Larry --
I want to place the cage about 15 to 20 feet away from where my aeration system wells up, or about halfway between shore and the aeration. That's a part of my pond that has never frozen over -- and it is in a direct line from where the spring stream enters, but probably at least 150 feet from the spring itself.
Assuming I can stock the cage with 25 brook trout averaging 7" (which might average about 3 oz. each -- and that's a guess), and assuming I lose no more than five (20%) to various causes (or 80% survival), I would hope to get the surviving fish to about 8 or 9 ounces each. So, starting with a biomass of about 4.7 lbs. of trout, I would hope to get a total net yield that would weigh about 10 pounds (20 trout # 8 oz. each). This would be over a span of approximately four months -- I think this may prove to be a bit ambitious, but that's the initial goal at least.
Previous issues of POND BOSS have had excellent articles on cage culture -- so, I'm going to re-read those, plus review the online posts ... and then check back here for wishes of good luck and support! -- Mike
