Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose stocking brook trout in small pond

Hi All,

I have a 1/3 acre pond on my property in Northern Maine. It has small minnows (small 1"-2" fish ..not sure what kind) and frogs. Approx. 5 years ago I had it drained and cleaned out. At one end of the pond (at an earthen dam) the depth is 12'-15'. At the opposite end the grade gradually slopes up to the shoreline. A seasonal brook and spring feed the pond. These water sources tend to dry up in late summer into the fall. The pond freezes over in winter.

When the pond was drained some tree stumps and trunks were set in the deep end of the pond. Cat tails, lily pads, duck weed and green algae have established since the pond filled up with water.

The pond has a history of otter problems. It's been more than 10 years since I've observed any otter in the pond but the pond is approx 1000' from a stream so it's likely they're in the area.

I'm considering stocking the pond with brook trout. Does it matter what time of the year to stock? (My local supplier will have stock available in the fall). Does it matter the size fish (brook trout) with regard to survival rate? I'm thinking of introducing 25 fish and if they appear to survive perhaps stock more.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Chris in Maine

I wouldn't even try brookies. They are
Super sensitive.
I'd go with steelhead or Rainbows.
Much more tolerant.

Hey Keegs, always a pleasure to encounter another brook trout enthusiast. I tend to agree with Clay N' Pray. Although I haven't experienced any issues, from all I have read and been advised, they do have requirements most ponds can't deliver.

BT definitely need cold water, below 70 degrees and preferably 65F or below year round. They also require high levels of dissolved oxygen, 8ppm may be sufficient but 10ppm or greater is desirable.

In my opinion, BT require more natural forage base. Feeding BT, or any fish, has a negative impact on water quality and BT are susceptible to any change in water quality. Also, they probably won't reproduce well in a pond due to spawning requirements.

If you are serious about brook trout, it is best to know your water quality parameters throughout the year prior to stocking. You could do a limited stocking in fall if you're impatient and see what happens. Just know, it is well within the realm of possibility, you may lose your entire stock come the heat of summer.

Thank you Clay and Joey, The manager of the Micmac fish farm mentioned to me a concern about water temp but thought the depth of the pond would possibly provide the proper env. for the brook trout to survive.

The Micmac are a local Native American tribe here in northern ME and produce only native brook trout (as I understand it it's for reasons of tradition/history) I'm going to take a another look around to see if there's other suppliers that offer rainbow.

ME stocking regulation restricts what can be stocked in a private pond and they work with and certify some of the suppliers. There is a variety of rainbow (oncorhynchus mykiss) on my permit that I can stock if I want to stay above board.

Can either of you recommend the "kit" I need to monitor pond water quality. Average temps have been rising here and rainfall amounts (a major contributor to pond water level in summer) go in cycles so conditions may not alway be optimal.

I didn't plan to feed the fish as there's all manner of insect larvae, leeches, minnows, worms etc.. living in the pond. Is that a safe bet?

Thanks again.. CK

Water temps are pretty easy to measure at any depth the trouble is, measuring dissolved oxygen at the depth you have water temps at 65F or below.

DO Meters are kind of expensive but the blue test kits are readily available at about $60 and are pretty accurate. I used a CHEMetrics DO kit when I first started and still do for some applications. The trick is getting a water sample at the depth with the right temp. You can either dive in with an inverted cup and invert at the right depth, make a hinged contraption with a telescoping pole or buy a Horizontal Water Sampler.

Remember, even with rainbow trout you still need cool water (about 70F and below) and higher DO (8ppm or more) than most ponds have.

As far as your forage base, I am not sure anyone could adequately judge it online?

A quick tip on getting deeper water samples...I use a long piece of small diameter pvc pipe and put my finger over one end and put the other end down into the pond. Once the open end is at the depth I want to test, I remove my finger and the water rushes up the pipe from that depth. Then, I put my finger back over it and withdraw the pipe and allow the water to run into a container.

If you have to get to deeper depths, a cap for a longer pipe could be used. I think my pipe is 3/4", but 1/2" or smaller would be better.
I have only retrieved water form about 3 foot deep so the 3/4" works, but I have to be quick as some of the water will run out before I get to the container. Some PEX tubing with a weight on one end could work with too.

Thanks again guys.

Thermometer at the deep end reads 65F. Based on how much string I let out of the spool I don't think the thermometer made it all the way to the bottom though. There's a fair amount of green algae that came up with the thermometer. I'll try to confirm with a second thermometer and I'll weigh it down somehow.

I see the ChemMetrics DOC kits online. $60 won't break the bank I guess.

I gather the DOC measures higher at lower depths where the water is cooler. What depth do you recommend I measure at?

I think I'll try using a 1/2" piece of tubing or pipe and draw the water that way....maybe put some depth markings on it.

The previous owner told me and a neighbor confirmed that he kept trout in the pond years before I bought the place.

The feeder brook and spring are still feeding the pond but I expect they'll dry up sometime in August if we have an extended period of dry weather.

Try to get a "map" of your pond temps...meaning at every foot down to the bottom. This is not too important, but good to know every now and again. It will also tellyou where your thermocline is. Typically, when someone says "pond temp", they should be referring to the water temp at about 18" down. That gets you far enough from the surface to avoid the area that can fluctuate a lot and puts your thermometer in a fairly consistent zone.

Without an aeration system, the DO will be less towards the bottom as it gets little to no exposure to the air...no surface to air interface. I would venture to say that the most non-aerated ponds are void of O2 near the bottom. Maybe, a good rule of thumb is that DO is mostly nonexistent below the thermocline. So, you would want to take your sample, for general purposes, between 1 and 3 foot deep. I borrowed a DO meter and experimented a bit at my aerated pond and found the DO to be very consistent from the surface down to 3 foot deep (even though DO level was on the low side). That was as far as the cord would reach. Beyond general purposes, it would be interesting to know what the DO levels are above and below the thermocline, but I have not done that at my pond due to the lack of thermocline (due to the aeration system) and the $2 a-pop for the ChemMetrics test.

So, for periodic DO tests, you can just use a jar...go in upside down until you elbows are wet and turn the jar over and lid it. If you want to go deeper, the piece of pipe comes in handy.

I'm really new to pond water chemistry, but that's my 2 cents.

QA, the pipe suggestion is flipping genius! Where were you when I spent 150 bucks on a water sampler?

I'm going to do some familiarizing with straw and glass but yeah! Thank you !!

I grew up in Somerset co.
Embden lake / Madison.
Are you near that area?
If so I may be able to recommend a steelhead supplier.

Clay, I'm way up north of you ... on the New Brunswick border. The town is Bridgewater, between Houlton and Presque Isle. Potato country! We live year round on the Mid Coast.

That idea did not come easy, but it came just the same. I spent no less than an hour rummaging through my buckets and drawers of junk trying to come up with a way to pump the water up from depths, or get a container down and then open. I got frustrated for the lack of good junk and ideas and switched my efforts to another project that required that some pvc pipe be washed out and as I was flushing it in a 5 gallon bucket. I ended up doing the "straw in a glass" thing to help clean the insides and the light bulb went on! Then I was back to taking water samples.