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
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publicatio ... 200_77.pdf

[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]

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

Funny that you say that! That's why i'm killing this pond.... To start me a real bait pond. I have a nice 1/3 acre pond on my deer camp that had no fish in it and i put about 50 pond perch (green sunfish) in it about 9 years ago. They are IMO, the BEST trotline bait there is. They are tough as nails and will live on a hook for a week. Anyway, it has a BRAZILLION pond perch in it now and anytime i need bait, it is nothing to got catch 100 or so in 20 minutes. I found out they are fixing to drain it to mine gravel. So, im fixing to start my own bait pond. Isnt it ironic that i'm killing a pond to start a pond of green sunfish! LOL. I think they are a reason some folks rotenone in the first place. But, a good bait pond to someone who lives 2 miles from the Big Black, with 2 boys who love to tug on a trot line is invaluable!
Bream, and crappie are too fragile to be my go too trot line bait. Pond perch will live for hours wrapped in a wet paper towel.

Thanks for the info, pondman.

[ScottBrown]

Thanks pond.

Suffocation on a cellular levelsounds bad.

[pondman]

Thanks pond.

Suffocation on a cellular levelsounds bad.

I guess its not too bad; I've never heard any of the fish complain about it.

I hope the information was helpful. If have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks,

Rob

[LODI QUACKER]

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

Funny that you say that! That's why i'm killing this pond.... To start me a real bait pond. I have a nice 1/3 acre pond on my deer camp that had no fish in it and i put about 50 pond perch (green sunfish) in it about 9 years ago. They are IMO, the BEST trotline bait there is. They are tough as nails and will live on a hook for a week. Anyway, it has a BRAZILLION pond perch in it now and anytime i need bait, it is nothing to got catch 100 or so in 20 minutes. I found out they are fixing to drain it to mine gravel. So, im fixing to start my own bait pond. Isnt it ironic that i'm killing a pond to start a pond of green sunfish! LOL. I think they are a reason some folks rotenone in the first place. But, a good bait pond to someone who lives 2 miles from the Big Black, with 2 boys who love to tug on a trot line is invaluable!
Bream, and crappie are too fragile to be my go too trot line bait. Pond perch will live for hours wrapped in a wet paper towel.

Thanks for the info, pondman.

Yep, you are right, green sunfish are THE best catfish bait there is. You are also right on the fragility of the other two. They die quick, not to mention it being illegal as hell to put the crappie on a line. Not that you really have to worry about that where you are ....but.......

I think its actually illegal to put use the blugill unless caught with a pole. But it would take one sorry SOB to write you a ticket for that.

[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.