Hey Italo couple quick questions as i know this time of year is super busy. first of i just watched your show on ice fishing the back lack in gooderham for trout. Learned alot as usual! that show got me thinking about stocking some fish into my pond. Its about 3 achres and 15 feet deep.I want to put LM bass into it becuase we previously tried ranibow trout 10 years ago and they obviously didnt reproduce and dies out. bottom is weedy and the water gets pretty warm in the summer now all that is left in the pond are some catfish that accidently spilled into the pond. They are the brown bull head type ones growing about 68 inches im sure you know the ones. anyways here are my few questions 1. can the largemouth i stock there this spring eventually eat those catfish im guessing no because of the barbs or something rather 2. if not should i remove the catfish ive been trapping them with fair success this winter so farand 3. if yes then how could i trap them better. using a minnow net and dog kibble so far Thanks. lastly i read your section on spiritual questions. Im a Christian also and I use fishing as a meditative reflective spiritual time. I really like how you said in one of your responses you are try to be like the early 1st century christians and I thought that is pretty brilliant in todays world we need more people like that with a courageous yet simple love you Jesus. God bless and merry christmas. sorry for the long email
Posted on March 27th, 2015Hi Peter…Thank you for your kind words. I receive them. To answer your pond question. It sounds like you have an ideal pond for stocking. Rainbow & brook trout will most likely not reproduce naturally unless you have an in-flow and adequate spawning sites (small, clean gravel areas along the shore, or where there is some current). If they don’t reproduce, they can grow quite large (upwards of 6 lb.), but you will need to re-stock every once and a while to maintain the trout population. The pond sounds like it’s deep enough. If you did want to keep trout, you may just need to impliment an aerating system in the summer time when water temperatures rise and oxygen levels can drop. Largemouth bass on the other hand should do fine and also reproduce (since they don’t have the same spawning site requirements as trout do). If you do stock bass, they will predate on any smaller fish in your pond and that includes catfish (they don’t mind getting pricked while eating them). The catfish are also important because they are scavengers and keep your pond clean. I would really encourage you to contact my good friend Karl Dickob who is the President of the Ontario Fisheries Enhancement and Aquaculture Association. He can give you the best advice regarding your pond. You can reach him at, www.ontarioaquaculture.net . God bless you and your family this Christmas also, Italo
