Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Rainbow Trout Question

Actually Phil these trout were much bigger. The WVGRB's in the photo were in the 10 to 12 lb. range. I think about 28 ro 30 inches.

That was one of the ponds at Crystal Springs btw right in your back yard.

Edit:

Sorry Scott I didn't know you had already said the same thing until I posted.

That's probably true. Herons can also be a problem. In PA the anglers sight fish for them right Travis?

My generous reply was referring to the small side. Kinda hard to really tell from a picture.

I know where this is at. About a 20 minute drive on a bad day. (that stretch of road is always a bad day!)

Doubt any bass would clean those up in a hurry

I haven't met the heron yet that wanted to try to eat fish AND keep an eye out for this...



Not my dog, but I wouldn't dream of having property anywhere without a pair of them. They're better than any alarm system and they work 24 hours a day for just food and a spot on the couch.

Edited to add, raccoons will no longer eat your crayfish either. LOL.

Also...geese are a problem of the past. Basically, anything short of a full grown bull stopping by your pond to drink is going to be chased off pretty easily.

Good point there. I think folks that buy expensive alarm systems for their homes but could have a dog (not everyone can) are missing the boat by not getting a dog. Hell my dog lets me know when the neighbors pull into their driveway 300 feet away!

But mine isn't vicious just barks at strangers which is what I want. But I have no doubt if someone threatened me physically she would be all over them.

About a year ago I had a strange potential customer. He was interested in the taxidermy but he wasn't, and he had no fish. I got this strange feeling he was casing the place. I think my 110 pound Akita probably made him doubt he was ever going to break in. I also keep a 12 gauge under the bed.

Yeah pictures can be deceiving. I've seen it go both ways.

What I find fascinating is how the topography around a lake can make it look larger or smaller than it is. I've been to lakes that were identical in size but didn't appear like it.

Spitting image of our pup. And a great security system, largely for the bark, but the visual of her sitting in the driveway usually turns cars around too.

I have Olde English Bulldogges now, but I'm getting pits next time around. They're virtually indestructible, no health issues, long lived, smart, athletic as all get out, and they love to please their master.

I had a guy try to break into my house once through the dog door. The dogs met him there in the mud room and that was it LOL. He made it back out the door, over the fence, and out of there, but he was worse for it LOL.

I was on the phone with 911. I remember walking around the field behind that fence with a flashlight saying, "I think there's a dead body out here, but I ain't found it yet LOL". I had never seen that much blood outside of processing cattle.

A good friend who lives in Fallbrook, Ca. had a really, really nice pit. Lady was her name. She was fine when they were home, but Jay said "if you don't see my truck or my wife's car in the drive, don't go thru the gate to ring the doorbell."

She was killed by a pack of coyotes about 6 months after that.

Yup, you always know a hole in a creek holds one as there will be anglers bunched shoulder to shoulder trying to catch one lone "palomino" as they're called there.

These largemouth bass forage tactics give me a lot of ideas for growing world record size smallies.

Tilapia in the spring. Rainbows in the fall. Crawdads dumped in all summer long in a feeding frenzy. Oh man. I can smell the record growing.

If RBT in 8-10" size were stocked concurrently with 1-2" HBG, and 3-4 " YP, would there be any concerns on excessive predation? There are lots of forage minnows present, and they would be fed pellets.

Hi MattWI, I am curious about this same thing. I have a recent post that I mentioned about calling my fish supplier. He said that they open up a RBT once in a while to see what it has been eating. He claims that once in awhile their stomachs will be filled with BG fry up to an 1.25" long. He suplies RBT in the 10- 14" range, so I imagine he is talking that size, or bigger. I would also think that the RBT would go for a prefered food, but I don't really have a clue about this. I hope for more answers myself.....Jim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pOOMpFW_8&feature=youtu.be

I think people tend to under estimate trout and how they feed.Take a look at that video especially around the 3:30 min mark

Granted hatchery fish that are pellet trained and fed imo won't be as glutenous.

Fish n chips you reminded me of a 4+ year old thread on another forum about stomach contents.I'll add a link to my striper thread,you will be shocked at what some fish will eat.

That's a pretty cool video Robert. I didn't think that trout would feed that heavily on mice, but I guess that they do provide a quite a bit of nutrition and I'm sure that swimming mice are probably about the easiest thing that a trout could catch.

Stocking trout over the winter would leave them in the water during a time when there would be very little in the way of small fry to eat. They would have to feed on minnows, shiners, crayfish, or other things.

Plus, they don't really make it to the spawn so I see them as more of a benefit. Plus, if you can show me a bass lake that produces 20 pound fish that doesn't stock rainbows every year I will be shocked.

Matt--- a link to my post about trout feeding on BG/GSF;
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=307060#Post307060