Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation Fish Stocking Program
LARGEMOUTH BASS will spawn in smaller farm ponds with a water depth of 4 feet or more. Remember, Bass usually reproduce as 2 year olds and occasionally not until the third year. For best results, try to avoid fishing the pond until the Bass have spawned. The pond should then provide many years of fishing fun with occasional stocking of feeder fish such as Fathead Minnows. The recommended stocking rate for 2-4” Bass is 100 – 125 per surface acre along with 500 – 600 minnows per surface acre.
TROUT can live in water between 33 and 75 degrees, but they make their most rapid growth in water of 50 to 65 degrees. Not only do trout make their fastest growth within this temperature range, but they are less susceptible to parasites and diseases. It is not likely that you will be able to keep the water temperature in your pond within this range all year, unless you have a constant source of cooler water from a spring or well. Brook Trout prefer a water temperature range of 65 degrees Fahrenheit or less, and most are acid tolerant. They grow well in ponds 10 feet deep or shallower ones that are spring fed and may reproduce in ponds fed by gravel bottomed streams and springs. They are easily caught, with a life span of 3 to 4 years. Rainbow Trout prefer a water temperature range of 70 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer and are good for ponds 8 feet deep or deeper, best in clear ponds. They are very acid sensitive, but grow quickly, with a life span of 5 years. The number of trout a pond will support depends on its surface area, water quality, and size of fish. The standard fall stocking rate for 4-6” fingerlings is 300 to 400 per surface acre.
Listening through the cracks, for songs of home
Places sing specific songs. This newsletter emerges from my efforts to listen through the cracks. Not to capture, but to describe and even contribute to—or at least give thanks for—the wildly generous song of the place I aspire to call home.
This morning, through the open windows in the lengthening mid-Summer dark, floats a pulsing, clicking marvel. Like the many miniature children of a classical violin player married to an electronic nightclub disc jockey—they saturate the still night with sound. I doubt one could love Cricket song more than I. When do they sleep, these midnight serenaders? Do they take cat naps, as members of a practiced choir might pause to breathe in turn so as not to disrupt the music’s flow? If summer’s heat brings volume and tempo, winter lends a creaky quiet to this landscape. Come autumn, Cold can be heard settling upon this place in the steady ebbing of Crickets.
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