Trout AND Pickeral?

[BayRat]

I was bored today so i decided to check out a local pond that was stocked this winter with trout. In a half hour of throwing rooster tails I had 1 miss, 1 small pickeral and a follow in by what I think was another pickeral. My stupid question is in such a small pond, can trout survive with the pick's? Also, I figured I'd get at least a few crappie hits, but there were none, pickeral food?

[LBI SurfRat]

if the bass and pickerel dont eat them then the warm water temps will kill them by august. most are gone by then. hawks,ospreys, blue herons will also feast on them.

Nick

[BayRat]

Thats what I figured. So stupid question #2, why bother stocking them if they will never get the chance to spawn/survive? To justify the extra money for a trout stamp?

[mch]

Not so much to justify it I think more so to turn kids on to fishing & to satisfy people who just like to fish for pond stocked trout.

[LBI SurfRat]

mch is correct....
the state wants to offer there risedents the "opportunity" to target trout even though the stocked trout dont have 1/10th the smarts of a native wild trout. catching a "purdy" trout is more politically correct(and acceptable) then a slimy toothy, mean looking pickerel. thats my take on it. im all for the stocking of trout b/c it does give guys like me a chance for some trout and it gives the largemouth and pickerel a larger meal to prey upon. when i was younger on opening day my father and i would catch a few of them i would de-bone them and he would break out the smoker and he would smoke em'...brings back some great memories. thats when i knew spring was here and summer was right around the corner.

Nick

[BayRat]

Sounds like a good reason for me *I guess*. I agree I like the opportunity to go less than a mile and catch trout, but why not also stock baitfish for the larger fish to feed on and actually give the stocked trout a chance. I'll pay a few extra $$ on my trout stamp to see that happen. Plus, in the long run there would be less need to stock, IE less money out of the states pocket. As far as "the warmer temps are going to kill them anyway", where's PETA when you need them :D .

[mch]

I think they don't have much of a chance anyway in ponds around here, it's really not their native habitat. I may be wrong but in order for trout to survive they need a constant flow of relativley cold water & a pond just wont cut it.

[gandy dancer]

mch your 100% correct thats why the 3 fish limit in the winter time bothers me ! the lake I fish was stocked yesterday with 1100 rainbows i fished today and there was maybe 8 guys on the lake.

[Outdoors]

It's for the kids.

For crying out loud, it's supposed to be fun, and it is.

The trout are raised in a hatchery, are dumb as hell and are willing to eat damn near anything in the spring when nothing else bites well.

The kids bring home a bunch of fish (trout, they are pretty and they do taste good) mom makes a big fuss and cooks 'em up- instant hero status for a ten year old.

Nothing finer, one of the few things the state gets right.

Most (maybe all!) of the people I off-shore fish with today, fished the same dingy pond in Vineland when we were kids.

We were certain it was a paradise of sorts, and we were right.

[gandy dancer]

its for the kids huh? i didnt realize that kids enjoy fishing in 10degree weather.The april stock I agree but thats 5 fish per person.im not tring to be greedy but with a 3 fish limit most of the rainbows will die .

[joey2boats]

BayRat,have you ever seen that pond right after stocking,it's shoulder to shoulder and three deep.The pike don't get a chance to eat many.I caught my first two and only trout out of that pond some years back,it was a great morning.