Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Cold or warm water pond in mid Michigan

Is it possible to dig a cold water pond in Mid Michigan without it being spring fed? I will be digging my pond starting Monday. I plan on digging it about 20 feet deep. I plan on 2-3acres. With that depth and surface area will I be able to stock trout? Or will I need warm water varieties? I’m new to this forum.

I earned my MS degree for aquatic biology at CMU Mt Pleasant and I am familiar with the area. In Beaverton MI Several very important things come into play for trout surviving year round in the new pond. All items will be important for trout success during mid-summer and winters having significant snow cover.
1. The percentage of pond area that is 20ft deep. The more deep water 18ft-20ft there is in the pond the longer the dissolved oxygen will last each year. Consider making 20%-25% or more of the basin 20-25 ft deep.

2. Average annual water clarity. Buy or build a Secchi disk, learn how to use it. Use it monthly during open water season esp Jun, Jul, Aug. Record or document (computer) the Secchi readings. In your situation when the Secchi disk is 8ft to 10ft your trout will survive year round. You need the water clarity for dissolved oxygen (DO) production below the thermocline in the cold water basin.

3. Amount of tree leaf litter that enters the pond each year. Generally the more leaves into the pond the less chance of trout surviving especially longer than 5-8 years. As tree leaf organics accumulate over the years in the basin the more loss of dissolved oxygen will occur in the deep colder basin during the year; esp mid summer when water is the warmest. It is all about biochemical oxygen demand. Lots of leaf litter in the pond significantly increases the chances winter kill as the tree leaves accumulate after the first 3-5 years.

4. Mid-summer air temperatures. Warm spells can occur even in mid-MI. When air temps are above 78F there is more chance of trout dying in the deep water.

I would not use bottom aeration in the pond during summer. Shallow (5-7ft) bottom aeration could be beneficial during winter with long weeks of snow cover. When the Secchi disk readings over time are less than 6 ft it will be beneficial to have bottom aeration for other cool water fish survival such as yellow perch, smallmouth bass, walleye. IMO you will be able to get trout to survive year round for the first year or two. Then after year 2 all the above four factors become more much important for trout to survive year round.

It will be very informative and helpful to all of us if you come back to this PBoss forum thread of Types of Fish To Choose and keep us updated about your success with trout in Mid-Michigan. This will be your payment to the forum for receiving the free trout raising information. Also include where you bought the trout and the species that you used for stocking. Thanks.

I second what Bill said. He's spot on. In addition to the Secchi disk, get a thermometer where you can read water temp at different depths. Typically trout go belly up when surface water temps during the day exceed 70°F.

Also, some species of trout are better than others in ponds where O2 and water temp may be marginal - that should be considered. Dr. Mark Cornwell has written several articles on trout ponds in PBMag (in his "On Northern Pond" column) which would be valuable info for you.

We (I) always think about water temps when we're discussing trout in ponds. This is the first I can remember the importance of clear water for plant life below the thermocline being pointed out. Thanks, Bill! (Of course, it may have come up many times that I forgot.)

Cody Note. esshup is very correct for overall thermal tolerance of water temperature for trout (70F). However a 20 to 25 ft deep northern mid michigan pond without bottom aeration will be significantly thermally stratified in summer when the surface is 72+F. Thermocline in 2-3 ac depending on wind fetch could be at 7-8ft. Water temperature below the thermocline at 8 to 24ft deep could easily range from 65F to 60F. However the DO could be 0 to 8ppm depending on water clarity. The less the Secchi disk reading the closer the DO will be to 0. This is why for growing trout in a northern pond one should have a secchi disk and a thermometer with a cable or probe to measure the pond water temperature profile. A DO / temperature meter is best for this measurement.

If it were my pond for a potential trout fishery, I would spend the money to make the overall pond deeper toward 25ft maybe some water 30 ft deep and smaller size instead of building a larger pond of toward 3 ac. Keep the side slopes steep and minimize the amount of shallow water that promotes abundant submerged vegetation. Shallow water and abundant dead weeds consume lots of dissolved oxygen at all depths. Encourage good marginal shoreline plants and submerged vegetation such as longleaf (American) pondweed or broadleaf pondweed (Potomogeton amplifolius); maybe some eel grass or elodea a more cool water plant.
Beneficial Pond Plants Forum topic
https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=440475#Post440475

Thanks for the great information!!! If I go with Trout does it have to be just trout or are they compatible with other species?

I will definitely keep this forum up to date on this journey!! Thanks everyone for the information!!

Dominic, welcome to the forum.
I have a quarter acre pond with many species of fish, LMB, SMB, YP, BG, GSF, HBG, BCP, and TGC. I've kept rainbow, brown, and tiger trout somewhat successfully for 15 years. Trout mortality approaches 50% each year.
It's very likely the trout eat some of my other fish. Except that they may be preying on my yellow perch, I'm fine with them grabbing any of the others.
If you haven't seen it yet, read Mark Cornwall's article in the latest Pond Boss magazine titled Stocking Trout-Some Questions Answered. He is quite thorough in his discussion. His opinion is that 50% loss per year is to be expected without perfect conditions. I'm very careful to avoid catching our trout when the surface water temp is above 70 even though the fish want to come up for a fly. I've had 7 pound rainbows float belly up a day or two after being caught and released in the summer.
Our pond is fed by Dolores River water through an irrigation canal system. The Dolores is a trout stream. My pond surface water temp yesterday was 78 degrees; incoming cold water stays on the bottom providing great habitat for the trout. So, you could say my pond is stratified in a manner different from a pond without the cold inflow.

Thanks for the information!!

I my MS thesis study the lake had trout (rainbow & brook), smallmouth, walleye, northern pike, yellow perch, pumkkinseed sunfish, rock bass, redhorse sucker and lake sturgeon plus several species of forage minnow/shiner. So I would say these are very good fish compatible with trout.
Fish IMO to not have with trout are LMB, BG, hybrid bluegill, catfish/bullhead,

The caveat to having a pond with steep sides is that you have to make durn sure that the sides will stay stable at that slope when covered with water. A casein point: A customer in Northern Indiana has a 1/2 ac pond, pottery making like clay is what the soil surrounding the pond is made of. It holds water VERY well. He had an excavator come in and dig the pond deeper - how's 28' deep in a 1/2 acre pond that also has a good sized island on one side? We fiddled with the aeration system and were able to get trout to oversummer for one summer. Then he started using enzymes and beneficial bacteria. With him overdosing the pond with it, the sides of the pond started collapsing and sliding down to the bottom of the pond. 4-5 years later (2024) I took a depth reading of his pond. 16' deep at the deepest part. Hmmm. What happened? Looking at satellite images, the sides of the pond collapsed back about 5 feet horizontally. Where did that material go? It is the 12 feet of "sediment" in the bottom of the pond.

Part of his previously buried lawn irrigation system was showing in the pond, the horizontal overflow pipe 90° vertical turn is now about 7 feet out from the shore instead of 2 feet.

So now the next time I am there I will have to take depth measurements around the edge of the pond along with horizontal measurements to see what the slope now is and document it so we can check again in late October to see if it has stabilized or if it is still sloughing off. If it is, he's going to pull the plug on the pond, drain it and bring in many truckloads of reclaimed concrete. Re-contour the pond banks and use the re-claimed concrete to stabilize the banks, refill and re-stock.

esshup - Very good info about pond side slopes and stability of pond basin banks. The steepest slopes that experienced good pond builders will build without having sloughing issues is 2.5:1. Most steep pond banks in my region are 3:1 slope. As the slope gets steeper than 3:1 it becomes more and more difficult to get good soil compaction of the bank sides. It makes good common sense that just digging a hole with an excavator will result in sides that are not well compacted and are very prone to sloughing. Good compaction and soil layer knitting of the pond banks helps stabilize the side slopes when inundated with water.

Bill, it's not only an excavator used for digging that will do that but a drag line will also do the same thing. I found that out first hand with the house that I bought - the pond was dug with a drag line and the banks were so steep that they continually eroded away and fell into the pond.