# where to buy flat head minnows



## mustangeric (May 22, 2010)

Dont know if this is the correct place to post this but, I have a 1 acre pond where the bass fishing isnt as good as it has been in the last few yrs. so im looking to purchase some flat head minnows. Does anyone locally sell them. I found a few places on the net but the fastest they could get them to me is late july. thanks for any help


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Mustangeric,

I going to assume you are talking about fat head minnows. The best way to buy them that I have found is at your local feed store from one of the fish trucks that periodically stop by to sell fish. Dunn's, Arkansas Pond STockers and several others do this on a regular basis so check with your local feed store for a schedule. Sometimes bait stores will sell them at pond stocking prices...e.g. Oakhurst Bait Co. does that. 

Now, you didn't ask, but here is some unsolicited advice: you are basically giving the bass a very expensive snack that will make very little, if any, discernable difference in your bass fishing. It may make you feel good, but will do very little for your bass. 10 pounds of fat heads will add 1 pound to 1 bass. Adding fat heads to an existing fishery is not efficient. In a one acre pond, you have at least 100 pounds of bass and likely much more. You will never get there adding fat heads. 

If you can provide some additional info, I can offer some possible options for improving your fishing. First, what kind of shape are your bass in...fat, skinny, or in-between? If you can measure the length and weight of a few we can answer that question also. 

Second, what else is in the pond? What about bluegills...how many and what size distribution? 

With this information, we can develop a plan to help you out. Good luck.


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## mustangeric (May 22, 2010)

ok well thanks for the help i guess i will start by telling the whole story. up untill about 2 yrs ago the fishing was very good. we were catching 20 inch bass. but in the last yr or so the fishing has gone down hill the biggest one i have caught in the past yr is about 13-14 inches. and over all the fish just dont bite like they use to. there was a point in time it was like fishing at a fish farm. now i would say the avg. fish is 8-12 inches. and in the last 5 yrs we have only cooked up fish 3 or 4 times we mostly catch and reliease. bass is the only thing we know of that exists in that pond other than a gater that moved on to a greener pond about a yr ago. the bass over all are just much smaller and not as fat as the use to be. dont get me wrong on a good day you can still go out there and catch 3 or so but mostly small ones. Also new this yr we are getting alot of thin stringy grass growing all over the place that we never had before.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Here's a couple of suggestions:

1) get as many 6 inch or so bluegills as you can and put them in the pond. They will reproduce and establish a food chain that sounds like is missing right now. You need large bluegill or they will simply be eaten by the bass....but if you can't find 6 inch ones, then put whatever bluegills you can find in there. Don't worry about them overpopulating for now and the immediate future. 

2) start removing every bass below about 10 inches...12 inches is even better. Take them out. Catch and release is killing your pond bass...too many for the forage you have. If you can't use the small bass, throw them up on the bank, but DO NOT return them to the water. After a year or so consider increasing your slot limit to 13 or even 14 inches...if you want larger bass, you must remove smaller ones. Apply this rule to everyone who fishes the pond, without exception. 

Its critical to get a food chain established and bluegills will help you get that going. Spend your money on bluegills and they will pay you dividends...spend it on fat heads and you get almost nothing back in return. 

That weed you are seeing is likely pond weed or chara...you might want to consider adding a couple of grass carp to help control it. Good luck.


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## mustangeric (May 22, 2010)

thanks for all your help. what type of blue gills i can get *Hybrid Bluegill or Coppernose Bluegill 4-5 inch is 85.00 for 100 of them. do u know anywhere local to get them. Maybe in the lake livingston area.*


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Get the coppernose bluegills...much better in your sized pond and will reproduce far more forage than the hybrid bluegills. You can do a lot better, I think, on the bluegill price...should be able to find them for $40 to $45 per hundred. 

Its getting late in the season...getting too hot to handle fish...but there are at least two fish suppliers that come to the local feed stores here to sell fish...Dunn's and Arkansas Pondstockers and another one I think. Check your local feed store for schedule. Dunn's has coppernose for $45 per hundred and not sure about the others but check around, if its not too late in the season. You may have to wait until fall and cooler temps.

p.s. also you might try Oakhurst Bait Co. Tell them it is for a pond and they will give you a good price. I bought a truck load from them for about $35 per hundred a couple years back and very happy with the fish....but prices may have gone up some since then.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

It sure is 2cool to have folks like Meadowlark on the board, resourceful and knowledgeable and willing to share. WTG MDLRK! Great info.


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## mustangeric (May 22, 2010)

yes shadslinger he has been great and very helpful as well everyone else that i have run into here.


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## mustangeric (May 22, 2010)

also meadowlark from dunns the 1-3inch are 45 per 100. but the 4-6 that you told me to get are more. but dunns only has had 1-3 all yr. Oakhurst is checking on them for me and going to get back with me by tomorrow.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Get them as large as you can so as to minimize predation.

Also, I should have mentioned that typically a 10 to 1 ratio of bluegill to bass in my ponds works best. That generally means very fat healthy bass as well as some very large bluegills. So, add as many bluegills as you are reasonably comfortable purchasing. The more and the sooner, the better cause its getting hot in the ponds. 

Good luck.


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

I want to thank you for this information. I have known for years that bluegill are great for bass ponds. However, my Grandfather use to make me take the "Larger Bass" (4lbs and up} out of his ponds. We released the 2 to 4 pounders for brood fish and we ate the smaller ones.


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## aggiemulletboy (May 31, 2006)

Petsmart or petco haha. The "rosies" they sell are Pemephales promelas.

but no from my experience in fisheries classes, I would definitely go with meadowlark's idea with the bluegill stocking. Multiple spawnings and lots of forage for the bass. Hybrids grow quick because of the hybrid vigor: they don't put much or any energy in reproductive activities and just eat and grow which would make them a less desirable forage fish, I believe.


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## deebo (May 22, 2004)

meadow is spot on. start killing your bass. we had a pond that went through exactly what you described. we didnt even boost up the bluegill, but started killing every bass under 10 inches, then bumped it up to 12. its amazing how it has turned around. catch and release with bass in a smaller pond can be a very bad thing. good luck to ya.


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## ApetRock (Aug 19, 2009)

Bring all those little bass down to lake houston, we need all the bass we can get since nobody stocks us anymore!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

aggiemulletboy said:


> ... Hybrids grow quick because of the hybrid vigor: they don't put much or any energy in reproductive activities and just eat and grow which would make them a less desirable forage fish, I believe.


Actually its more of a sex factor...i.e., the hybrids are 80 to 90% male and as a result reproduction is very low. This can be good IF you want to raise big bluegills...but is definitely not good IF you want to raise big bass.


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