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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 9
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 9 |
Hello all. So here is my situation. I bought my 50 acre farm back in 2011 which contained a 1/3 acre pond, max depth 8'. The land is very rugged, with elevations varying from 850' in the stream and pond bottom to 1350' on my ridgetops. The pond receives water from two above ground sources that supply roughly 20 GPM throughout the year except for August and Sept, when flows diminish to a few gallons/min. There are also numerous underground springs, the volume of which I am uncertain, that run into the pond year round. When I purchased the property, I asked the previous owners about the current fish population...I got...well, there's some feesh in there, I seen em! Haha. Through minnow traps and fishing I determined that there were nothing but sunfish in this pond, ordered highest#'s to lowest #'s; including GSF, BG, PS, RES, varying cross-breeds of previously mentioned species. 90% of fish caught were under 5". Got a few old timers at 8-10", but very few. I stocked 75 brown and rainbow trout in the Fall of 2013 at 8-9" and have been feeding since. I always wanted trout and they've done well, with about 50-75% of the originally stocked fish still present as of Fall 2015. They now range from 14-24" in size. While I am sure the browns eat some of the small sunfish, I need to introduce a predatory species to keep the sunfish pops in check. Max summer temps reach about 70 F for a few hours during 90+F days when the lows are above 70 F. On average in July and Aug, the pond is around 66-68 F mid day hours at the surface, with the bottom being 5 degrees colder at all times. I have two diffused aerators as well. I was thinking smallmouth bass, but was also considering spotted bass...both are plentiful in stream and rivers in this region. Also thought about a few WE...there is a supplier nearby...also considered chain pickerel. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
3/8 Acre pond - Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, GSF, RES, PS, BG, YP, WE and CC. 1/2 mi. of stream - Brown and Brook Trout.
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