The past few years with its hot summers have made it difficult to maintain a trout pond. I am looking for a second fish to stock in my previously trout only pond. The pond will be fished by my two grandsons aged 3 and 6 years old. The pond is located on our country property that is about 1 1/2 hour from home so we will not be there that often. but when there I want to be sure that the grandchildren will catch fish regardless of temperature or weather conditions. I am willing to stock the pond annually to maintain a healthy population of fish but do not want to have to continuously cull the fish to maintain a healthy population of baitfish
Our pond is about one acre and 15' deep, last year we added a well to attempt to help our trout survive the summer heat. The well water goes through a venturi and water tower consisting of five 5-gallon buckets, it then is piped to the bottom of the pond. The pond shoreline consists of about 1/3 willow branches and roots and 2/3 grasses. About 15 years ago, I mistakenly stocked Black Crappie, within 1 year they had eliminated all of my fatheads and were putting a dent in my spawning crawfish, then after attempting to cull them for five years, gave up and drained the pond, to remove. I don't want to make the same mistake again. I have a feeder that is set to distribute food one time per day. Perch sound like a good alternative but I would like to get the Pond Boss members ideas before proceeding.
