anthropic,
What is the depth of your forage/grow-out pond at full pool?
I can't recall, but is there a chance that a big rain event would overflow your grow-out pool and wash crappie into your main pond?
Forum question, how deep would a hypothetical crappie grow-out pond need to be? (Based on summer needs, feeding needs, and keeping some fish over at least one winter. Whichever is the most water-depth intensive requirement.)
Rod, my grow-out pond is roughly 1/8 acre, max depth 8 or 9 feet. Not ideal for netting out fish, but it does connect to my main BOW & I can simply open sluice gate & drain it to there. The unusual depth proved my salvation during the arctic blast last winter, as my CNBG survived. I'm sure that would not be the case with 3 foot depths!
The upside to draining is that it gets all the fish out, few if any left. Also very easy, and helps a bit when main pond is low. The downside is that it can take months & months to refill, as no natural stream runs into it & watershed is meagre.
One interesting point re water temp in cold of winter or heat of summer is that it is snugly ensconced in relatively deep dirt on all sides.
