Well if you water is cool enough on the refill than you can plant any time. It's possible however if the refill is too slow the water may warm up as you refill the pond and you might have to wait until fall.
I think it'll be cool enough but am worried about making sure the forage fish get established first. So will try to introduce them as soon as the dam is fixed and it starts filling again. Can I introduce the trout later in the fall? or is 2-3 months not enough time to get the forage fish established?
Sorry if I missed it but how large is the pond and how deep is it? Also does it have steep sides? Smaller is actually better with a trout pond as it's easier to keep cool as you don't need as much flow.
It's about 20 yards x 25 yards, shallow at one end (avg 2-4') and deeper and steeper on the other end (avg 6-9'). It has pretty good flow of cold spring water out of the side of the mountain....plus runoff after rains and snow melt.
It's good to establish the forage base especially if they are fatheads and don't have a lot of hiding places and/or breeding material to spawn under.
I plan on adding some evergreens into the shallow end to help with the flat head spawning.
