Trout Pond Anyone?

[gsganzer]

My wife loves to fish, but she's never fished for trout, so we're planning a little trip to Oklahoma next month just so she can see what it's like. I don't know if we'll catch anything, but that's fishing. hahaha

Eddie

Eddie,
Being originally from CA, I'm sure you've put in more then a few days trout fishing.

To me, there's nothing like trout fishing. I don't think there's a more finicky fish, or one that's more rewarding once you catch one. I used to fish for rainbow and browns when I was kid. I'd haul a few home and eat them for breakfast. I also fished for steelhead in upstate NY in the middle of the winter, Jan or Feb if I remember correctly. They had a snowstorm that dropped 2 feet of snow and the temperature hit -20 to -30. We were stranded in our tents for a few days. It made for some interesting camping.

The prize was a 15 Lb steelhead and you fished with a 2lb or 4lb leader with a small egg cluster. You basically just let it roll and bounce along the bottom and into a pool in the stream. When you finally hooked a steely, it would take you close to a mile downstream before you finally coaxed it to the bank using the light leader. All the time you kept an eye out for ice floes that could sweep you under. It was quite an adventure to say the least.

Where do you fish for trout in OK. Arbuckles?

 

[Matt_W]

Hi Matt W!

It’s difficult to set a “rule of thumb” concerning minimum water inflow to a trout pond because there are measures that can be taken to offset what might be considered less than ideal inflow. I’d say a year round trout pond only becomes impractical if the inflow does not keep ahead of the normal evaporation rate.

One of my ponds is stream fed with a large inflow of highly oxygenated water. The other is fed by a 10-20 gallon per minute over flow of low oxygen water from a “true” (overflows by natural pressure) artesian well. I installed a bottom aerator in the artesian well fed pond and it does just as well as the stream fed pond.

A local here in Vermont has a nice pond fed by perhaps 2-4 gallons per minute of spring water. He compensated for the low water input by keeping the surface of the pond under 10,000 square feet, dug it to over twenty feet in depth, kept some shade trees near the pond, and installed a bottom aeration system. He also was careful to plant as many plants on the edges of the pond to further add oxygen to the water and enhance the aquaculture for the trout. His kids regularly haul out 24” long seven pound trout!

A bottom aeration system will cost in the vicinity of $600 complete and runs on 110V at a cost of about one dollar per day if used 24-hours-a-day year round.

You might also hit additional springs when the pond is dug, however, if those “in pond” springs are not flowing heavily they stand a good chance of getting shut down just by the weight of the pond water itself. Sounds strange ..right?

You might even be able to enhance the output of your year round spring by digging it out a bit…….or it could decrease the output.

Matt, the bottom line is….just how bad to you want a trout pond?

Ken

Thanks for all the great info!
I have been fishing streams for trout since I was very young and in my future I may try to build a trout pond by means of damming the spring feed creek bed. I have some soft spots where I would gain some water digging from hidden underground springs. The main spring could provide aeration by means of a water fall.
I am sure "how bad do you want it" would be well worth it after it is all said and done!
To fish with your son or future grandchildren!

 

[lopezian]

It’s difficult to set a “rule of thumb” concerning minimum water inflow to a trout pond because there are measures that can be taken to offset what might be considered less than ideal inflow. I’d say a year round trout pond only becomes impractical if the inflow does not keep ahead of the normal evaporation rate.

Ken is no doubt correct, trout like a flow through the pond, and in the right circumstances will even breed. However don't be discouraged if you don't have a stream or spring on your property. I have a 3/4 acre pond with only seasonal flow and the trout are growing fat and happy in it.

I am in northwestern washington state, so winters are very wet and summers are dry as a bone. I easily lose 3 or 4 feet of depth during the summer to evaporation and seepage. That probably leaves me about 7 or 8 feet of water at the height of summer. Over the winter the pond fills up again and has a healthy flow through it. I have never installed any aeration and have not had a die-off. I do know of a neighbor who had one severe die off in his pond over a 30 year period.

So don't dispair if you don't have a perfect trout environment. In my experience they are pretty hardy and will do fine in a pond that fills only in the winter.

-csw

 

[K7147]

Ken is no doubt correct, trout like a flow through the pond, and in the right circumstances will even breed. However don't be discouraged if you don't have a stream or spring on your property. I have a 3/4 acre pond with only seasonal flow and the trout are growing fat and happy in it.

I am in northwestern washington state, so winters are very wet and summers are dry as a bone. I easily lose 3 or 4 feet of depth during the summer to evaporation and seepage. That probably leaves me about 7 or 8 feet of water at the height of summer. Over the winter the pond fills up again and has a healthy flow through it. I have never installed any aeration and have not had a die-off. I do know of a neighbor who had one severe die off in his pond over a 30 year period.

So don't dispair if you don't have a perfect trout environment. In my experience they are pretty hardy and will do fine in a pond that fills only in the winter.

-csw

Excellent! Glad you’ve had such good luck with your pond. In your case the residual depth of eight feet during the summer probably still leaves the trout some cool spots. Also, with ¾ acre of surface area just the wave action from winds will inject a certain amount of oxygen into the water.

I tend to stock my main pond heavily and thus the aeration helps. Also, although only a bit more than a third of an acre it was dug very steeply and is just shy of thirty feet deep in the center. Many trout pond kill-offs are caused by “inversion”. Under the right conditions the surface water will cool off rapidly (cold evening) such that the surface water becomes colder and thus heavier than the lower water and the pond “inverts”. Essentially the surface water changes places with the lower water. The problem is that the trout are subjected to a rapid oxygen change in the water and sometimes they will not endure the shock. The aeration system constantly “turns over” the water and usually prevents this type of problem. This inversion factor might have been your friend’s problem?

Ken

 

[Matt_W]

Ok here is something that scares me. I have driven past countless ponds that are choked with vegetation and algae that has taken over the pond. Suggestions on prevention?

 

[K7147]

Ok here is something that scares me. I have driven past countless ponds that are choked with vegetation and algae that has taken over the pond. Suggestions on prevention?

Hi again Matt,

You’ve asked a very interesting question! As you might imagine some plants in a trout pond can be beneficial by providing habitat, shade, beauty, and a balanced environment for the fish. The “right” plants will actually remove compounds that are detrimental to the trout. Some plants rob oxygen from the water and are by their very nature destructive to preferred trout habitat.

If there is one overriding factor that contributes to a trout pond becoming “choked” by vegetation it would be that the pond is simply too shallow. Plants need certain ingredients to perform photosynthesis and propagate themselves. Sunlight is one of those primary ingredients. The shallower the water the more sunlight that can penetrate to the bottom of the pond and thus the more prolific the production of plants. That’s why we don’t see large numbers of plants growing out in the middle of a deep lake and yet the shores of that same lake support many plants. Another contributing factor would be a lack of water flow within the pond. Another factor would be water that is overly rich in nutriments such as “run-off” from a farm. Occasionally a “bad guy” plant will invade the pond. Milfoil is a good example of a “bad guy” plant.

The best way to combat the problem starts with the design and construction of the pond. If the pond is dug to a depth of at least eight feet (I prefer deeper) and the under water banking slope is very steep you’ve done a good thing. Away from the pond edge the water gets deep quickly and you’ve limited the area in which most plants can get sufficient sunlight to grow properly. Now, if you take over this limited edge area by planting “nice” plants that are not invasive and provide trout habitat you’ve further limited the area for the “bad guy” or invasive plants to grow. I planted yellow, white, red, pink, and salmon colored water lilies in restrictive containers at the edge of the pond. They provide habitat (shade) for the trout as well as a splash of color. I also used various iris plants and both cat-N-nine tails and flowering rushes. Once established these plants crowd out invasive plants that try to take over the pond and yet they themselves are limited in how far they can spread due to the sharp under water slope. Other benefits are achieved. A by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen for the trout. The steep under water slope also dissuades some predators such as the Great Blue Heron as that ole heron feels very uncomfortable when the pond bottom drops away quickly.

Water flow can be maximized by getting as much water in and out of the pond as possible. Aeration also produces water flow.

If the pond berm is constructed such that contaminated “run-off” water can’t flow into the pond from surrounding areas you’ve done another good thing.

With some thoughtful pond design techniques you my never have to resort to herbicides or other such drastic measures to rid your pond of invasive plants.

The excellent question you’ve asked has a very complex answer and I’ve tried to provide some of the fundamentals. You can’t possibly read too much on this subject.

Ken

 

[Arcane]

Well, I'm no expert at anything, but in the manmade pond that I on a property I had a while ago, vegetation seemed mostly to be due to fertilizer runoff, and depth. The place had been a boy scout camp, so not much improvement over 30 years, a blessing. If you can make the pond deep enough that the sunshine won't hit the bottom, most of the weeds won't be able to grow. Ours was 12-14 feet deep mostly, and we never had a problem, even at the shallow edges, once we stopped using lawn fertilizer. Throw some compost on the lawn every fall rather than broadcast fertilizing the Scotts way, as it will keep the benefits right there where you want them and not where you don't.

Consider what your fish will eat: some algae are needed to support the smaller end of the food chain that will support your fish. The right bugs will find there way to the pond, over time, so you might want to wait a couple of years before stocking. I learned this from an entomologist friend.

I stocked brown trout once, and some of them got huge, until the otters cleaned them out one winter. Smallmouth bass were much easier to keep, and i didn't even stock them: they hitchiked in as eggs on the legs of birds or something. Remember, with a pond you may get more than you bargained for: snapping turtles, water snakes, etc.

 

[MarkV]

Ken,
A couple of questions, just because I am a curious guy. We have a 5 acre pond here in N Georgia. It gets to warm here in the summer for trout, from what everyone has told me. There are some trout ponds farther North in the mountain areas of our state that do well.

To properly manage a pond for fish in my area people use lime for PH balance and fertilizer to produce an algae bloom to start the food chain process. The liming is done every couple of years and fertilizer is used once a month from April to October. Do you do a similar process for a trout pond? I have also heard that trout don’t share a pond well with other species of fish. Is that true?

Having a little fishing pond is a wonderful thing. If you want to create a great little fishing pond it can get right pricey to do it the right way. We often enjoy a fish fry of Bass and Bluegill (most often called Brim down south) from our pond.

MarkV

 

[K7147]

Ken,
A couple of questions, just because I am a curious guy. We have a 5 acre pond here in N Georgia. It gets to warm here in the summer for trout, from what everyone has told me. There are some trout ponds farther North in the mountain areas of our state that do well.

To properly manage a pond for fish in my area people use lime for PH balance and fertilizer to produce an algae bloom to start the food chain process. The liming is done every couple of years and fertilizer is used once a month from April to October. Do you do a similar process for a trout pond? I have also heard that trout don’t share a pond well with other species of fish. Is that true?

Having a little fishing pond is a wonderful thing. If you want to create a great little fishing pond it can get right pricey to do it the right way. We often enjoy a fish fry of Bass and Bluegill (most often called Brim down south) from our pond.

MarkV

Hi MarkV!

First of all, to my mind nothing tastes better than a fry of fresh caught Brim….not even trout! Our largest pond is a natural pond of several acres and will not support trout because of the shallow depth and other reasons, however, the Bass and Bluegill that come out of that pond are simply mouth watering delights.

The use of lime to alter the PH balance in a soft water acidic pond is a common practice and quite effective. The tendency in this area is to use common salt (sodium chloride) to achieve this effect. The PH range in my own trout ponds remains very stable at between 7.0 and 8.0 and I don’t use either lime or salt.

I did use some fertilizer when I first installed the pond to “kick-start” the plant growth process, however, not since that time. In this area fertilizer is not usually used after the pond is initially established as over fertilization can lead to propagation of oxygen stealing weeds and decayed matter.

How much and what type of chemicals to use in a pond varies with each part of the country. The guidelines provided by your local or state conservation commission would be a great starting reference. I do have an extensive water testing kit that is used less and less as the pond matures.

In a larger natural body of water trout do well with other fish. In a smaller artificial pond the predator trout may wipe out the other species or the other species will overpopulate the pond such that the trout die from lack of oxygen. Also, a smaller body of water may not provide the varied water temperatures required by different species. Up here in the tundra most trout ponds have just trout as inhabitants.

The overall cost and maintenance of a pond varies greatly. One local diverted a stream and dug out a pond. He never tests the water, never feeds the fish, and they even breed because there is a gravel bed over the clay liner and a huge flow of water in and out of the pond. His annual cost is zero.

You are exactly right. Having a great little fishing pond is a wonderful thing. It is eye candy, a social meeting place, a source of pride, a nature draw, a learning tool, and a great place to watch a youngster catch “the big one”. Enjoy your pond….as I’m sure you will.

Ken

 

[fishwhiz]

Intersting trout pond design discussion.