Thanks for the many constructive comments. Especially from Mr Pondmeister himself!
I guess the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I originally planned to transfer the CNBG into the main BOW and replace them with fingerling trout, which I would feed & fatten up, then release in February to fatten spawning LMB. But the trout arrived a couple of weeks late and had already grown to the point where they were good eating size for bass, so I had them put directly in main pond. We've not had a winter since the pond filled where CNBG couldn't survive in the forage place, so I thought it was pretty safe to keep them there. A bad assumption, as Bob Lusk points out.
Given that I'm in a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation, I think I'll leave things be. Maybe ice will form quickly enough on the forage pond to buffer the worst temp extremes. Unlikely, but I can always hope. It takes a while to refill the forage pond naturally, usually at least six months, so if things don't work out it is probably best to just let them die & get eaten by coons, turtles, water birds, etc. The water will still be there for stocking when it warms.
I've read several articles about sunspot cycles that predicted the 2020s/2030s would be colder. Maybe I should have paid more attention & stocked accordingly. Even in my main BOW, Florida LMB might not make it. Hopefully the F1s and NLMB will be okay.
Last edited by anthropic; 02/12/21 06:38 AM.
