Goggle eye fish

[hotbiggun]

I have a small farm pond on my land with a bunch of goggle eye in it. The pond has been untouched for 10 years. These fish worth keeping or should i start over with a different species?

 

[twinin]

The old timers who fresh water fish love the goggle eye. Were you thinking to replace it with bass?

 

[hotbiggun]

The old timers who fresh water fish love the goggle eye. Were you thinking to replace it with bass?

Bass and bluegill. Im borderline old timer. Thought about throwing bass in but i dont think they would survive long enough to grow

 

[twinin]

I think they taste as good as bluegill and usually harder to catch but bigger

 

[hotbiggun]

I think they taste as good as bluegill and usually harder to catch but bigger

I thought bluegill get pretty big down here?

 

[falshooter]

Throw a couple of big bass in , they'll eat the goggle eye

 

[Barry J]

Depends on what you want in a pond. Goggle Eye and Sac A Lait will compete with bass for food. Bluegill won't. If yo want to grow bass, don't have Goggle Eye or Sac A lait in the pond. Bass will eat small bluegill and keep their numbers down.

 

[tbone]

Farm Pond Management

 

[RT8]

They make great trotline bait.

 

[CaptPeace]

I have a small farm pond on my land with a bunch of goggle eye in it. The pond has been untouched for 10 years. These fish worth keeping or should i start over with a different species?

They are awesome fish. Feisty and tasty

 

[hotbiggun]

They are awesome fish. Feisty and tasty

Im going to try them. Not knowing the history of the pond i was thinking about having the water tested. Is pollution a concern in these farm ponds?

 

[hotbiggun]

They make great trotline bait.

I need to get into fishing here.

 

[CaptPeace]

Im going to try them. Not knowing the history of the pond i was thinking about having the water tested. Is pollution a concern in these farm ponds?

Doubtful but you never know

 

[Magdump]

War mouth. Underrated game fish for sure. I managed a couple of ponds on my place for about 20 years and had great success. There is a lot to consider. Size and depth make a difference. What kind of cover for your fingerlings to hide in and what sort of forage other than fish are in there. Farm ponds usually get fertilizers and maybe even pesticide runoff at some point, but since the EPA has regulated all that into the ground we are pretty safe nowadays. Enjoy what’s in there would be my goal. If you want to stock bass, you could thin the Goggle eye and build up your forage numbers easily. Old man Poe in Denham Springs had a shiner farm that sold to local bait shops. I made a few trips to buy 1000 ct bags of shiners ($65) and dump them in my ponds. The survivors grew upward of 6” and were very hearty, reproduced and provided me with the best bass bait ever when I’d go to other places to fish. A sack or two of crawfish got dumped in my ponds as well. I also would run the ditches with a dip net for fat mama minnows. Christmas trees in a corner for them to lay eggs on will get them reproducing. I dealt with Dunn’s Fish Farm, bought 10” bass fingerlings of the Hybrid variety, Georgia Bluegill Hybrids and Channel cat. If you spend the money and buy larger young, you won’t have to worry about losing so many. That 2 acre pond was a mini trophy lake.
I dug another 1 acre pond just for sac-a-lait, a few bluegill for forage and channel cat. I fed the catfish and they generally grew about 2 pounds per year. We would catch 6-8 pound fish that tasted better than any other to me. Lastly, a cheap 2” gas powered water pump will keep your fish healthy if you use it right. Park it near a corner and in the hot months run it with a reducer pipe (1.5”) about 2 feet long shooting water out diagonal away from the bank to try to get the water to circulate in a counter clockwise motion around your pond. I used 2, one on each side, and the water would move in a circle for a long while after I shot the pumps down. An hour a day in the summer keeps the pond aerated well.

 

[sandman7925]

A couple big catfish would eat them.

They taste just like bluegill to me. So catch them and fry them up.

 

[Freek589]

If you’re interested in thinning them out I know my 8 year old would fish for hours. They are fun little fish to catch

 

[T-Rigger]

Originally from SE Arkansas, had great fun fighting & catching goggle eye "bream" as we called them. Fished with a light fly rod with rod-length fixed linen line - set up like a perch-jerk cane pole. Baited with a light floater "popping bug" with about a double 15" light mono leader with a "bream killer" bug on each ( a small blacksinking bait that looks like a spider). At the right time of year, whipping the baits in & out & around cypress trees, catching 2 - 3 at a time. Great fun.

 

[hotbiggun]

So some of you guys think i should just fish them? I love catching panfish so im not against it just thought bass might be fun.

 

[Bolt Head]

So some of you guys think i should just fish them? I love catching panfish so im not against it just thought bass might be fun.

I pursue Goggle Eye and Sacalait the same. Downsize tackle normally used for LM Bass and you're in business. Small spinnerbaits, weedless jigs, swim jigs, hardbaits, soft jerkbaits, soft craws etc.


Goggle Eye grow to decent size and when they're healthy they get thick. Excellent table fare.

 

[twinin]

I agree