JORG Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 I took my dog for a run today (I drive she runs) and made a few pit stops to check out how the ponds are coming along. Some fairy shrimp that I'm going to use to seed my 120 gal tub in the sunroom I think these are glass worms back in the old days pet stores used to sell them. Fish love them Some river shrimp they grow to an inch in lenght and are a great live food. They are much easier to get in irrigation canels than ponds thou. This is a mix of small stuff that has been sifted through a small mesh net it consists of various species and makes premiun fry food A few peices of green that I will try to grow . I didn't really expect to find much as the ice just went out but was still surprised at the amount of life in the sloughs and ponds. As things progress I will post more pics and info on harvesting and processing the live food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Wow...that's a lot of Bugs and such...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balikiss Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 thats quite the impressive bunch of critters your bagged. I have a pond that the ice just broke on and i was wondering what type of collection methods you used, and how did you sort them all out?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted April 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 To catch them I use a large fine meshed aquarium net that I taped to an 8 foot maple stick. Then to sort the bugs I normally just pour them through different size mesh netting. I spent some extra time sorting with a turkey baster this time for photographing purposes but you only need to separate the sizes when using them for food. Here's a pic of some pond predators that the bumblebee cats enjoyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balikiss Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 hm. sounds easy enough. well i better go get my gumboots on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Great score on the live food; I always forget how early the fairy shrimp and others are found in ponds, and even the ditches along the side of the roads (at least around the Hat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balikiss Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Well I am happy to report that my pond is teeming with fish food, including glass worms, river shrimp and daphnia. Might have to upgrade to some hipwaders.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Thanks for the reminder... I will give it a go this week.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted May 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Well I had a little time on Thursday so I went down the road and got some free food As you can see I use a basic large sized fine meshed net that I taped to a 8 foot peice of maple I like to do figure 8 patterns when I am swishing for bugs as it tends to bring up bugs hanging out on or near the bottom. The trick is to not touch the bottom as you will get a bunch of gunk in your net. Right now the ponds are so loaded that it should only take half a minute or so before you have a good net full. Do this a half dozen times and you should have a good load, depending on your pond Now when you get home you have 2 choices either keep it alive and feed till it is used up or freeze it. To keep it alive it helps to add an airstone and keep it cool but with the high numbers of bugs in the bucket I usually see a large die off within a couple days. So if I want to save some for winter I will freeze some. I like to sort them for size before I freeze them. I start by setting up 3 containers and then use a large mesh net first to dip into one of the containers a few dozen times so all you have left are the larger bugs the smaller stuff will shift through, then you place what ever is left in there own container and repeat till your bucket is empty then you repeat this again using a smaller mesh net and so on down the line till you have them sorted. For freezing I use a 1/4 cup of bugs and a 1/4 cup of water as I like to have the packages thin Here is the first 4 packs ready for the freezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Great idea with the freezer packs! I've gone out a couple times in the past for 'bugs', and it's amazing how nuts all fish go for them, whether they've seen live food before or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 you selling any of the frozens? lol...are "pond' is just to darn gunky in blackfalds. Js Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted May 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2011 I'm thinking this year will be bad for mosquito's here is a pic of 2 pounds of mosquito larva (weighed without water) from a slough that never produces any significant amounts of mosquito larva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted May 21, 2011 Report Share Posted May 21, 2011 OH MY GOSH!!! That is what I need to do tomorrow! LOL You are doing the community a serious service! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted May 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2011 I've been scooping that much almost daily for the last 3 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted May 21, 2011 Report Share Posted May 21, 2011 I need to go buy me some nets! What part of the city are you doing this scooping in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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