Ok... Time for an update to my pond and its situation. I took the afternoon off and tried to catch RBT.
As some may know, I haven't had the best of luck catching the trout. Not much has changed in that department. I have gone down to 2# test line and a black hook, baited with a SS brown pellet. Today was a sunny day and I could see every move the trout were making. Many would zoom in on the pellet when it hit the water, get about 6" from it and then take a sharp turn from it without even tasting it. Never did any take an interest if the SS pellet sank. If they hit it at all, it was when it immediately landed on the water. I did catch one. Just shy over 15" and weighed 2# 6 oz.
I have seen noticeably less of the unknown small sunfish that prompted me to stock the RBT in the first place. Did the trout help with that, I hope so. I did not feed over the winter, and started feeding about the beginning of April. I trapped some of them today, and tried them for bait to see if the trout would take. Set it up with a bobber and tossed it out. No luck with it near the surface, so set it a bit deeper. Something took it, and went off flying. Snapped the line rather quickly so can't say for sure what it was.
Opened up the RBT to see what it has been eating. All pellets, and a few shells. I am curious as to how it ate shells. By eating another fish? By thinking it was a pellet? Seems hard to imagine the trout eating off the bottom. There were no sunfish in the stomach, but I find it hard to believe that this fish got to this size without eating them over the winter, and only being on feed for a month.
Next time I will try with the sunfish for bait again to see if it can be confirmed what that might have been. Hard to believe it was a bass that could have gotten big enough.
Thanks Pond Boss for making this happen. Never would have thought that this venture would have taken this route. I have enjoyed the RBT a lot. So much so, that if I had to do it all again, I might consider the pond devoted to just them. This is only one of many reasons why I tend to believe in working with what you got, and learning from it. You never know where it might take you.
......Jim
