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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 9
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Fort Valley pond trout and bluegills
Just a few of the many beauties we have in our pond. We stock some 9" fish every year and with supplemental feeding and a few years time, they get quite big.
Last edited by Spex; 05/19/16 09:43 AM.
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 57 Likes: 1
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 57 Likes: 1 |
Very, very nice Spex - what forage base do you have to support such fantastic fish? Do you supplemental feed also?
Buckeyedude
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 38 Likes: 3
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 38 Likes: 3 |
Good Lord, those are some amazing fish! Are you really in Fort Valley, Virginia? I didn't think the climate in the Shenendoah area was cool enough for trout to last the summer, except high on the slopes.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,750 Likes: 295
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014  Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,750 Likes: 295 |
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 9
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Joined: May 2016
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We put 5 lb. of minnows in every year or so and crayfish and shiners in whenever we have leftovers from fishing. There is a resident population of suckers in the pond and a really good macro invertebrate population. We also do supplemental feeding with high protein floating food. The average trout in the pond is in the 20-24 inch range.
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 9
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Joined: May 2016
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Yes, the pond is in Shenandoah County in Fort Valley. The pond is stream and spring fed and we've had trout in there for over 20 years. We stock 50-70 9 inch trout in every year to keep a healthy balance of fish. Right now we have mostly rainbows and goldens with a couple rogue browns mixed in. We stopped stocking browns because they were eating too many of the small bows every year. Brookies don't do as well, so we stopped putting them in years ago.
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 9
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 9 |
Quite a few streams in the area stay cool enough year round for native brook trout to be in them. Cold headwaters, springs and high DO levels really help the fish in our area. However if it wasn't for supplemental feeding, we'd never be able to have the quantity of big fish that we have.
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