Football and bass and my little cornerback

Well here he is and I'm calling him Chigger. He's quite the character and even though he's always there I just don't seem to see him for some reason. The larger bass come right up to the front and have their spots but Chigger is kinda little and can't get in there with the big boys so he stays way out there about five feet to the left of the others where he won't be noticed by them. He hides in with the bluegill and tries to blend in and does a pretty good job. He sits over there and stays still and watches me evidently like a hawk - or like a real good cornerback? Champ Bailey look out you have competition here! You just aren't invisible like Chigger here and I think that this little bass might be a better cornerback. Why, just let me tell you how great an interceptor he is.

Chigger sits way over there on the left sideline right at the edge of the pond about 5 feet away (now considering his size and all this would be probably equal to.. well dang old math anyway.. he's only maybe 6-7 inches so 5 foot is a LONG way). The other fish are within just a couple of inches of where the food will land and as I reach up for the pass ole Chigger over there is waiting (I still don't see him). As I release the ball... er food... Chigger starts to move and out of the corner of my eye I see a streak of speeding, flashing scales hurling through the water towards where the ball will land. Unerringly correct in his judgement every time, Chigger, with his mouth open, will intercept the ball - um - food, never stopping or even slowing down and continue on making a sharp turn to the left and down the right sideline, chomping the ball in his mouth, before big ole Crybaby, George and the others barely get a chance to twitch. On to the finish line he streaks and the touchdown is made. The crowd roars and Chigger is again victorious and the sneakiest little Cornerback in the pond. He's ready for the NFL I'm telling you, he's good! Really something to see... Gotta admire the little dude....

That's all for today - the pond is yucky today with scum on top. I could barely see the little faces down there to feed. I'm not looking forward to losing my good visibility. I need to learn so much more about keeping the water clear but can't get past all the hype on all the sites trying to sell me something. I sure wish someone that really knows would help me sort it all out.

Bye for now.

Bluegill beats up snapping turtle....

This photo is of one set of my bluegill nests. I don't know how often they are supposed to nest but at my pond it seems to be all summer long . Those individual little cells are usually occupied and those bluegill will fight like crazy to keep other fish out of their nests. I was sitting down there one day just watching and to the left of that stump up came a snapping turtle. He didn't surface and I don't think he was up to any mischief really but he was about to enter the forbidden territory of that first cell to the right there. He just had his front feet over the lip when Mr. Bluegill jumped him. He was so fast and furious that old turtle didn't know what hit him! That bluegill was as fast as Ali in his day stinging like a bee! Needless to say the snapping turtle lost that round and made a hurried exit back down into the depths. I guess snapping turtles don't get too many bluegill fish eggs for meals... I never would have bet on that one.

It's still early and I haven't been to the pond yet today. I usually head down after noon between 1 and 2 and I've been asked why I feed at that time as everyone keeps telling me that bass eat in the early morning hours and again around dusk. Well, those are your bass. Mine like to eat and hunt after noon. I don't know why - that's just another one of the rules down at the pond that they haven't chose to explain to me. I just go along with it because that's what they want.. I don't go to other ponds so I can't compare and don't know what other bass do but mine like to eat in the afternoon and they don't care if it's 100 degrees. Mine like to eat between 12 and 3 and I'm sticking to it.

When it's a bit windy things do change and everyone in the pond is super paranoid zooming here and there. A dragonfly flitting by will send them into the deep and have them scurrying for cover. A leaf might fall and panic will set it.

I need to get back to El Torpedo from yesterday. I've seen him many, many times although just glimpses and he really isn't one of the crowd. He's usually a BIG whitish torpedo shaped moving thing that I see from 50 feet or more away gliding slowly and silently through the water. He almost never gets closer and then it may be only for an instant and all of a sudden. One second I'll be looking down in the pond daydreaming and the next second there he is then he's gone! He's certainly the biggest fish I have in there. My guess is he's about half again as long as the other larger bass. Anyway, I don't know how big bass get but he looks big to me because I'm not used to looking at any as big as he is in my pond.

El Torpedo will eat commercial fish food at times but not anything else I throw in and he'll only eat the food when it floats out into the deeper water. I can't ever seem to get a photo of him worth a hoot at all - my camera is just too dinky and he's just too far. By the way - I don't have a polarized lens or anything on my little digital camera which makes it darned near impossible to see my fish in some of my photos. The only adjustment I do to the photos is to change the contrast. I can see the fish just fine standing on the bank but when I take a photo it's not so hot... I get glare... Maybe someone out there knows a better way I can fix this?

Back to El Torpedo - yesterday way after I was finished feeding and I was just sitting and daydreaming in came El Torpedo! He glided in all the way to the bank and stopped right in front of me and took a good look at me! My heart was pounding and I was afraid to move lest I scare him away. I have two chairs out there and my camera was on the other chair. He finally backed off and started swimming around in that hunting mode fashion they have. (I'll try to describe that in a minute.) I slowly reached behind me for the camera and got it, clicked the little wheel to the auto position and the lens slid out. I looked through the view finder, got in position and snapped... nothing happened... Isn't it always this way?

I tried several times turning the camera on and off to different modes and such. I could see that there were words on the screen and it was trying to tell me something - no glasses except for sunglasses so I couldn't read it. I don't bring glasses to the pond because I don't want to see the grasshoppers I catch up close.. I wouldn't be able to catch them anymore I'm sure. I can't really even think about catching grasshoppers eeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuu.

I still had some hamburger and threw a ball of it in front of El Torpedo. He paid no attention to it but the bluegill did and quickly tore it apart. This seemed to disturb him. He was hunting after all and was trying to single out a fish for a meal and I messed things up for him. I find my bass don't just run right into a school of bluegill and gobble away. They carefully watch for just the one they want. They slowly swim eyeballing different fish until that certain one catches their eye. They may slow down almost to a crawl at this point or even come to a complete stop. Next thing you know, at the speed of lightning and faster than you can see they make their move. ZIP ZIP ZIP through the water and with a lot of splashing and half the time I can't even see if they were actually successful. I don't know what calls their attention to certain fish yet and I may never know but I suspect individual tastes may play a big part. I know my bass have individual tastes for sure... By the way - it was about 3 PM when El Torpedo came hunting.... It was also about 100 degrees and he was in about a foot of water. So much for fishing at dawn and dusk...

Since all my fish can't be male even though they look like it to me I've decided to change the name of El Torpedo to La Torpeda. I wonder how to tell the difference anyway? I guess that's something for me to ponder instead of vacuming the livingroom.

Well, it's 12:45 and cloudy so I won't be getting any good photos today but I need to be getting my things ready to go down to the bass pond. Bye for now.

El Torpedo and Meanandlean and Diamond Jim

Today the pond is a wee bit more clear than yesterday. We haven't had rain in a few days and I believe the rain washing down through the grass and dirt and fertilizing the pond was a part of why the pond was so murky for these past few years. I've only lived here a few years so I can't say what went on before that.

Another problem I had was that I allowed livestock back there and they would keep the grass eaten but they were animals that didn't want to get their toes wet so they didn't ever damage the sides of the pond. They kept everything around the edges nice and trimmed though and I suppose, although a golf course may look pleasing to the eye, it's no place for wildlife. I sure never kept things trimmed like a golf course back there but you get my meaning. I'm sure the manure washing into the pond didn't help a bit either.

I have a few of my neighbor's nice horses living on my land now and they loved the pond. I liked to watch them back there and they'd wade and splash around. I didn't want to ruin their fun but when it got muddy the horse's hooves would tear the sides of the pond away and it was eroding badly. I just had to lock them out. They are drinking out of a trough now but I often catch them peering over the fence wistfully gazing at the pond, remembering a better time when they could cool off and roll in the water. Makes me sad but what else could I do? Maybe one day I can make some area for them somewhere. They need a cement pool!

Since my big changes this year (no livestock, no grass cutting and very little runoff) I have seen drastic improvements back there and I love it! The bass are flying through the air at the rate of about 1 every few minutes. Baby fish are all over and bluegill are in abundance. Bass patrol the banks tilted on their sides with an eye to the weeds looking for that fat dragonflies. Oh what fun to sit down under my green umbrella and watch.

While I was down there today I had all my usual visitors and a couple more. I brought a loaf of bread and a pound of hamburger with me and I keep commercial fish feed in a galvanized trash can under a big tree by the gate at the pond. My old dog and I hopped on the old golf cart and off we went (well, I don't hop anymore but that sounds good).

The pond is tinted a bit like tea now (I believe that means the oxygen is a bit low but I'm not sure). I have a few concrete blocks down in the pond where I feed now stacked up two high and they are just up to the top of the water. I feed at a very shallow point so I can see everyone down there. Meanandlean comes just about everyday but never eats anything I throw in. I've never seen him take a bluegill or another fish either. It appears that he only wants dragonflies. He was a bit agitated today as he had a buddy fish that he didn't want - a small bass was following him that was about 8 inches long or so. It looked like it just wanted to pal around with him but he sure didn't appreciate it and kept turning around and running it off. The smaller bass would always come back much to the distaste of Leanandmean. Leanandmean finally got so grumpy and aggravated with it all he just chased everyone. I've gotten to really like that fish he amuses me so. He always takes the time out from his busy schedule to come over to where I'm sitting and just look up and hang out with me for at least ten minutes or so. I don't know what he wants - I've tried to feed him everything. I took a photo of him today lying in wait in one of his favorite spots. Be sure to click on the photo so it will enlarge.

I don't know how long Meanandlean is but he's a bit longer than a concrete building block. He's a bit thinner than a lot of the other bass but he's a very picky eater... I'm standing about ten foot away when I took this photo and he's about two feet from the block and about a foot down in the water so you can't really see his full size. But when he's right next to the block he's a bit longer.

I've written more than I thought I would today and I haven't even gotten to El Torpedo or Diamond Jim... I guess I'll have to save them for another day. I've been asked if there is some way that people can be emailed every time I update this silly blo... blahhhhhhhgggg coff coff that word... Sounds like someone is regurgitating.. JOURNAL I still don't know the answer to that but I'll try to find out.

Until tomorrow - I'm..... off to the pond...

Backtracking a couple of years and pond clearing

Although this is a current photo I feel I must backtrack in my musings. The little umbrella and chair you can see across the pond is where I spend many an hour gazing down into the fish world watching with wonder as the denizens of the deep go about their daily business of stalking hunting, playing, resting and generally interacting with each other in some way. I find it fascinating and there is something new to learn each day down in their watery world.

Until this summer my pond was always so muddy I couldn't ever see what was going on in the depths. I had no idea how many fish I had or what kind. Oh, I knew about some of them because they were caught. Most of them were returned to the pond simply for the fact that no one wanted to ever clean fish. Every once in a while the pond would settle enough so that I could see a bit - just enough to get me excited about going back down there and looking again. I never fed regularly and always just commercial food. Sometimes fish would come in abundance and sometimes they wouldn't. I could only see them at the very instant that they took the food from the surface and had no idea what was going on underneath anyway.

This year we had a long, hot and very dry summer. I was cutting dead trees down up the bank from the pond so spending more time than usual down there. I plan to build some sort of cabin or something overlooking the pond and have to clear all the dead timber that was killed by livestock which stripped the bark off the trees. Day by day I watched as the water got more and more clear. I started actually seeing my fish! I also started going down there everyday and throwing in some food.

During the breaks I'd take from the chainsaw or mowing I'd sit by the pond's edge and watch the fish. Some days some red-eared sliders would come in and eat some of the fish food and sometimes I'd even get a snapping turtle. The pond continued to clear and pretty soon I could actually see the bottom for about 50 feet out from the edge of where I sat. From there it made a sharp drop down into deeper waters that are still a mystery to me and I know my pond has areas with depths of 17 feet.

During this period of a couple months I also added several sterile grass carp to the pond. I did have some floating areas of "stuff" which soon disappeared and I can only assume they took care of that. I also added 100 baby channel catfish which were about 4 inches long and I haven't seen them since. I believe, no, I know, the bass like a varied diet (or certainly prefer some meals over others) and I think that's where they went. I happen to like catfish too... I added many pounds of fathead minnows in hopes that I would have enough to keep a breeding supply of them. When I added them there was a frenzy of activity with jumping and slapping and splashing everywhere for a couple of weeks then I think they followed the catfish... There may still be fatheads in there but I think most, if not all, of the catfish were eaten - except one but that is another story for down at the old pond.

More info tomorrow on why and how I think the pond cleared. There are many factors some of which I may be able to duplicate and some I can't. But right now I can enjoy the pond world!

A little P.S. for today.. This photos below are of another resident by the name of Ole Sam Bass. Now I know that you may think that fish can't make faces but they can and they will! This is the evil eye face that Ole Sam Bass makes when I try to throw him anything except a grasshopper. I took this first photo right after I threw in a piece of bread. Ole Sam will make the gawd awfullest faces and gag and spit and carry on if anything comes his way that isn't a nice crisp juicy hopper - and it must be a green one - brown ones are quickly spat out too which brings me to an interesting observation. No one in my pond so far likes those brown grasshoppers. I've seen the same hopper eaten and spit out by ten or fifteen fish - bluegill too. Who would have thought... NO BROWN HOPPERS BLECK!

You simply must click on this set of photos to enlarge it for the full effect. I know it's kinda blurry but this is a farm pond afterall and I don't exactly have a superduper camera either. Now look closely at Ole Sam's face... No laughing... He's sensitive.. The first pic is after gagging on a piece of bread and spitting it out. He's looking dead at me... not very happy.. The ole evil eye...

Second photo is the same Ole Sam but after a nice crisp grasshopper - a green one. Can you see he has a buddy there in the top right background of the photo just getting his head in the pic? He's not allowed to get real close to me. Sam won't allow it and I haven't named him yet. I have a little net I got in the toy department at Walmart and I keep the grass long over where Ole Sam lives just so I can catch for him. Funny how they all have such different tastes... Now don't tell me they don't make faces... Here is proof... Look how his expression is all calm and amiable after a grasshopper. Look how nicely his eyes have rounded out to a nice satisfied pleasing look. Why he looks friendly and innocent even... He almost likes me... Sorta... Well... Probably not.

My bass buddies and their different tastes

I took this photo looking down into my pond standing about 5 foot up on the bank. As you can see I do have some of my fish named. On the left is Crybaby. Crybaby is a largemouth bass and is probably around 14" to 15" long. He likes to eat homemade biscuits, bread (in moderation), hotdogs, venison, hamburger, and chicken. He does not like pancakes at all and you can forget about commercial fish food - he won't even turn his eyes to look. He can tell the difference in a piece of pancake and a piece of biscuit before it hits the water - no joke! You don't have to believe it - I probably wouldn't if I hadn't seen it for myself time and time again. He's king of the beggars.

One thing I've noticed about the bass is that they will kinda lay on their side just a bit to look at you real well. You can click on the photo there to enlarge it and see that the bass are kinda leaning to the side but the bluegill aren't. The bass seem to always do that when they are peering up at me. Another thing I found with the bass is that when they take food from the bottom of the pond (or top for that matter) they will invariably take the food with the corner of their mouths. I got to thinking about this instead of dusting the living room and I seem to remember always taking the hook out of the corner of a basses - bass' ?? mouth and never out of the center. Could it be that they eat out of the corner of their mouths? That question is something to ponder while I should be dutifully washing dishes tomorrow...

Getting back to the photo... Behind Crybaby is Halfback. Halfback is a very differently colored bluegill. I think he's probably a hybrid bluegill as I know they're in my pond. I've caught bluegill up to 9 1/2 inches long in my pond and ole Halfback looks to be a bit larger than even they are. I think he's the largest one I have. About a third of his body is black. He usually doesn't get very close and isn't big on chasing around to get feed. Half the days he won't eat anything I throw in. He's content eating a bit of commercial feed now and then. I have never seen him nesting and he just seems to be an easy going kind of guy - never in a hurry and just slowly moves around in there fanning his black tail in front of the bass as if to say, "I got too big to eat HA HA HA HA". I've never caught him and probably never will as he isn't very eager. I only have a few of my bluegills named.

Over to the right is George. George is another largemouth bass and looks to be a twin to Crybaby. I have been asked how I tell them apart. It's like this... Crybaby is always on the left and he won't allow George to get on that side. I don't know why so don't ask. That's just the way it is down at the pond and those are the rules and the rules are obeyed.

There are many, many more characters who live in the pond and I'll save them for other days. I've got to figure out how this journal thing works and if there is some kind of button that will email my poor old mother each time I update...

Bye for now - I have to go to the pond.

Down at the old Bass Pond

I'm starting this journal or blog (I hate that word) at the request of family and friends. I torture them daily with reports of the goin' ons of what's happening down at the pond. I never dreamed those old fish down there could ever inspired me to actually sit down and write about their beady little eyes staring up at me and their day to day activities but they have.

I've always loved my pond - it's a small pond by farm pond standards I suppose at about an acre and located in western Kentucky. A few years ago I bought some commercial fish feed and took it down there and threw it in. I waited and waited and eventually after about ten minutes I did get a bit of activity on the top of the pond. I was hooked... I couldn't see a thing in the muddy old pond but I was still hooked. It could have been a wiley old mermaid down there playing me for a fool but I didn't care - SOMETHING was in my POND!

Well ever since then I've been trying to find better and better ways to make my pond more entertaining for me and I thought if I make this little journal (I just can't use that blog word) perhaps then some of you out there may have some suggestions for me. My ideal pond would be as clear as Weeki Wachee - so I'm not being realistic... grumble.. grumble.. Well, I want to at least see my fish!


Well, I'll get on with it then...