This is my first post. I have recently renovated an existing pond, deepened and enlarged it. The pond is 24 feet deep and about 1/2 to 3/4 acre is size. Just stocked it with FHM and golden shiners.
The inlet flows through a smaller shallower pond with minnows and outlets through a 8 inch drainage pipe under the dam.
I want to stock both speckled trout (brook trout) and rainbow trout. I plan on 8 - 10 inch fish. Anything in particular I should be worried about with booth of these species together?
Max
Max -- first, a very big welcome from the Pond Boss crew.
You shouldn't have any issues stocking rainbow and brook trout together, especially at the sizes you are contemplating.
This publication:
Getting to Know Your Trout has some very good info about brookies and rainbows for New York state, which may be applicable to your location.
It sounds like you've got a great start. Your pond renovation and your forage stocking sound perfect. I think our friend AP hit on all the main points you might need to consider.
You didn't mention what part of the country you are in, but the amount of ice, snow, and the amount of summer warming, all have very differing effects on pond life. The advice for lower parts of Quebec and Ontario, versus the upper Northwest Territories will certainly be a lot different. Although probably not a problem, but if you are as far south as Windsor, or even Toronto, you could have some temperature issues in the summer without aeration. The bottom may stay real cold, but it may be devoid of oxygen without aeration or significant water movement.
Trout need a lot of oxygen. During the winter your pond will need a lot of incoming water, with access to open air riffles, or your pond will need relatively thin ice (4-6 inches or less, most of the winter) without lots of snow. The trout can make it through the winter without a lot of forage, but once the water starts to warm in the spring, they will need plenty of forage or supplemental feeding in the form of pellets.
More than likely, your trout will be "put-and-take" as most ponds don't have enough fast flowing water for the fish to successfully reproduce. But, adding a small batch of trout each spring or fall should keep you in perpetually good fishing.
If you can, post a few photos.
Again welcome. Look around the forum. You should also find a very helpful bunch of people here when you post.
Regards,
Ken
P.S. I'm a long distance south of the border, but I stock rainbow and golden trout in my pond nearly every winter. By geography, I'm in the warm and sunny south -- but it has been snowing on-and-off on our mountain ridge since last weekend. We don't expect to get much above freezing in the foreseeable future. We've had "heavy flurries" on-and-off since about 10:00 AM this morning, but the ground is still just above freezing, so nothing is sticking -- yet! I'm sure the trout are happy.