OK, so with some consultation with very knowledgeable Pond Boss Forum Members last summer, I made the decision to proceed with "early stocking" my pond even when it only had a couple feet of water in it. Just some fatheads and BG, along with some cats I caught from a nearby lake. The risk of having the pond dry up, or get too hot was weighed against my complete lack of patience. I stocked it with about 2000 FH's, 100 CNBG's, and 3 CC's up to 3 lbs. Ultimately pond will be near an acre in surface and about 8 feet deep. Right now it is about 1/4 acre of surface with max depth of less than 3 feet. The fish seem to have made it through the summer, although I never see any sign of them (the water is pretty muddy still). I've never seen any sign of die-off either.
Long story short, the pond never filled (due to persistent drought conditions in my part of the state). We did always get just enough rain to keep it from drying up completely. Now my worry has turned from the pond getting too hot and dry, to not being deep enough to protect the fish from the cold. I doubt it will ever get cold enough to put even a thin sheet of ice on the pond, but you never know. Will the fish all die from exposure to cold?
