So I stocked 19 trout into one of my farm ponds last February. There were/are no other fish in the pond. The pond is about 1/10 acre surface area, to 6 or 7 feet deep in the center 1/3 of the pond.
These were 8-10" trout. I caught out 10 or 11 in April, they were 12"+. There is a superabundance of aquatic insects in the pond. I'm in one of the coolest weather zones in KY, the pond is partially shaded during most of the day. It's been mostly cool this year, the surface water is still cool to the touch, with plenty of cold pockets in the water. This pond has plenty of cold pockets all year.
The problem is that I haven't been able to get the fish to bite anything since I tried fishing again in late May. I've trout fished for years all over the US/Canada & have gotten pretty experienced. I've tried plenty of tactics in my pond, soft plastics, dough bait, eggs & egg flies, worms of many varieties, spinners, spoons, corn, flies of many types, not a strike.
I don't see any evidence of the fish being caught/eaten, & haven't found any floaters. I'm sure the increase of available food since April wouldn't leave the only 9 fish in the pond hungry.
It's additionally difficult to fish now due to the summer aquatic plant growth.
I'm sure that unless the fish were eaten by an otter (which are known to occur in the creek 1 mile away) there's not much chance that they were preyed upon. There was one 14" common snapping turtle in the pond, which I left there (too small to eat), I assumed that he would be too small to eat the trout as well.
The water is too murky now to see to the bottom.
Does anybody have any advice on how to get the trout out?
Thanks!
Andrew
