I've just had a pond put in at my residence in Maine. It's about 75 feet long by 40 feet wide, and is about 8 feet deep in the middle. Feeding the pond is a very productive well, which is pumping out over 40 gallons an hour. Once the pond was dug out, it took less than 4 days to completely fill up from the amount of water that my well is discharging. I expect that this pond will constantly receive a fresh supply of water from my well year-round.

I'm wondering if this pond would eventually be able to support rainbow trout, given the size of it, as well as the fact that it is being fed with a steady supply of fresh, cool water? If so, what steps can I now take to create a suitable habitat for them?

Let me add one point for A Train in case he may not know.

I believe, from what I've read on the forum, that well water has little to no dissolved oxygen in it. I think that some well water users remedy this by running the water over/through some substrate to seperate it and rejoin it prior to introduction into the pond.

If the flow is very high as you indicate, you may want to check into that as your pond water may cycle rapidly with the well water thus not giving enough time for natural absorbtion of oxygen by the water in the pond.

I meant to indicate 40 gallons per minute. Thanks for pointing this out. Since I live on a sloped lot (on a small mountain), I have the excess water from the well running down about 50 feet of rip rap (rocks), through a culvert, and then over about 15 more feet of rock prior to entering the pond. Will this contribute to the oxygen content? This flow is constant and substantial, and will hopefully keep the temperature of this pond down in the summer.

I'll check into Cecil's postings to see if he's addressed my situation in the past.

Your water will definitely be adequately oxygenated. I, too, use a well to augment my pond levels and take frequent readings of dissolved oxygen. If water is baffled for even short distances it will not depress the overall DO in your pond. If anything, the ponds using primarily well water have a higher DO due to the fact that well water comes without suspended sediment and this increased water clarity helps improve phytoplankton production, yielding a net increase in dissolved oxygen.

Fear not.

That's great news. Now I'll have to do my research to see what I need to do to be able to keep rainbow trout in it. If anyone has any pointers as to what I should do first, I would greatly appreciate it.

Before investing in fish I would research the following:

Take temperature readings at surface, 4 ft down and near bottom throughout the summer. Of particular interest would be temperature readings taken late afternoon during a warm spell. By establishing maximum temperatures you can evaluate feasibility and maybe identify a particular species of trout that might do better in you situation. This is called taking a "temperature profile".

Look at the possibility of making a small investment in a venturi system so well water could pick up oxygen and then be discarged near the bottom of the pond. Your baffling process that you have in place now, while good at adding oxygen, will also warm the water before it enters the pond, especially on a hot, windy summer day.

Wait until fall of 2006 before stocking so you can determine if you have a viable year around situation or maybe a fall/winter/spring trout fishery.

Research Cecil Baird's posts on brook trout production in small Indiana ponds. He's brilliant, knows his stuff, and maybe most importantly has made some errors that you can learn from.

ATrain :

Bruce is 100% right on what you should do. I would do just what he said. But while you are doing that it would not cost much to add a half dozen 6 in. RT to your pond and feed them and see what happens. It would be good hands on learning , would not risk many $s and is a lot more fun than just watching your water. This assumes they will not get out the spillway. Welcome to the forum and good luck with your project.

Thought I'd provide an update on my pond for anyone who's interested. About a month ago I added 25 6" rainbow trout to my new pond. I've been feeding them floating trout food through the inlet hole of my pond, and each time they've come up to the inlet hole in the ice to feed. The hatchery that I got the rainbows from will be stocking brook trout in the fall, so I may try adding some of them as well. I'm anxious for the ice to melt so that I can add some structure to the pond. I'm also going to add some plant-life in the Spring, as soon as I've researched what will work well in my area, and what will be good for my trout. I'll spend some time looking at previous posts on this board for plant-life that will work well in the Northeast, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

ATrain - For selecting the best local natural plants for ponds - lakes I suggest you go around to some of the local lakes and observe what types of underwater plants are growing there. Try and chose types that don't grow real dense, compact, and entangled. Choose something that the fish (small & large) will be able to swim through. I am not familiar with what are the best local species for your area. State University extension office might(?) be able direct you to the name of a univeristy plant specialist who could advise you about better types of underwater water plants that do not cause lots of problems. Note that some of those people are knowledgable and some are pretty dissapointing. If you get some plant names come back here and I will look up the names they give you and I will give you an opinion about their growth performance in ponds.

Atrain,
I understand lots of pond owners that get substantial ice take advantage & place structure on the ice where they want it in the pond.

Can anyone comment about if trout prefer the same types of cover & structure as LMB?

I question if trout prefer cover in pond habitats. I think trout select or orient to cover in streams due to current patterns that allow for them to expend less energy as they wait for food moving down stream. This characteristic is not needed in pond/lakes thus trout can do quite well in ponds without cover/structure. Maybe other trout experts can elaborate more on this topic. However I don't think very many trout nerds frequent this site. NO offense intended CB1.