Exploring the 5 Acre Pond in a Glass Bottom Kayak! (Glowing LED Lights)

[00:00:00]Folks at home, welcome back to the Crimson Oak Pond. And today, we're going to be exploring the 5acre pond in a glass bottom kayak. And that's going to give us an up close look at all the fish and different forms of life in this pond. And we're also right in the middle of a shad spawn where they're reproducing by the thousands. And we even had some tropical storm type rain this week as heavy flooding had the drain pipe working overtime to shed some of the water out of the pond. And the newest member to the farm is a bobcat who's got quite the interesting story.

[00:00:26]And as always, we're going to be giving you an update on all the fish, as well as the various different types of wildlife to visit the pond. But first, let's jump right into exploring the pond in the glass bottom kayak. So, the sun is setting. We got the kayak all rigged up with the camera gear and lights. But before I launched it, I also turned on the green underwater lights. And just like I suspected, some of those bigger largemouths are hanging out right here.

[00:00:47]So, we should get to see some action here this afternoon. But I'm a big fan of these kayaks. It's the perfect nighttime kayak because it even has a built-in slot where you can add these long LED strips. And I was playing around with the different color settings and some of the colors are a good bit brighter than the others. And we even have that glowing red, but we'll save that for Halloween night. And I ended up going with a green color because all these bass are used to the green lights.

[00:01:10]So, if my kayak matches it, maybe it won't spook them away. But all right, now that we got everything set up, let's see what kind of fish we can find. So, right after I launched, we got good visibility in the water. You can see the bottom, which should make it really easy to see all the different types of fish.

[00:01:24]But we're going to start out over here in front of the dock where some of my little buddies are hanging out. You can tell it's them with those big dark shadows under the water. Man, check that out. That's a big one. Probably at least 4 lb. And it's so cool to sit in the water with them swimming right beneath you. And I'm basically swimming with the fishies. But these green lights are designed to attract the bugs. The bugs attract the bait fish and then the bait fish attract the bass and all the other predators. But this particular fish we're seeing right here is a thread fin shad. And I think they're just drawn into the light. You'll see them swim in circles around it and they almost get stuck in a pattern. And the first couple years we had the pond, I'd leave the green lights on all night. But I noticed it was too easy for the bass and they started putting a dent in the thread fin. So we changed the lighting schedule and just turn it on every once in a while. But I can see some big ones hanging out down there on the bottom.

[00:02:08]They're just now getting comfortable with the kayak.

[00:02:11]Got him. And this is such a unique experience. It's almost like one of those shark cages where you get lowered down in the water and you're so close to the fish you feel like you can reach out and touch them, which in this case I pretty much can. But man, that's cool.

[00:02:23]We're basically seeing a day in the life of a thread fin shad. All right, we're going to leave these guys hanging out in front of the dock. We're probably going to hear some big blowups here in a minute, but it's time to go explore some other parts of the pond. So, I was headed over to a shallow area to check out some spawning grounds. And about that time, I got busted. If you look out there just above that grass line and over the hill, you'll see we've got a nanny coat. This whitetail dough has busted me. And it's not that hard because I am sitting out here in a glowing kayak. But I think I've heard before that some of these whitetail don't necessarily see things in the water as a threat. And I'm only about 30 yards away from her right now. And if I was on land, this deer would have been spooked by now. This glowing kayak gives you about as up close of an experience as you can ever get with these fish and wildlife. All right, now let's ease over to one of the floating grass islands that we just installed a few weeks back.

[00:03:09]And I'm pulling up right here on the edge of it. And I don't see any fish down beneath it, but the variety of grasses seem to be doing good. We got some good growth and I'll try to get an underwater shot of those roots here in just a minute. But now we're going to head over to one spot that is guaranteed to hold fish. It's one of the hot spots on the pond, the oak throne. And man, as I'm floating over the top of it, it almost has those haunted movie vibes.

[00:03:30]But there's hundreds of root stems down there, and that's where all those little bait fish like to hide, which means the big bass are nearby. But these LED lights are doing a pretty good job of lighting it up as I'm starting to see some bait fish swim down beneath me. I believe those are some of those golden shiners we stocked earlier this year.

[00:03:45]But I noticed that as I floated over the top of it, I stirred up all the bait fish. And if you listen closely, you'll start hearing some top water strikes where those bass are attacking them.

[00:03:54]I'm actually helping these bass out because there's a lot of hiding spots in the oak throne that these bigger bass can never access. But I saw a lot of different types of bait fish. We even had some bluegills down there. But I've also been hearing some big top water strikes over at the dock. So, now that I've given those bass a little time to settle in, let's go check them out. You can see the bait fish definitely seem to be a little more frantic. And that's because right off there in the shadows, the big bass are lurking. And a thought just occurred to me as I'm watching some of these bass swim beneath the kayak.

[00:04:20]How cool would it be to install one of those pit tag scanners right here on the bottom of the kayak, just like one of the antennas that we have installed in the pond, so that every time one of these fish swam beneath me, I'd get a live ping and could tell exactly which bass it was. And you know, that's really not a bad idea because that would allow me to drive around the pond and potentially even locate Bonnie and Clyde. And having a couple of those antennas in the pond is nice, but as we've seen from that spreadsheet, some of these bass are territorial and don't really get out and swim around the pond much. So, I think that's a future project you're going to see me working on here really soon. And I noticed here at this light, there's a bigger variety of different bait sizes. Starting out with those tiny, newly hatched fish up to those adult thread fins. And this kayak is giving me about as close a look as you'll ever get to some of these fish. It almost looks like we're looking at them through a microscope. And what do you guys think those little tiny squirming little fish are? Well, at first I was thinking they were fish, but now that I watch them swim around, they could either be some type of larvae, like a mosquito larvae, or even potentially some type of tadpole. But take a look at that. A couple of mosquitoes actually landed on the water.

[00:05:22]And if you look at the body size of the mosquito relative to the little squirmer, I'd say there's a good chance those are mosquito larvae. And it's a little hard to tell on the camera, but I can even see some plankton moving around, and they're only a fraction of the size of those larvae. But man, I always find this stuff fascinating. All it took was some glowing green lights and we're basically getting the crimson oak pond chemistry class. So, that was a pretty cool little experiment. I got to see a lot of interesting things. If there's anything specific you guys would like for me to explore with the glowing kayak in the future, leave it in a comment down below. But there's one thing for sure. You get about an hour or maybe two tops before the mosquitoes swarm in and run you off the pond. So, the glass bottom glowing kayaks are wrapped for tonight. But now, let's see what things look like here in the daytime. Because, as I mentioned, we are right in the middle of a shad spawn. And during this time of year, thread fin shad will use lowlight conditions and school up in shallow water where they basically spawn and deposit their eggs.

[00:06:15]And they'll target really hard objects like floating wood. If you ever see those shad splashing and jumping out of the water, that's the process of them depositing their eggs. Because as a pond owner, this is exactly what you want to see. Because your school of 10,000 thread fins can quickly turn into a 100,000 thread fins. And that's why it's important because these little guys can't even get to spawning good without the bass harassing them. But the shad aren't the only thing spawning. The tilapia have had a really good spawn this year. And every week I'm seeing more and more of the little 1 to 2 in tilapia up here in the shallow water, which is also another really good bait source for the bass. But just like most of you in the south, we were hit with some heavy rain this past week. It was almost like a tropical storm as it came and set directly over the pond. And we had heavy rain for days. But the pond needed it because earlier this spring we were in a little bit of a drought. But I came to check out the rain gauge and we got over 5 in in 2 days. That's going to fill a pond up quick. But it seems like once or twice a year we have this exact same thing happen. And it creates a really interesting dynamic at the pond.

[00:07:15]And what happens is right after all of that rain, all the bait fish flood into those shallow grasses to hide from the bass. As we're in a drought, those water levels recede and the grass actually grows into the pond more than it typically would. So when the pond fills back up, those bait fish have a lot more areas to hide in that flooded grass. And whenever all the bait fish are shallow, that means all the bass are going to move up shallow as well. And this is when we'll see those bass schooling up.

[00:07:39]Sometimes 10 to 20 bass grouped together cruising the banks. And I love it because this is the time of year I get to see the most activity. I get to see what our bait fish populations look like. And I'm also a true believer that those heavy rains really energize these fish. And I learned that from my aquarium days. If you don't do a 10% water change every week and occasionally a 50% deep cleaning, then some of those water parameters like ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites can get out of whack, which definitely affects a bass's mood, feeding habits, and activity. There was only one time in our life where we put minnows in the aquarium with Moby and he didn't attack them. So, we knew something was up. We did a water change and literally as that fresh water was getting dumped in the aquarium, he shot around and ate every bait fish there.

[00:08:22]So, we say it all the time how important water quality is. It's one of those things that can be hard to control, but at the same time, it's evident that when mother nature dumps a ton of water in the pond and it rejuvenates the fish.

[00:08:33]But, there's so much going on right here because we got the bass chasing the bait fish around. We got a ton of fish in the shallow parts feeding on the pellets.

[00:08:40]But I always find it funny that after the bass get done chasing the little bluegills around, they come back and start feeding on the pellets that floated up near the bank. And I can't tell if these bigger bass actually like to eat the pellets or if they're just eating them out of spite and don't want any of the other fish to get them. So here recently, I've been spending a lot of time out here on the dock, either enjoying the wildlife or out here feeding the fish. And lately, I've been using this app called Whatnot because you can bid on live stream auctions for things like these giant Canadian nightcrawlers. Tell me these bluegills out here wouldn't love having those as a snack. But I was surprised to see that they also sell things like fish and frogs and even some cool stuff for the 300galon aquarium. And if you're a fisherman, you'll know that the hottest new bait on the planet right now are these koi and urchent style baits that are sold out in every store. So, needless to say, I was pretty excited when I was able to pick up a few of them here in this auction for a very reasonable price. But my favorite part about whatnot is that it's a live stream auction. So, I was able to text the host of the auction and ask him about that chartreuse colored bait. A couple seconds later, it was up for sale. And just like that, got him. But if you're not familiar with Whatnot, they're the number one live stream shopping app with categories like outdoors and hunting, fishing, sports cards. With over a 100 categories, they've got something out there for everyone. So, do me a favor and go check them out. You can either click the link in the video description or scan this QR code to get $15 off your first purchase on the app. So, instead of paying $17 for one of these baits like I did on your first purchase, it would only cost you two bucks. Plus, if you follow me on Whatnot, you'll automatically be entered to win $500 in credit. Can you imagine how many Canadian earthworms you would get with that? So, the $500 giveaway winner is going to be picked on July 21st, 1 month from now. So, download the Whatnot app and happy shopping, folks. And I did receive those Corki style baits in the mail and you're going to be seeing us fish with them later in the video. And I have a feeling you're going to be surprised. All right, now let's go check in on Cedar Falls, the 30,000galon ecosystem pond. And we're going to start out by diving underwater. And hey, check it out. We got the whole gang right here front and center. Everybody get together for a family photo. And man, you can tell we're in a growing season because these bass are getting big. We even have a few of those copper noose bluegills mixed in. But the reason I like to do these underwater clips is because almost every time I do it, I'm really surprised by something that I see. And today was no exception. So you guys know I keep a pretty good inventory on the fish that live in this pond. But every once in a while, a new guy will pop up. And check out the newest member to Cedar Falls. We got a juvenile bass. And this is the first time I've ever seen this bass. And I would say he was born last spring and somehow hid in the rocks and boulders and survived to what is considered pretty much an adult bass now. But there's a really good size comparison.

[00:11:15]I'd say the little guy's about a pound and that's potentially his mom or daddy swimming in right behind him. But if I had to guess, this is probably an offspring of either Johnny or June, Tiger, or possibly even Eve. And for those of you wondering, Moby just spawned the first time this spring. So that couldn't be one of his because all of those little fry that live in this pond hadn't had enough time to grow to that size. But I spent a lot of time watching him this week, and he's an interesting little character. This is pretty much the main spot of the pond he hangs out in. And he hides a lot in that shadow right there. that's made from that boulder. And he's got some pretty good wits about him and he keeps to himself for the most part. But one of the fish that I do see him hanging around the most is Smallley the smallmouth bass. And there is even a little bit of resemblance from him with those brown and black colors on his tail. But just looking at his jaw structure, he appears to be a largemouth and not one of those crosses like a meanmouth bass. But just like always, I'll let you guys name our new pets. So leave a comment down below what you think we should name the new guy. but he struggles to get any camera time because these bigger bass like to be the center of attention. They always like to come and put their nose directly in front of the camera.

[00:12:21]But man, look at the size of some of these bigger bass that are coming around. That one I feel like is pushing six lbs, which doesn't surprise me that much. These bass have been in here about 2 and 1/2 years now. And there we got a good shot of one of the copper noose bluegills. You can see that big bright spot on his nose just above his eyes, giving him the name copper nose. All right, so now it's time to give you guys an update on Moby's offspring. So after Moby spawned, we captured three of his fry and put him in the 300-galon aquarium. And things were going great until last week when Moby Jr. decided to eat one of his brothers, send him panic throughout the 300-galon aquarium. And you can see the panic in the eyes of the third fish. He said, "Guys, you got to get me out of here." So we released him into the 5acre pond, and the only fish left in the 300-galon aquarium now is Moby Jr. But I started to get really worried about Moby Jr. about 2 weeks ago. And that's the first time I noticed that he had a really big growth on his back. You can see right there where that red area is bulging out. And in the beginning, I thought it was just his stomach poking out like it always does after he eats a bunch of fish. But as time went on, it continued to grow and I could tell that something just wasn't right because you can see how high it is up in his back and it's even starting to come up towards his head. To me, it almost looks like some sort of tumor or growth. And you know what's really surprising is we had something very similar happen to Moby whenever he was about the exact same size. And here's a shot of Moby when he had an anchor worm attached to his back when we had to pull him out of the aquarium and do surgery.

[00:13:44]But the only positive in this scenario is that Moby Jr. continued to stay aggressive and eat any fish that we put in there, which was a positive sign that this infection or growth wasn't affecting him too much. But I started to get worried about the little guy and I messaged some of the pond biologists I have and friends that I have at the hatcheries and their guess is that it's something called lymphocitis virus. And it's one of those things that typically clears up on its own and it's not an issue of spreading to other fish. And it's a disease that's caused by an infection and it creates a pebble-like nodule on the fish. And in this particular case, there's not any treatment. It usually clears up in a week or two. So we're going to check back in on this little guy later in the video and see how he's doing.

[00:14:23]But we also had a new pair of visitors at the pond this week as two whistling ducks flew in. And if you guys recall, we did have a pair of whistling ducks living at the pond a couple of years ago. So, it always makes me wonder if it's that same pair showing back up. But anytime we have ducks out here at the pond, it's always an added bonus. I love seeing the water foul just like I do all the other species. But the one thing that I like most about this pair of ducks is that they didn't seem to mind the human presence at all. But you can see even as the family was out here playing in the pond today, the ducks felt right at home and weren't spooked at all, which does make me think that this may be the original pair that was out here. And who knows, if it's some new ducks, it could have even been those floating islands that we installed. I saw a lot of photos where water foul and geese and other species like that used the islands as nesting sites or even a good place to take a nap. But all right, now it's time to check in on the backyard pond. We got the turtles, the bluegills, and we even have some bass showing up here today. And I'm not sure if you guys could tell, but that bass seemed to be a little bit bigger than the averageized bass that's typically in this pond. And so, I'm hoping that those golden shiners we stocked in the pond earlier this spring are starting to put some weight on some of these fish. But one of the species I always enjoy seeing the most is the soft shell turtle that we call Taco. Man, check that big guy out. I don't know why there's just something that's so interesting about seeing him. I guess it's because he kind of looks like a dinosaur. For some reason, this guy looks like he's about 100 years old. Maybe because he's about four times the size of all the other turtles around and he's got a girlfriend hanging out around the pond here somewhere and we call her Belle. But as I mentioned, we had some heavy rains earlier this week and it was as bad as I've ever seen it at this pond. The vertical stand pipes were doing all that they could do. And this is a perfect example of why it's important to have that emergency overflow. If it ever topples over your dam, it could wash it out and you would lose the entire pond.

[00:16:05]And just for example, this is the water that's coming out of the other side of the pipe. And look at that. that this creek looks like a river rapid. All right, so now this is the second week in a row that we've had a standoff between the quack pack and the new whistling ducks. And the quack pack is the original four drakes that have lived here at this pond. And you can see they're huddled up discussing what they're going to do about the new visitor. But I think one of them saw me out on the dock and had to fly over to say hello. That's a cool shot. But you know, they're a tight pack, so the other three weren't going to be far behind him.

[00:16:36]So once they got to the other bank, they huddled up to discuss some strategy.

[00:16:40]and then realized they were in the sun.

[00:16:42]So, they moved their huddle to the shade. And these guys have a lot to say right now. They're not too happy about the situation. Ah, but look who else showed up today. We got the alligator swimming out here in the middle of the pond. And I'm starting to think that these ducks are catching on to the fact that the alligator is actually hunting them because look at where one of the new whistling ducks has been hanging out. But speaking of ducks that hide from the alligators, last week there were two whistling ducks that were sleeping on top of our roof. And nothing's changed this week. Every afternoon right before dark, they fly up on top of the roof. I bet you there's not too many of you guys that can say you have ducks sleeping on top of your roof. But I asked you all in the last video what we should name the pair of ducks that slept on the roof. And Ron said that we should name him Chim Chim and Cheru. I like that. So this one here is named Chimchim. And you know, the alligator's been really active here recently. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the warmer weather. And I've never actually seen him eat anything, but I know that he has to be eating something.

[00:17:35]I mean, there's an abundance of turtles, ducks, and everything else here at this pond. And he doesn't appear to be getting any smaller, so I'm sure he's eating something.

[00:17:43]Check out that face that Chim Chim's making. He's letting that gator know he's got his eye on him. All right, we're back out here at the farm, and I get a lot of comments from you guys saying, "Hey, you should plant wild flowers out there around the pond."

[00:17:54]Well, Liz did it this year at her garden, and guys, I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed with how nice it turned out. She's got a nice variety of different colors and flowers that are even attracting the butterflies in. and she even mixed them into her vegetable garden, which you can see she's got some things like tomatoes growing back there in the background. And so, shout out to Liz. I think it looks great. But I'll tell you who's appreciating it more than anybody else, and that's the butterflies. So, butterflies are pollinators and food foragers. And I enjoyed watching some of this close-up footage because these butterflies have a long strawlike tongue that they dip down into the flower to sip on the sweet nectar. And during that process, the butterflyy's body brushes up against the pollen. And so as they move from flower to flower, that carries the pollen and spreads it around, which pollinates all the other plants. And that's one of the things I love about this farm. It lets me see the wild variety of different species of fish, animals, birds, water foul, and even plants and insects. And how most of the time a lot of the plants, water, insects, and everything work together to benefit each other, which is pretty neat. And we also got this little guy over here training for the Olympics. And it was hard for me to get focused in on him, but check out that dragonfly striking a pose. But not only are we planting the wild flowers this year, it's time to plant our wildlife crops. So this year, we're going to cover this entire field with sunflowers, corn, and soybeans. But I'm going to try to do things by the book this year. And so we need to start out by taking a soil sample throughout several different parts of the field.

[00:19:20]And I'm basically just using this tool to get 6 in of dirt. And I'll get about 10 different samples from across the field for each different crop that we're planting. and then bag them up. And the next step is to send the soil samples off and tell them which crop you're going to plant. And they'll give you back the soil analysis and even the fertilizer recommendations. So, now that we got a plan, we're putting the girls to work on the tractor. As you can see, Liz and Sarah out there mowing last fall's crops down. But whenever she gets tired, Mr. Oliver gets behind the wheel, and that's when things get exciting. And folks, I've never been a big proponent of spraying, but last year we tried planting sunflowers without controlling the weeds. And all the grass literally took over and choked a lot of them out.

[00:19:58]So this year we will be controlling the grass and helping those sunflowers thrive. And we're going to be planting some Grand Champion clear field sunflowers, which are a hybrid that grow those really big heads. And we're also going to be planting some gamekeeper soybeans as well as corn for the wildlife. And typically you would plant corn and sunflowers with a road planter, but sometimes you just got to use what's available. So today we're using a no teal drill and I went through and blocked off several of the holes to turn this into a three row planter. So it's not ideal and the grouping of seeds may end up being too close together. But like I said, sometimes you just got to use what you have available. And after all, it doesn't have to be perfect because it's just for the wildlife and birds. That no teal drill cuts a trench down into the ground and then drops the seed down in it. Next up, we did the same exact thing with the corn. And my job was to sit up here on the back of the no tail drill, making sure that the three slots that were left open continued to have corn fed to them. Then after that, we planted one of the whitetail deer's absolute favorite, and that is soybeans. So, the other thing the soil analysis told us we needed was lime. And in our particular case, the pH in our soil had gotten too low. So, by adding lime, that helps bring that back up. But, it's a gradual process and it may slowly rise up over the course of 6 months. So really, we should have added this 6 months ago, but we're going to go ahead and add it now because that'll help us for our fall crops that we plant later in the year. But I like these a supply stores because they have the pull behind buggies and I can just spread it with my truck. And in our case, we spread one ton per acre. That's a lot of lime. And then last but not least, we had to apply fertilizer. And I like this particular company setup. They get the different blends of fertilizer and they dump them into this mixer that mixes them all together. And then after that, they use a conveyor belt to help load that fertilizer into the buggies. And then back to the farm we go. And like I mentioned, we had two different fertilizer types. One for the sunflowers and soybeans and the other for the corn.

[00:21:46]So this year we are going to help knock those weeds and grasses back with some pre-emergent. And that should also help the crops get all the nutrients they need out of the soil by reducing that competition. All right, we're all finished up. You can see that lime and fertilizer sitting right there on top of the ground and those trenches and creases in the dirt where those seeds have been planted. And it only took about four days and we started to see our sunflowers popping up. And I was happy to see that in some cases the spacing turned out pretty good. So that's the sunflowers. Here's a look at the soybeans. And there's a look at our little rows of corn.

[00:22:18]And it didn't take the birds long at all to find it. But y'all come back in a few more months and there'll be a lot more here for you to eat. And a couple days later, you could see everything popping up. Our rose turned out really good.

[00:22:29]Some areas the seeds were grouped too close together, but again, overall, I'm happy with it. There's one more look at the soybeans. And but after just a few days of the plants being up, I started to notice that we had a big problem. As you can see, something was chewing on all of our green leaves. And at first, I wasn't 100% sure what it was because it looked like something was taking a big bite out of it. But after doing some more research, it definitely seems to be different types of insects. So, I spent a little bit of time out here getting up close with some of the leaves, and I could see that we did have some little baby insects. But this little guy, I know exactly what he is, and that's a grasshopper. So, for any of you farmers out there, let me know. Am I going to have to spray some sort of insecticide on these plants, or is that not going to be enough damage to hurt the crops? And one other interesting thing, a couple of days in, the corn was popping up really good. But I noticed I had a lot of the leaves splitting right there down the center. And that could be part of that really bad storm we had with all of that strong wind. But I don't know, maybe some of you farmers out there have seen that before. But anytime you put fertilizer down, you want it to rain soon after. But usually a light rain is preferred, not these heavy downpours.

[00:23:30]We're just out here doing our best and hoping these crops can grow to feed the wildlife. But speaking of wildlife, we got a new visitor down in the swamp that we're starting to see every day now, and that's Mr. Bobcat. But there's one thing I want you guys to pay attention to with this bobcat. He's very meticulous about the path that he walks every day. He almost takes that same path step for step. And on top of that, he's a really good hunter. So, Mr. Raccoon, you may want to climb up that tree a little bit.

[00:23:57]You got a new visitor in town. And I caught him on a different camera and something spooked him right here. And I have no clue what it is he's catching, but he is doing a number on him. Mr. Raccoon said, "I'm out of here." All right, we got some deer hanging out down there in the flooded swamp water. And I am happy they're down there, not up in the fields eating the sunflowers right now. But nobody's happier when it rains and floods these creeks than Mr. Raccoon. He does most of his work and hunting down here whenever there's just a little bit of water down here in the creeks. Think he's hunting around for some of those crawfish. And something spooked the dough. But hey, check it out. We got a nice sunset out here one afternoon at the pond. And Mr. Longneck out here trying to catch one last fish for the day. And then here's that medium-sized bird that we couldn't quite figure out what it was. And something got the heron's attention right here.

[00:24:42]And then he decided to flee. Not quite sure what that would have been. Come back and do his hunting when it was a little foggier so he could be in stealth mode. We got a little buck walking down the banks. Might have been some of those same deer that spotted me when I was out there in the kayak. And some of those cattle eager eating the grasshoppers. I may need to train some of those to go clear some of the grasshoppers out of the crops.

[00:25:06]All right, it's time for another update on Moby Jr. So, his personality is still the same. He's still eating fish like crazy. And at this point, it looked like the virus had stopped getting bigger and that growth on his back hadn't gotten any worse. But it did start to turn really red right there in that area.

[00:25:20]hopefully a sign that it's going to pass through the skin and get better here soon. All right, so I came back a couple days later and there was a noticeable difference and it appears that the virus or that cluster of cells has broken through the layer of skin, but I was worried about the little guy. So I had to come back in and check on him the next day and happy to report that it did look like that was the worst of the virus and that after it kind of broke through the skin, it does appear like it's healing. A lot of that redness went away and the swelling has definitely came down. I think we dodged a bullet and it looks like the little guy is going to survive after all. I feel a little bit of an extra burden to keep this fish alive because he has Moby's genetics and it's kind of like we're keeping that bloodline and those really aggressive genetics alive. So, man, what a relief after he made a full recovery.

[00:26:04]All right, folks. Time to see if the bass want to eat one of these fuzzy ball style baits. As I mentioned, they're extremely popular right now. I'll show you really quick how I like to rig them up. All right, now there's a couple different ways you can rig these baits.

[00:26:14]I'm going to show you the treble hook style. And these trebles have a little spinner on the bottom. I'm going to take that spinner off and replace it with an 8 ounce weight. All right, just like that. Now we have the weight attached.

[00:26:25]We're just going to insert that there through the bait and use one of these stoppers to keep it from coming off. All right, there we go. You can see the stopper on the treble coming out. And you got two hooks exposed and the weight on the bottom.

[00:26:39]And as always, every bass we catch, we're going to scan it with a pit tag reader. I'll have the scanner kits linked down in the video description below.

[00:26:53]Got him.

[00:26:56]Well, that answers that. It popped right out, but they definitely eat the fuzzy ball. All right, this fish has been caught. 32629.

[00:27:03]It weighs 1.55 lbs. All right, this fish is named Xander, and it's the fourth time we've caught him. And Xander is one of those male bass that just hangs out right there in that same weight range, right around a pound and a half.

[00:27:26]Whoa, that's a big fish right here. Oh, so he got off and another one got it.

[00:27:33]Man, a much smaller fish got it. Gosh, I wish I could have got that first one.

[00:27:39]Man, they are going crazy over this bait. That first fish could have easily been one of those big eight or nine pounders. I never could even turn it around. All right, this fish has been caught. 570260.

[00:27:52]Went in at 2.68 lb. All right, this fish is named Mango and it's the fourth time we caught him. And there's one thing pretty consistent about Mango. He likes hanging out around the feeders.

[00:28:09]Got him.

[00:28:13]Look at that. Man, that had some air time. There we go. He's got some little red spots on his fin back there. Man, these fish are lively today. All right, this fish has been caught. 3276.

[00:28:25]All right, this fish weighs 2.18 pounds.

[00:28:27]All right, this fish is named Quagmire.

[00:28:29]He's one of the third generation bass, and it's only the second time we've caught him. Another feeder bass. Once at the big feeder, once at the little feeder, little guy.

[00:28:45]Another one.

[00:28:50]All right, another fish that has been caught. 69893, weighing in at 1.73 lb.

[00:28:56]All right, this fish is named Tiger. Not to be confused with Tiger that we put in the aquarium. But that's interesting that Tiger also lost a little weight from December last year. Only a quarter of a pound. So, it's not too concerning because they are typically at their heaviest weights during the winter.

[00:29:16]There we go. That's a good one, man. That's what I'm talking about.

[00:29:24]Biggest one of the day.

[00:29:28]All right, this fish has been caught.

[00:29:29]32853, weighing in at 2.91 lbs. All right, this fish is named Gil and one of the original bass that we stocked in the 5acre pond. And folks, I've never seen a fish so consistent. We've caught him eight times and all eight of those times he has been at one of the feeders.

[00:29:45]That's pretty wild.

[00:29:56]Got him.

[00:29:59]There we go.

[00:30:05]Chunky one.

[00:30:08]All right, this fish has been caught.

[00:30:10]232301, weighing in at 1.59 lbs. All right, this fish is named the Joker. The fourth time we caught him, probably a male bass. And another one that likes to hang around the feeders. Man, an interesting week for the feeder fish. If you made it this far in the video, make sure to hit that subscribe button to follow along with all the ponds, bass, and wildlife out here at the Crimson Oak Farm. But I hope you all enjoyed this one, and we will see you all next time.