Incredible that we've gone from 92F yesterday out at the pond to mid 40s today. Maybe it's good that I havent done drawdown yet, as the stress of that combined with thermal shock & turnover might have been fatal. That happened a couple of years ago to my still spawning large CNBG in severe October cold snap, they got a fungus that killed almost all of them.

No other fish were affected, including small CNBG. I think the big ones were in shallows spawning so were most vulnerable to temp change. I'll check on their condition in a week or two, hope for no repeat.

That's a huge swing in temps. Did something make you decide to wait? If it hasnt been record rains around here it has to be close. Seems like the weather is crazy this year.

RS, I reinjured my bad knee, and another guy came close to breaking his ankle getting to the outlet. Unbelievably treacherous terrain, covered with tall grass so it's hard to tell solid ground from gullies.

Anyway, after much travail we got to the outlet valve. There we discovered that the circular opening mechanism given to us four years ago did not fit!!!

We've bought a heavy duty crescent wrench for the next time we venture down there on safari, but it is discouraging.

And we are still in a drought at my place! Maybe an inch or so in the past 30 days. If it were me and it's not, I would worry about the pond filling back up by March. But your watershed is way better than mine.

Anthropic thts crazy I hope you guys tie off with ropes or something. Heard we lost a kansan this year from getting stuck in a drain pipe. Always have someone above ground with you.