I sure wanted trout in my pond this winter.
A few weeks back I bought a 120-quart Coleman 5-day cooler. With good advice from people here, and some off-line messages from other members, I figured I was all set to get trout home -- with my box of Kosher salt, a 750 GPH 12-Volt aerator designed for boat live wells, and a bunch of "blue ice."
Since mid-September, I thought I had 10 to 12-inch trout lined up. I thought I even had RES lined up -- I haven't caught any in my pond for over two years.
I've just been waiting for my pond to cool -- which it finally did.
I called my local fish dealer on Monday. All looked good, but she told me to call back on Wednesday. I called back on Wednesday. It looked less promising. I called back yesterday morning, and she said they were closing for the season. She had some 7-inch rainbows for $2.75 each, and maybe she could still get some RES. She told me to call before I left home this morning. Instead she called me. No RES, and the owner decided to put the trout back into ponds for the winter.
I called another trout dealer a little further away. She thought I was crazy. She told me I was out of season, and besides, all she had was 7-inch rainbows -- but they would be 12 inches by mid-April -- which is when I should be putting them in my pond! I told her I had a warm water pond and I just wanted them for the winter. She thought I was even crazier. She did eventually think that maybe I wasn't so crazy -- but she still didn't have any reasonable sized trout.
I left my 4th message since early September with the closest and largest trout dealer in the area. I also sent him two e-mails over the past several weeks. Nothing has been answered.
All the other sources that I know of are more than two hours away.
I've got a 12x12 meat processing "cold room" in my barn, and a good water well just outside the barn. I think that next year I'm going to buy a cattle tank and some fingerlings early in the season.
Troutless Ken
