Stocking mullet in a dam

[GreasePit]

Hi guys,
I have a dam at home probably a touch bigger than a normal sized swimming pool.
Before 2001 when the droughts hit and dried out the dam it used to have about 30 good sized koi in there, i restocked it a year or two ago with fingerlings but the cormorants and other predatory birds made short work of them.. 
Recently I've been catching a few mullet to use as bait, some of which have been around that 30cm mark.
I know that you're meant to introduced them to freshwater by putting them in a decent sized aquarium with salt water and slowly turn it to fresh and i'd buy a solar powered fountain just to make sure they've got plenty of oxygen.
With all this fresh around at the moment from the rains i'd pick its a decent time to go catch a few as they'd be already somewhat used to the freshwater, especially as where i fish is brackish water anyway. 
Just curious, do they need a certain food source, or will the small mosquito larvae and nymphs suffice?
How big do they get? (assuming stunted growth)
Any other care needed or will they be quite self sufficient?

Cheers
 

[Ozzybass]

There are species of freshwater mullet.  They are smaller and more streamlined, more like sand mullet.  You can catch them or trap them in the freshwater sections.  Dunno if they'll breed or survive in a small farm dam.  The other type of mullet (the big ones) you see in freshwater are "bully mullet" same as the ones that are in the sea and they need to migrate to breed I believe.

[tanglefish]

This is out of the box thinking.

Genius really.

Who would not love a steady supply of quality live baits.

Thanks for the tip.

[GreasePit]

1 hour ago, Ozzybass said:

There are species of freshwater mullet.  They are smaller and more streamlined, more like sand mullet.  You can catch them or trap them in the freshwater sections.  Dunno if they'll breed or survive in a small farm dam.  The other type of mullet (the big ones) you see in freshwater are "bully mullet" same as the ones that are in the sea and they need to migrate to breed I believe.

Yeah it's these bully mullet that i want to stock the dam with as these are the ones i have access to. Given how far they travel upstream into the fresh i figured i could stock them, but no breeding is a bit disappointing.

 

1 hour ago, tanglefish said:

This is out of the box thinking.

Genius really.

Who would not love a steady supply of quality live baits.

Thanks for the tip.

Not sure how long they would last going straight from fresh back to salty water again.
Though filleted and salted for strip baits would be the go.

Mostly just wanted to stock my dam with some fish permanently to keep the mosquito's in check and something interesting to look at. (Also the mullet are free) 

[Mr Mullit]

G'day Chris

Once you've caught them try putting them in a feed drum filled with salt water and introduce fresh water over a week or so. You'll need an aerator. Keep it to about 10 fish and you should be right. If you can get a drum with a tap on the bottom use that to drain the water. If not syphon the water out so you remove waste. If you can get one of those 1000l tubs on a pallet and you can have more fish. Once they settle down they'll eat pretty much anything but I'd get pellets. I found them to be a nervous fish and not that easy to keep without them bashing themselves up in the tank. Had to put a towel over the front. It'll be interesting to see how they settle down in such a small dam. 

Good luck

Matt

[Nolongeramember]

48 minutes ago, Chrisborg94 said:

Mostly just wanted to stock my dam with some fish permanently to keep the mosquito's in check and something interesting to look at. (Also the mullet are free) 

 

I have Bass in my dam and they are awesome. They have grown to full size and the commotion on their strike is amazing. The fight isn't as good as a wild fish as they get a bit lazy in an enclosed dam but still fun trying to tempt them on a lure. 

On a warm night with lots of bugs on the surface you can sit and watch them continuously smashing them. 

[GreasePit]

28 minutes ago, Mr Mullit said:

G'day Chris

Once you've caught them try putting them in a feed drum filled with salt water and introduce fresh water over a week or so. You'll need an aerator. Keep it to about 10 fish and you should be right. If you can get a drum with a tap on the bottom use that to drain the water. If not syphon the water out so you remove waste. If you can get one of those 1000l tubs on a pallet and you can have more fish. Once they settle down they'll eat pretty much anything but I'd get pellets. I found them to be a nervous fish and not that easy to keep without them bashing themselves up in the tank. Had to put a towel over the front. It'll be interesting to see how they settle down in such a small dam. 

Good luck

Matt

Cheers for the info Matt
I'd only get up to about 10 in the dam regardless as i'd want them to be for the most part self sufficient.
I'd also probably be doing one or two fish at a time as i mostly catch poddy's under 10cm, but i'm too worried the birds will get to them again. 

How big is the dam you have your fish in?

 

21 minutes ago, Roylo said:

 

I have Bass in my dam and they are awesome. They have grown to full size and the commotion on their strike is amazing. The fight isn't as good as a wild fish as they get a bit lazy in an enclosed dam but still fun trying to tempt them on a lure. 

On a warm night with lots of bugs on the surface you can sit and watch them continuously smashing them. 

Damnit Roylo, i didn't want to spend cash on this (poor uni student) but you make it sound too good.
I was initially looking at bass, silver perch and golden perch.
Only thing holding me back is bigger fish look like they'll be a good dollop out of the wallet and the fingerlings will get hammered by all the birds (maybe even the eels in the dam).

[Mr Mullit]

No dam for me at the moment, I'm on the coast. My mullet were kept in a tank. I did live at a couple of places with approx.1/4 acre dams stocked with bass and silvers though. The bass really used to smash the insects and mosquito fish and you could get the silvers to smash bread off the surface. I caught both species on just about every lure I owned. Had some mad arvos at those joints. Why don't you catch some fish and put them in there if you're a bit short? That's how the bass got into the dams at one af the places I lived at. You should easily be able to keep 10 or so in a pool sized dam. 

Matt

[dirvin21]

just be aware the cormorants are likely to make short work of any mullet you stock in the dam

[Mr Mullit]

Try some bird netting or maybe get a gun license. You don't have to cover the whole dam. Just provide a fair bit of cover. Cover in the water works well to. Chuck in a couple of branches with heaps of twigs on them until the fish grow a bit.

Can you see the bottom in your dam. If not have you tried catching the fingerlings you stocked a couple of years ago? If they were silvers there could be a couple in there and you wouldn't know. Bass are a bit easier to spot but a few could be in there. I've caught quite a few fish in dams that " birds ate all the fish". 

Matt

[Yowie]

You will need to cover the pond with netting, cormorants will be the worst pest, and egrets will also be fairly bad as well.

Eels can find their way to your pond if not already there. On a rainy night, if there are any eels in another pond or creek, the eels will swim over land and find their way into a new dam or pond.

To get rid of eels, hook up a heavy line with a large hook and a bit of meat, the eels will eat the bait and you can haul them out of the pond and kill them. (eat them if you want to)