It is surprising, I've never really noticed a difference in how any hatchery trout taste but I guess there probably is some.
I also meant to mention before that when walking around the pond the other day I saw some salamanders in the shallows that were either trying to drown each other or mate. Also, there seem to be a lot of frogs around the lake. When you walk around the edges at dusk you can see them moving from the edge to deeper water and you can hear them at night. I've always heard them called peepers, not sure if that's the actual name or not. So those are two additional forage items available to the fish in the lake. Since minnows have pretty much been ruled out due to adult fish populations already present, I was thinking maybe crayfish could be added? The entire length of the dam minus the swimming area has rock from the waterline down until the slope lessens. This continues around the northwest side of the lake. There is some rock present on the opposite shore and across the shallow end of the lake, but not as much. These are some pics I've posted before that give an idea of what's present:
The water level is currently up to about a foot below the bottom of the walkway in the first pic and after the rain we're getting tonight should be going out the spillway, which is visible directly under the platform in the second. The second shows the rocks along the dam and northwest shore and the south east shore. The picture of the trout was taken on the dam and the fourth picture shows the northwest shore and kind of what's along the bottom of the southeast shore and shallows. Would crayfish be able to establish themselves and thrive in this kind of habitat? Obviously the lake isn't full all year but at least along the dam there is rocky cover available as long as the lake has water in it. Are they a viable option or a waste of time?
