Yankee Newb with a Question on Crayfish - 05/14/13 01:26 AM
I've had my pond for about ten years. It's lined and has a water source coming in from a small spring. Size is approx. 30' x 60' and triangular. Depth is 7.5' at it's deepest with mostly steep sides. There is no water outlet. The overflow goes out in the field and disappears down the gopher holes without making more than 300 feet. I aerate with an air pump and 8" stone at night so as to keep water temperatures at its lowest. Last fall I planted 150 4" rainbow trout and put them on an automatic game feeder that spews forth about a pound of Aquamax 500 twice a day. Last year I was inundated with curly leaf pond weed such that it was almost a mat. I went ahead and drained the pond and pressure-washed it down to the liner - no more mud, no more plants - and smoked all 63 of the remaining 3 to 3.5 pound fish.
Last September I planted another 150 4" rainbow. They're now running in the 14" to 15" range,. I'm fishing them about every other day to get the numbers down. I plan to carry a bunch over this year instead of pulling them all. I just hope they'll make it through July and August without succumbing to excessive heat. I may have to put the air on 24-hours per day to carry them through the hot months.
I have access to lots of crawdads in a couple of the small local lakes. I don't yet know their size, but the fishing regs say I can only keep those over 3.5" from nose to tail. According to Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife there is one native species and at least two invasive species. If I catch them in the wild I have to immediately kill the invaders.
I would like to plant my little pond with some crawdads. Obviously I want them to be compatible with the trout. A couple of questions:
1). Do I have to have any structure in the pond?
2). Should I wait until I have more bottom sediment (like next year) before I put the critters in there?
3). What happens when they molt and I have 3 or 4 pound trout in there? Last year the big ones were 3.5 to 3.75 pounds by the end of July.
4). Is this a foolish idea and should I just catch the local mudbugs and have them for dinner?
Thanks for your response.
Last September I planted another 150 4" rainbow. They're now running in the 14" to 15" range,. I'm fishing them about every other day to get the numbers down. I plan to carry a bunch over this year instead of pulling them all. I just hope they'll make it through July and August without succumbing to excessive heat. I may have to put the air on 24-hours per day to carry them through the hot months.
I have access to lots of crawdads in a couple of the small local lakes. I don't yet know their size, but the fishing regs say I can only keep those over 3.5" from nose to tail. According to Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife there is one native species and at least two invasive species. If I catch them in the wild I have to immediately kill the invaders.
I would like to plant my little pond with some crawdads. Obviously I want them to be compatible with the trout. A couple of questions:
1). Do I have to have any structure in the pond?
2). Should I wait until I have more bottom sediment (like next year) before I put the critters in there?
3). What happens when they molt and I have 3 or 4 pound trout in there? Last year the big ones were 3.5 to 3.75 pounds by the end of July.
4). Is this a foolish idea and should I just catch the local mudbugs and have them for dinner?
Thanks for your response.