Rotenone to kill fish

[vicksburg]

I have a small pond (about 1/3 acre) behind my house that i would like to kill and start from scratch. It is about 7' deep at the levee and gradually gets shallower, as it is essentially a dammed up hollow. It has about a million crappie and bream in it about 3" long.
Any idea how much rotenone it would take to wipe it out?
Also i read where there is liquid, and powder. Which should i use?
How much does the stuff cost?
And finally, my little pond is the only one around for a mile or so, and i have some great deer back there. It is there only water source when it is hot and dry like this time of year. Surely the stuff won't hurt my deer? right?

Thanks,
signed...Completely Rotenone Ignorant

[medic11]

Ive been researching it also, I have about a 3/4 acre pond behind the house I am going to restock, here is probably the most informative thing I have found
[url]
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publication ... 200_77.pdf[/url]

[ScottBrown]

I haven’t used any in a while but this is the little I do know.

Rotenone is not a poison but a chemical that takes the oxygen out of the water. It dissipates after a while so that should not hurt the wildlife that come to drink. What might bother them is the rancid smell of fish rotting in the pond. The smell will be ruff for a few days.

I would recommend pulling the pond down as low as possible before applying the rotenone.

I have a sain so let me know when the killing is.

[ducman77]

I have seen it used many of times in catfish ponds. It works fast by taking the oxygen out of the water it does not poison the fish or other wildlife.

[LODI QUACKER]

SOunds like excellent catfish bait. I would plan a big line setting trip prior to killing them.

[pondman]

V'burg,

I've rotenoned a few ponds in my day. Let me take a swing at this.

Rotenone does not take oxygen out of the water. It interferes with cellular process of ATP production and does not allow oxygen to attach to red blood cells. Essentially, fish suffocate on a cellular level.

Be careful with rotenone. It is very close (from a elemental bonding standpoint) from being a highly carcinogenic substance.

The warmer the water the quicker the rotenone detoxifies. It will not harm your deer. You have to have gills for it to kill you; however, detox time on rotenone right now will be about 1 day at a water temp of 90 degrees.

How much rotenone? Average depth X surface acres X .33 X desired concentration. Answer in gallons. If catfish or other rough fish are present you will need a concentration of 2ppm. Game fish only require a concentration of 1ppm. For a 1/3 acre pond, I would not worry about draining down the water. You will probably on need 1/2 gallon or so.

Do NOT use powdered; use liquid. Crackhead can get it for you.

Hope this helps.

Pond

[ducman77]

That is from the resident expert. I have always been wrong with saying it would take the oxygen out. I never knew about some of that info thanks Pondman.

[vicksburg]

[ScottBrown]

Thanks pond.

Suffocation on a cellular levelsounds bad.

[pondman]

[LODI QUACKER]

[vicksburg]

I'm pretty sure you can use bream and crappie as bait, as long as they are caught legally(on a hook) and you don't have/use over the legal limit. May be wrong... There's a first time for everything. Not sure if the same rules apply to getting said baitfish from a private pond. Seems like you should be able to harvest whatever and however many fish you want from your own pond, but taking them to a public waterway like a river to use as bait may be a no no.

[duramax]

I'd go with about 100 sticks of dynamite. That would be a whole lot more fun. Neighbors might not appreciate it however.

[420 racin]

Quinn, you can use bream and crappie as bait, as long as you catch them "legally" and don't have over the limit. But when I catch them in my pond, legally is however i want to catch them. I been catching flatheads with bream lately, they been staying alive just fine, of course when the fish are bitin they don't stay on the hook long before them yellows get to 'em.