resumed.
Even more amazing was
the change in the lakes condition.
The
huge floating mats of
algae disappeared. The nitrates began to drop and the eel grass acted as
a filter bed keeping the yard waste and sediments from
causing huge fluctuations in the lake's fertility. The lily
pads did their job. They provided cover from the sun
stopping the solar panel effect. The lakes summer water temperature
dropped a full five degrees. The lake no longer
suffered from unexplained
summer die offs .
Leopard frogs and
bullfrogs began to appear, adding music and diversity
to this once
barren
landscape. Kingfishers, egrets, herons and
ospreys
all
made the stop over for an occasional meal as
they
headed on to their
unknown destinations. I found myself spending more and more time
outside just watching . Soaking up the beauty nature
provides.
Now my children catch
bluegill to the point of boredom. bream as large as a pound have
been taken out of the lake Just last week I caught and
released a 3 and a half pound largemouth bass. So the
process has gone from planting in this lake garden of mine to
tending.
I have added a few redfin pickerel (Esox americanus)
to keep the bluegill population under control. I have
tried my best to keep
the fishing at a
managed level, chasing the fence
jumpers
away and encouraging
the serious bass fisherman to knock
on the door any time
they feel the urge.
This fall I plan on making my last addition ,
channel catfish. I have
placed homes for them
in all the deep holes and with the increase in cover, killies and
bream they should find a suitable home. I am confident that
old Mr. Catfish , like the others, will settle down here
and find lowly Fox Den Lake the kind of place to raise a
family .
If you are interested
in native fishes I recommend you check into the Native Fish Conservancy a
not for profit conservation organization
dedicated to serving the needs of native fish. The NFC welcomes
Aquarist and amateur naturalists to join this broad
based organization.
Help Preserve our
Aquatic Heritage join the Native Fish
Conservancy
online at our website
