Originally posted by Bender:
I would put in a well but I don’t have a good spot to put the water. That is why I was hoping irrigation of 56000 gallons a week would keep temps in check. I guess I will have to find a place for the extra water or switch to YP and SMB.
If I stocked the trout for Fall/spring and I had YP and SMB year round. How many of each species should I stock? I also thought about putting 4 or 5 LMB (all male or all female so they wouldn’t get out of hand) in the pond just to make things interesting.
Also, if I stocked trout for the fall/spring should I consider trying to heat the pond up a little for the winter so they could continue to grow? I was wondering how well one of those wood burning furnaces would work for a pond…..
I can't tell you anything from experience regarding SMB and YP numbers in such a small pond. Bill Cody is the expert on that and there is a thread on that already here somewhere. Bill? I actually lost most of my broodstock YP in a pond that small and although I have theories on why it happened I'm still somewhat baffled. I would say though if you want feed trained SMB Laggis Fish Farms would be the way to go. That is if the Fed ban on fish transports gets lifted by next spring. And he will have to disease test all of his fish which he may not want to due to the cost. This order has the potential to put fish farms out of business. In a pond that small feed trained fish would be the way to go though.
If you want SMB I personally would forego the largemouths. The largemouths will bully the smallmouth and keep them away from the feed for the most part.
As far as trout for a fall to spring fishery, I would plant no more than 50 larger trout in the entire pond. Although you have virtually no weed growth or carrying capacity worries during this time of year the more fish you add and feed the more you will fuel weed growth the following spring. After one season you can tell if you can get away with more the following year. You should feed them up to ice up. Don't overfeed and reduce feed as the water cools.
Heating water doesn't sound feasible or economical to me unless you have really deep pockets. It would be an uphill battle against dropping air temps and you would lose. Besides catching trout through the ice is a blast!
