Good news today -- My forage pond CNBG survived the Big Chill! Really surprised me, but the little pond is chock full of small CNBG, ranging from 1.5 to about 4 inches. Also, the criss-crossed twine seems to have discouraged the cormorants from raiding the little guys, though the geese aren't impressed.
Today is the first day of 2021 in which we caught CNBG in the main BOW. Large fish caught in fairly deep water close to shallow spawning areas. I'm betting that if the CNBG in the forage pond survived, then the main pond fish did as well.
Harvested two beautiful rainbow trout, one in excess of three pounds. Not bad for being in there for only three months! But the clock is ticking down on them, so harvest is the name of game now. Gonna try smoking them to see how it goes.
Had on a big momma LMB, unfortunately on ultralight tackle near wood cover. Got a good look at her when she jumped, had to be 7 plus, full of eggs. Ultimately she got into the cover and that was that. Still, it was a great fight & encouraging to see something that large.
Last but not least, several trees felled into the water, trying to create instant cover. We'll see. I did notice that fish seemed to congregate around the branches of one tree only a couple of hours afterward.
