Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Winter Stocked Pond Trout Removal/Death - S Oklahoma

I have a 18' deep 1/2 acre pond in southern Oklahoma that we stocked with about 100 rainbow trout for winter fishing. We have caught quite a few, but not nearly all of them. I know when the temperature rises, the trout will die. The pond is stocked with northern bass and perch about two years old.

Will the death of 50 trout or so be an issue for the pond health, or will the bass/perch eat the dead uns?

Should I try to electro shock them up in the spring, and have a big fish fry? And if so, is there a home made shocker that will work for this purpose?

I also have a windmill aerator on the pond which should help in the dead matter processing.

Thanks Chris

fastranzactions@hotmail.com

I'm new to this game, but I really don't think that dead trout will be eaten by the other fish in your pond. I have not stumbled upon any plans for home made shockers, and suspect that shocking is best done by some one who has experience. Why not invite a bunch of friends over for a trout fishing party?

We stock lots of trout for our clients similiar to you. First thing is you have plenty of time. First time trout stockers start calling me about now worried they did not get their fish out. They are very agressive as it starts to warm in the spring. Here in mid Georgia they make it up into May or later.

DO NOT ATTEMPT HOME MADE SHOCKER! Also not economical to hire pro for this job. Large bass can eat up to 1.5 lb trout when they get letharigc before death. Also turtles will quickly cleanup the dead ones. Or simly pull them out when they get weak.

I think you will be pleased at how much fun you will have with them when water tems hit mid 55-62 degrees. So like mentioned invite a few freinds over then and pull 'em out.

Ditto to what Greg says. You have plenty of time and they will be even easier to catch in when your water makes it to the upper 50's. You should be able to get 90 percent of them and the ones that die will float up and you can scoop them out.

Last time I planted trout in a warmwater pond in the fall we caught all but four or five by late May.

You could also try using pellets for bait in open water that has a piece of pantyhose stretched over a couple of floating pellets and tied off. Then hook a small salmon egg hook into the hose and you are ready to go. This will float for a while. No need to add any weight or a float. If you go this route feed them everyday ahead of time and they will be right there where you fed them and will put on weight faster.

Chris,
I'm thinking you need a Cornhusker to come down and show you how to catch those last 50 trout out of your pond.

We did the same thing a few years ago. We caught quite a few through the ice. But the most fun was casting wobble-rite spoons and spinners in the cold spring water after the ice was out. Caught about 90 out of the 100 stocked. Only found one dead one floating in June.

Good luck,
Brad B.

Thanks for the replies and the tip on how they frisk up in the spring. I'm sure we'll get them caught with this insight. We also have a local Blue Heron which in additon to the bass, well do cleanup duty for the few we don't catch. Happy Fishing!

I am in Norman, OK, Fasttranz, and have put about 200 trout in my 3.5 ac pond. I can't recommend doing this too highly for those of you in my general climate zone. This has been a huge success entertainment-wise. I have been feeding my trout all winter and harvesting some now and then. Doing mostly catch and release. I have been nearly a lifelong catch and release trout flyfisher and it is really going to me hard for me to harvest some of the large, very hard fighting trout I have. So far I have just taken the wimps out. Also there are some albinos, which I have also returned because of the fun it affords catching them. My fish were stocked in mid November and are very acclimatized to my pond by now. They seem to fight a lot harder now than just after being stocked, not surprising really. I have used Cecil's Panty Hose fly successfully a lot, as well as Mepps spinners and Roostertails. I use some of my small hooks I tie flies on for the panty hose fly. Float one in a glass of water with the hook on it to see if it sinks. I attach a small piece of white styrofoam on the opposite side from the hook so I can see it easily and it floats it a little better too. I will certainly be doing this again next winter.