Hoping for good rain Tuesday and Wednesday along with cold weather. My fish have shut down on feeding.
This will be the coldest opening weekend for deer rifle season I remember. The most positive aspect of the drought is that the neighbors 600ac "feedlot" of winter wheat has not come up yet. I have counted 100+ hogs and 60+ deer there on one morning. Should make for a great opening day!
No moon as well!

I got another 1.31 inches of rain. Old pond had dropped an inch, now is flowing over again. 13.49 inches so far in October, and still drizzling here.

John, the rich keep getting richer. lol! I did get about 1.03" of slow soaking rain over the last 24 hours and it is still raining.

Hauled my butt 70 miles each way to winterize my house. Forecast 25 for the town of Bowie. But, it is generally 4 to 5 degrees colder out in the sticks. I learned about this the hard way by busted water lines and busted cast iron pump.

Well today Halloween night marks the anniversary of the bull dozers moving off the property and my 2 acre pond and officially considered complete in building!! That was 5 years ago already!! Seems like just last year!! So much I have learned from everyone here!! In the rain category...We have had 71 inches this year and my pond is still only 12 inch low!! Thanks to everyone on all your help!! Happy Halloween!!

As it's getting light, I can see that dreaded ice sheen reflecting the dawn on our pond. Not surprising, as it's 12 degrees out there.

This is way too early for ice to be forming. We generally freeze up around Thanksgiving. Global weirding.

Checked the pond temperature. 46 degrees at the surface. Had to cut the feeder way down and only mid day. This is a month early for these water temperatures.

48° surface temp here in Central MO. I shut down my deep aeration a couple days ago.

Made a quick run to NEMO Fisheries this afternoon and picked up another 30 RES.
It's probably too late in the year to get them on pellets but I'm going to make an attempt
at it. At the least I'll fatten them up a bit on chopped nightcrawlers before the weather
gets really cold. With the change from daylight to standard time I'll have to feed them
in the mornings before I leave for work, but I think they'll have a better chance of making
it through the winter if they get some groceries in their bellies.

How many fish are you putting in there Augie? It would seem that you are already up to about a million head! lol

I ran out of fish feed with the October 23 feeding. With the forecast for more rain, I did not buy any more. The ponds flooded over subsequently, and then it got much colder. I think I will wait until spring to buy more feed.

I've put in 80 RES and 270 YP. The miles to fish ratio is pushing 6:1 but it's all just for fun, right?

By those numbers I've overstocked for the size of my pond, but when the losses due to weather events and the ICH
are taken into account I think I'm probably right on target.

The grinding gears in my brain are telling me to put this batch of RES into my transport tote and over-winter them in the barn.
Cold weather is upon us, but if I tank em indoors and keep em warm they ought to be very well pellet trained by springtime.

Maybe I'm loco but I'm thinking about it...

I may be down to buy some of those RES from ya next summer...
Additional net samples suggest my larger RES went with the flow.

Fell in while checking water temperature.

Turns out, it was cold.

Funny Hope you did not hurt yourself. Did your family make fun of It all?

Feeding has really slowed down in Northeast Ohio. Geese are coming in, yeah ... more nutrient load. Picked up sticks for hours, cleaned out the waterfall (more sticks). I weighed down my fishing benches and chairs with big rocks so they don't blow into the water like last year (hopefully.) We get big Canadian air blasts. Fountains coming out later this week. I've cut my aeration back but still running a few hours a day during warmest part of the day.

Naaah. If you cough up enough green water, they act concerned.

Finally got some real Fall weather at the pond this past weekend. Been waiting six months for this.

Striper on minnow:


Steam on pond:


Spraying purple on trees:

If I manage not to kill all of these I should have plenty to share by then.

Nice Stripe!

Ok, you've got me curious. Why are you painting the trees purple?

Bill

"According to the Purple Paint Law, several states like Texas allow landowners to paint a fence post, pole, or tree on the edge of their property purple to signify “No Trespassing.” Why no signs? Some landowners might have signs, too, but acclimate weather has a tendency to knock those signs down"

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/know-use-purple-paint-posts-trees-texas/

Biil D, I believe this is a way to mark your property for no trespassing.

I bought 3 of the signs re agrotourism . Research told me that the law also covers , hunting, fishing, etc.

The purple signifies no trespassing here in MO too. It is supposedly as legal as a posted sign.

Thanks guys. Learned something today. I just checked and Illinois also now has the purple paint law. Guess I need to buy a can of purple paint!

Another great weekend of Fall weather in north central Texas.

Fall colors....

Wish we had 200+ days a year like this.