AP --
Trout ponds are a little rare down here, to be sure -- there could probably be quite a few more, especially above 2,000' elevation. But a lot of people just don't seem to know that it can be done.
I'm hoping to "pitch" the idea for holding a coldwater pond "demo" field day to our State Game & Inland Fisheries folks and Virginia Tech Extension natural resource specialists. Sort of like a mini-PondBoss Conference for trout pond owners, or those folks who like to try to establish a trout pond in the western/mountainous part of the Commonwealth.
My little pond is down pretty low, only abut 1,200' elevation above sea level -- the spring is what makes it a year-round trout pond.
The pond isn't too deep, about 9 feet max. It's just a but over a quarter acre and averages about 4 feet deep -- so, in effect, about one acre-foot of water (a nice round number which helps me in my math-challenged calculations for pond treatments).
The "pond record" is a rainbow taken two years ago that was 23" and just about six pounds -- a very substantial fish for its length. But I don't try to produce many big fish like that any more (much to the chagrin of my fly-fishing friends from up in the DC area who occasionally make the three-hour trip down to this part of VA.).
What I try to do now is purchase 8" to 10" trout (rainbows, "goldens" and some brookies) and feed them, trying to get them up to a 14" to 18" range -- a nice size, especially for the kids and grandkids of friends who fish here from time to time. I've been able to grow rainbows from about 10" in early November to almost 16" by late May -- using a 42% protein feed.
I would like to stock smaller sub-adult trout (4" to 6"), but my only attempt with these smaller fish didn't work out too well ... though the neighborhood great blue heron and the few largemouth bass and channel cats in my pond must have thought it a pretty marvelous stocking regimen.
Alas, when I bought my place there were already fish in the pond. Had I the chance to do it over, I would have started with a clean slate -- removed all warmwater fish at the outset. I discovered late last fall that even an 8" brookie can be just a snack for a 16" bass.
Needless to say, I've been encouraging vigorous harvest of bass and channel catfish this year. The channel cats are now almost history; the largemouth's, I'm afraid, are a permanent fixture.
That's why I opt for 8" minimum and preferably 10" fish for stocking. Besides, I have two nearby trout hatcheries, and I can haul 50 10" fish in a 100 gallon tub, with a aerator, for up to an hour without any problems.
I really like that air hose rig as you described it -- a great idea! And it looks like a pretty terrific pond, too. -- Mike S.
