Hello all! New to pond ownership. I live in Western NY and own a 1/2 acre pond that is fed from a large hill, my gutters, and many French drains. It is about 8-9ft deep at the deepest, so I was wondering if you think I could support holdover trout that will survive the summers and/or winters. I’d b happy to offer more information! Thanks!
Although I am no expert on trout or trout ponds, I may have some knowledge of your situation. I am located about 30 miles East of you and have a pond that is dedicated to trout. Our pond is slightly less than one acre, located at an elevation of 1900 feet, about 15' deep at its deepest point and fed primarily by rain and snow melt. We have been struggling with trout for about 30 years. Originally our trout did well with no aeration and within a year or two of stocking we were regularly catching fish approaching five pounds. At that time, we were not aware of any summer or winters losses. In the past 10 to 20 years the situation has changed and we have been having trouble with fish kills during the hot summer months. We have been forced to stock annually to assure that there are trout in the pond. The fish may last a couple of years but usually a hot summer will wipe them out and you have to start over.
Unless you have a constant source of cool high quality water to keep your pond cool and oxygenated or are able to keep the water temperature below 70 degrees at your deepest point you may be pushing it. If I could do anything to improve my pond, it would be to make it deeper.
