Three things have happened over the last week or so...natural and induced by myself.
First off, the night time air temps have dropped well below the pond's water temps (air is in the 50's at night while the water was at upper 70's). Daytime temps are barely above the pond temps as well (Daytime air temps in the 70s compared to water temps at 69 degrees F today).
Secondly, I have switched to running the aeration from a 9pm - 9am night time schedule to a daytime 9am - 1pm schedule in an attempt to keep from cooling the pond down and possibly warming it slightly during the day. The end result has been vague at best. The pond temps have dropped from the upper 70's to upper 60's despite the aeration change. Maybe it slowed the drop down, but I've not been impressed. It seems like summer just quit and let fall come right in the door. (the weather has been beautiful for being outside, however)
And lastly, with the aeration and temp changes...the fish have slowed way down on feeding and, even though there has been regular fishing, the catching as been lacking. I will continue to aerate for the near future during the day, I guess until daily air temps become below the water temps...then taper the air off and reserve the shallow diffuser for ice-off duty.
The crawdads, however, are really proving themselves. I bought a small throw net for fun and spent 30 minutes today goofing around the pond and probably caught 40 - 4" to 5" long virile craws. I released them to provide next years generation, but next year...I may have a small boil.
