Goldfish

[FishnDave]

I've hit a local pond a couple times in the past week or so. I'd fished it once before a couple years ago, hoping to catch some of the big goldfish I'd heard live there. I didn't catch any goldfish then, just some small crappies and bluegills.
I caught 2 Goldfish one day last week. The first measured 12.25", a new PB for me. (below are two pictures of each fish)




The second measured 12 1/8".




Yesterday evening I tried again. Along with the small bass, crappies and bluegills, I caught 2 more Goldfish.
The first was 11.75":




And the 2nd one was a bronze-colored behemoth of 13.25" ( a new PB) with impressive girth! Based on my measurements and calculations, this fish likely weighed in excess of 2.5 lbs!

 

[Johnsfolly]

Cool catches, but a dilemma on whether to release them back into the pond. I have only caught one goldfish between 9 and 10 inches, which was in Hickory Creek in Neosho MO. Caught it on a similar size jig with a white chenille body. I did release that fish back into the creek.

[FishnDave]

Nice!   Its smart to be concerned.

I attended a wedding at a facility adjacent to this pond about 15 years ago.  The pond was pretty new at the time, and you could see hundreds of small goldfish in it back then.  Its also right next to the City Library.  Its possible the City intentionally stocked these goldfish, I don't know.

I don't see any small goldfish (its a muddy pond, I only see fish that splash on the surface occasionally)...it may be they aren't able to spawn successfully here, either because of the other predators (small bass, crappies, bluegills, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, catfish), cannibalism, or other factors. 

I'm not out to change this fishery, just enjoying it for what it is.  There are plenty of other ponds around to catch other species...its kind of fun and interesting to have a pond with these large colorful fish in it.  Now...if I could just catch some big KOI!

[Ham]

Pretty Cool!

[Johnsfolly]

29 minutes ago, FishnDave said:

Now...if I could just catch some big KOI!

We have a small local pond that have four or five 4 to 6 lb Koi. Very spooky fish since it's likely that most folks are throwing something at them. I personally have not really tried for them. The common carp yes, but not the koi.

Now if you were in SW MO there's a guy that might be able to hook you up with a koi outing.

[BilletHead]

53 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

We have a small local pond that have four or five 4 to 6 lb Koi. Very spooky fish since it's likely that most folks are throwing something at them. I personally have not really tried for them. The common carp yes, but not the koi.

Now if you were in SW MO there's a guy that might be able to hook you up with a koi outing.

              Yes I could fix you up Dave!

    From little ones to some that are two feet or better. Only requirement is you take what you catch with you . 

[FishnDave]

30 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

              Yes I could fix you up Dave!

    From little ones to some that are two feet or better. Only requirement is you take what you catch with you . 

I'm certainly interested....what's the back story?  Ornamental pond?  Koi breeder?

[BilletHead]

3 hours ago, FishnDave said:

I'm certainly interested....what's the back story?  Ornamental pond?  Koi breeder?

                  A farm fishing pond where koi got accidentally introduced. They then began to spawn and went berserk. 

[FishnDave]

21 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                  A farm fishing pond where koi got accidentally introduced. They then began to spawn and went berserk. 

Sounds perfect for flyfishing! 😁

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, FishnDave said:

Sounds perfect for flyfishing! 😁

 It is. Done it many times. Just remember you are more than welcome to do it.