Our fishing club members and other Property Owners are still enjoying trout fishing. Our weather has finally turned to winter so both ponds have had ice cover over the last several weeks. To help open up our one pond that has been catch and release since stocking, I have installed a horizontal circulation system. Bob Lusk recommended this setup to keep the water moving, open and highly oxygenated for the trout. He addressed my question on his Wednesday night live Facebook.
Circulator is an Ice Eater which is used to keep water open for waterfowl hunting. It is a 1 HP unit on a stand. Placed it in about 3 feet of water. FA has been a problem late this year due to geese, fish density and feeding program for the fish. I can see the water movement has already pushed some of the FA away from the bank.
After running for about 30 minutes, figured the trout might be attracted the moving water. First cast hooked a nice trout. I was so excited, he got off when I was horsing him in. Tomorrow should be a better fishing day. I did turn off the feeder last weekend due to ice. Have fed about 70 lbs of food the last six weeks. Looking forward to catching and surveying a few of the trout to see if they have gained weight.
