The brood pond is dead, long live the grow out pond.
We made a trip to Overton's yesterday, and Todd and I banged around some thoughts about the brood pond and it's possible potential. What we came up with is the full potential of a small pond, with the ability to drop and raise water as desired, control recruitment, and grow stocked fish until they were survivable in the big pond, was the way to go.
So, hybrid stripers, and a small stocking of Camelot Bell LMB is what we decided on. The CNBG that are being pulled, are 6-8", and are large enough to survive the grow out of HSB/CB's until spring. The brood pond is also loaded with 3" and under CNBG, hybrid BG, and GSF. Those and continued winter feedings should get the HSB to the 14"s I need to keep the HSB from getting eaten by my larger LMB.
Who knows what's on the table next? Winter trout or SMB? I figure I have 4-5 months each year to try something new and take advantage of the cooler water, so why not take a chance on a limited and controllable scale, with no real downside.
HSB and CB stocked in the brood/grow out pond.
My LMB in the big puddle are also very happy this morning. Just like most predators, the smaller LMB are gorging on the 3-5" crayfish that are size appropriate for them. The larger LMB are waiting for larger GSF/CNBG hand feedings, and will swim away from the crayfish. Yep, they're spoiled, but the results of the hand feedings have been almost immediate, but that's another story for another time.
