Hey guys, this is my first post here on the forum, just joined today, but been an active reader of all the pond knowledge for years. So I had a project in mind for this upcoming summer. There are two springs I have in my woods, they originate hundreds of yards apart but eventually join to create a stream that flows through my property. They are in a deep shady part of the forest(have trails not to far out for access). I want to dig a pond(1/2) acre but very deep and widen/deepen the stream that flow from the spring to create a self sustaining trout pond with natural spawning. Any tips/knowledge regarding my situation would be greatly appreciated. Please ask any questions you have that aren't answered above about the project.
Also has anyone on here created a naturally reproducing trout pond?
Trout are one of the cheapest fish to buy which is why most just restock trout when needed. Why go to all the work and maybe frustration trying to reproduce trout in your pond? Unless you want the challenge and it will be a challenge. Are you familiar with redds and their structure and function; the natural way most trout spawn? It may be difficult to duplicate redds in your stream. You could easily buy fingerlings pretty low cost and supplimentally stock them into your pond as a put and take fishery.
Your idea of a 1/2 acre pond may be too big to maintain an adequate low temperature from the stream flow. Have you done a flow calculation and thermal study for the stream during low flow when adequate cool water will be needed. Too deep of a pond may be more of a problem than a benefit depending on specific conditions. Annual Leaf inputs may be a problem for the DO budget of the pond.
One easy option would be to buy small lost cost fingerling trout raise them in cages until they are big enough to escape predation of large remaining trout.
What about brook trout. I hear they can spawn in very small streams. A lot of the spring fed stream is over rocks and and flows strongly out of the ground over bedrock and small gravel. Baby trout would be able to grow and hunt insects in the shallow stream part until they got big enough to escape the fellow trout and reside in the pond. I think they would be able to hatch since the spring flows at its strongest and contains the most D.O. from the months of October to May.
My last project was a 1/8 acre trout pond in our field. We dug the pond right over the spring so it flows from the bottom of the pond. It stays full year around and has steep sides with no gradient. It supports stocked rainbow and brook trout year round for a pit and take type fishery.
It has about 1/4 the flow of the the two combined springs in my woods. There is no shade it's about 30 feet deep at any given point. I had the guy dig it deep and he said we have some perfect pond building clay. Any ponds I dig on my property retain water all year, with minimal water loss round year due to this feature.
A pond in the woods fed by almost triple the flow rate should stay much cooler.
Never hurts to try! The hard part is keeping the fingerlings out of the adult mouths if they are waiting in the pond below for an easy breakfast.
Wild caught brook trout would have a better chance of spawning than hatchery bought rainbows. You may still run into diffaculties, and check your local regulations too.
Yeah defenitly, I would also heavily stock with crayfish to supplement the trout.
The crayfish would eat the leaf matter and increase the dissolved oxygen
You mean crawdads?
Brook trout would be the way to go. I would keep the pond smaller to keep the temp cooler. I had 1/2 acre pond with a 38 gallon a minute artisan well feeding it. I had my trout for one year to the day when we got a tremendous amount of rain in mid summer. It was so much run off rain all at once that the temperature of the pond got too high and I lost them all. If the pond does not have a lot of watershed feeding it when it rains it may be OK.
Yeah I was thinking brookies, the streams do have a little extra flow during the winter months but stays steady throughout summer. I really think they will spawn, but even if it's a fail, I'll have another put and take trout pond to enjoy. If it works I can stop buying fingerlings for the other pond and help some friends get batches of fingerlings. One of the main reasons I am doing this is because trout fingerlings are fairly difficult to find around here and the sources I know of are pretty expensive and a few hours away.
I am gonna keep all the trees that I possibly can cutting only the ones that are in the way of the excavator making it a very cool pond/stream.
TroutPonder ; If I were a Cat, I'd been deceased many Moons ago. April of 2017 you were contemplating BT in your wooded streams , did you move forward , how'd it work, any pictures, curiosity , curiosity . Hoping for a wonderful success story.