So I've let this thread slide, but I'm almost done with a 2016 wrap up. It's quite the tale.
So I invested in an old transport tank, and it's some of the best pond related money I've ever spent. Making the trip to Overtons takes about 3 hours for us, but transporting our fish in bags was a pain sometimes. We never lost any fish, but the twin tanks makes it a lot easier. We picked up our trout on a 60 degree day, and they all made the trip great. The proper amount of O2, a palm full of salt, and clove oil if needed, sure makes fish happy.
We're growing out trout for winter LMB forage, and the weather has made it rough. Although this is the second time we've had winter trout, I'm still new at this. Because of that, I didn't feed these trout when the water was 60 degrees or above at daylight, because the potential for this pond to hit the upper 60's could happen at any time. I didn't want to stress these fish any more than I had to. So, I've probably lost 3 weeks of growth but all the trout are alive, and eating well.
Observation and nothing more, but going from an 1/8" pellet to a 3/16" pellet added a half pound to the daily feedings. With fewer pellets per pound, the trout's feeding time was reduced also.
One other interesting thing, is that these trout will start getting really active when they hear the Mule coming. But, they won't move to food like BG. I literally have to throw food right above their heads, or they won't eat it until almost all the other food is gone.
A few of my babies. They still have no clue how short their life expectancy is. Oh, quick tip. Weigh your net wet, and mark that weight on the handle. If you're wanting to weigh multiple smaller fish at once, it sure makes it easy to just weigh them in a wet net, and then deduct the net weight. The hanger type fish scales like Rapala, or Boga work well. You can move and weigh fish as fast as you can get them in the net.
These trout are fed at dusk and dawn based on water temp.
