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Trying to destroy a goldfish population in a pond.

Started by Guest_Zephead4747_* , Apr 03 2007 08:47 PM

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22 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 08:47 PM

There in a pond in the woods behind my friends house. The pond is devoid of any fish other then common goldfish. The goldfish are EVERYWHERE. It's overcrowded and terrible. We were planning on releasing some predatory fish in there and I was planning on trapping as many of the bastards as I can. We found a few dead ones 5-8ish inches on shore but every live one we saw was 1-3 inches. We have several species available for us to use but here are some things to take into porportion:

pond is 1.5-2.5 feet at deepest point
shoreline is surrounded by dead weeds ( big stalk weeds that are in the water)
pond isn't very wide. Big enough to throw a line and bobber in from shore and stuff bot not really for a larger predator. (no largemouth or pikes) Basically that leaves us with:
rock bass
Green sunfish
Bluegill
bullhead

Any other goldfish eaters we could grab locally?
The water is too shallow for crappies IMO and probably rock bass.
p.s. I can't find any grass pickerel yet so don't suggest it :\

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#2 Guest_viridari_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 08:53 PM

Bowfin? They hold up a bit better under cramped conditions than LMB.

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#3 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 08:58 PM

Considering it is illegal to stock public waterways, contact the DNR and see what they can do.

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#4 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:01 PM

It's a retention pond We aren't sure if it's on his land or the public land in the woods behind his house. I doubt the state even knows it's there.

The DNR won't do anything on a tiny little puddle that's in like a few acres of woods right next to a buy street. It never dries up or anything though. And we kind of wanted a little place to sink a line in without running to the river close to home.

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#5 Guest_teleost_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:15 PM

It's a retention pond We aren't sure if it's on his land or the public land in the woods behind his house. I doubt the state even knows it's there.
The DNR won't do anything on a tiny little puddle that's in like a few acres of woods right next to a busy street. It never dries up or anything though. And we kind of wanted a little place to sink a line in without running to the river close to home.

As Drewish said....It's against the law. You must try to contact the DNR. You really have no idea what they'll say since you've not contacted them.

Maybe you should sink a line often for the goldfish and humanely destroy them!

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#6 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:20 PM

As Drewish said....It's against the law. You must try to contact the DNR. You really have no idea what they'll say since you've not contacted them.

Maybe you should sink a line often for the goldfish and humanely destroy them!

They may taste very good. :razz:

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#7 Guest_hmt321_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:25 PM

Bowfin? They hold up a bit better under cramped conditions than LMB.

check out this article
bowfin article

now this compares bowfin to LMB, they may work in this application mainly because i don't think bass would. I have caught very large bowfin in 2' of water many times every year.

I manage a very small (7-9 acre) pond in south Mississippi, we have a problem with Blue Gill population control and I was all set to start dumping bowfin into the pond when i read that article.

Make sure that your friend owns this pond, also make sure that it is not considered a public water shed, (A good rule of thumb is is it has a creek or stream flowing in or out of it). It may be illegal to release fish into the pond, even though people have obviously done so in the past.

How large is the pond in question? is there a drainage (lower land close by) where you can drain it, and allow it to fill back up?

EDIT: contact dnr, you could get yourself in trouble

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#8 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:46 PM

The pond isn't even an acre It's like 10-15 yards across at most.

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#9 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:51 PM

The pond isn't even an acre It's like 10-15 yards across at most.

Are you not reading what we are posting? It could be ILLEGAL.

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#10 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 09:54 PM

Yes, I realize this. I guess we'll just trap till we figure it out. Thanks.

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#11 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 03 April 2007 - 10:27 PM

Depending on the regulations for seines in your state, because they vary by state and for use in streams versus lakes, the simplest way (before the shouting escelates) would be to remove them by net. If its 10 yards across and two feet deep get a hold of someone with a 30' x 4' seine. Make multiple passes or sweep like a door opening and you should be able to remove most of the fish in an afternoons work. I used to remove goldfish from a 12' x 12' x 4' pond that way. Could never really get them all out because it had some odd undercut banking, but it helped and its the same general idea I'm giving you.

The next simplest thing, and probably best thing to do is get the property map from your city or county and figure out who the pond belongs to.

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#12 Guest_viridari_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 06:40 AM

I manage a very small (7-9 acre) pond in south Mississippi, we have a problem with Blue Gill population control and I was all set to start dumping bowfin into the pond when i read that article.

Ahhh but bluegill are a bit harder to eat than goldfish (I worked at a pet shop as a teenager, and I can't tell you how many hundreds of live goldfish I must have eaten to gross people out back then). Once a bowfin learns how easy goldfish are to see, catch, and eat... perhaps it goes up a few notches on the list of preferred species? (speculating here) since a young goldfish is closer to a fathead minnow than it is to a small bluegill by a wide margin.

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#13 Guest_bullhead_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 10:45 AM

What an interesting project! I agree that anything done needs input and discussion with the DNR. (See the midwest regional forum for notice of an upcoming WI NANFA meeting, with the potential of a DNR speaker.)

I love the idea of adding a single bowfin. They are native to WI, classified as rough fish by the DNR. (I know, I know, "backyard biologist".)

I wonder if there is a market for goldfish feeders at the LFS? Zephead, being under age 16, has more freedom under the minnow regulations (e.g., he does not need a bait dealer license).

WI general netting regs allows for a 35 foot seine.

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#14 Guest_viridari_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 10:52 AM

Well if the DNR gets in on it, the rotenone option may be on the table.

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#15 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 07:19 PM

Okie, If it's not on his land we probably wont worry about it.

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#16 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 08:31 PM

Okie, If it's not on his land we probably wont worry about it.

I would still contact someone regardless. Goldfish are invasive and you wouldn't want them to spread.

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#17 Guest_Zephead4747_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 09:15 PM

It's a ways away from another water source. Like I said it's a retention pond. We might make out fishign rods/ minow trap to good use though and see if we can wipe enough out that next winters freezeover kills them.

I just wish they were a native.... preferable a baitfish. It would be like having a free minnow pond right by home

goldfish blow you can't even use them as bait

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#18 Guest_Histrix_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 09:59 PM

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I would just leave things alone. If you're really concerned about the goldfish escaping, contact the DNR and have them deal with it.

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#19 Guest_edbihary_*

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Posted 04 April 2007 - 10:06 PM

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I would just leave things alone. If you're really concerned about the goldfish escaping, contact the DNR and have them deal with it.

I'm with you. Poison will do more harm than good, and you'll never fish them all out. The only way to properly remove them is to drain the impoundment.