Trout Pond Fishing Secrets Blog

When the surface water temperature on deepwater ponds starts to rise above 70° F (21° C), the deepest water will begin to stratify into three main temperature gradients. The upper zone being the warmest, below that is the intermediate layer called the thermocline, and the bottom region that is always very cold. This is the time when those spring trout that you were having fun catching near the surface seem to have disappeared. No! You’re not imagining things. Trout are a cold water species and thrive best at temperatures of approximately 65°—55° F (18° —13° C). Yes, it so happens, right in the thermocline which incidentally moves deeper as the surface water temperature increases. If you want to catch daytime summer trout, fish in and around the trout’s comfort zone — this is a must. During the summer months the thermocline lies within a relatively narrow layer of water and fishing a few feet over or below it usually means you’re odds of going fishless are quite good. The handheld temperature probe meter is indispensable under these conditions — even more than a fish finder especially if the pond is host to non trout species. The fish finder will display all the various fish types over a wide range of water depths and its value as an only source of information to the angler is not sufficient.

Summer trout tend to be less active during the day. However, as nighttime approaches, the pond’s food chain begins to liven. The various aquatic life-forms feel protected from their predators and they in turn find it easier to forage. Discounting night fishing, the best fishing activity is generally during the twilight hours. After sunset the water temperature will cool and trout will often take advantage of the evening hatch — a great time for some on or near surface fishing. Early morning prior to sunrise also has good fishing possibilities — the trout are more apt to be cruising closer to the surface.

Here is a couple of trout pond fishing recommendations for catching those typically uncooperative summer trout:

Start fishing before sunrise and look for signs that trout might be near the surface, if they are and the fishing action is good, stick with it until it appears to have stopped. When you feel that the trout have gone deep, do not waste time and use your temperature probe and find the thermocline — fish that zone until the fishing action ceases.
If you prefer evening fishing, start about mid afternoon and reverse the early morning fishing procedure. Start by fishing in the thermocline and stay with it till the action stops, then start looking for trout rising to a hatch. If they’re rising, break out that special fly casting rod — cast and try to anticipate where the next closest rise is going to be, you should be in for some fun fishing. When the trout are not rising to a hatch, concentrate on those structures that normally would be a source of food for them — the edge of weed beds and stay close to the bottom — along rocky shorelines and fish close to the rocks — in front and close to underwater ledges and/or islands.
Finding the thermocline when fishing for summer trout should be your top priority. However, the trout are not scattered throughout the pond and the angler could use another valuable tool to help him locate his fish quickly. You guessed it! The fish finder used in conjunction with the temperature probe is perfect for pinpointing potential concentrations of suspended trout. Start by circling the pond and mark the spots that have sizeable fish concentrations and only fish those areas.

A final note for the angler who has limited equipment to help him find summer trout: unless you know the pond very well — fish close to the bottom and start at a depth of 15 ft (5 m) minimum.

This is about fishing the smaller trout ponds that are less than 200 acres in size and part of the “Put-and-take” system of trout fishing. Basically, the process for maintaining this type of fishery is: to rear the trout in hatcheries, and then released them into ponds. It sounds simple but the manner in which this is achieved efficiently is extremely involved. However, the trout are in the water and hoards of anglers are converging on them. Unfortunately, these trout do not have much of a chance to reproduce naturally; they are generally fished out relatively quick. Every year our trout resource has to be reestablished and as the supply of trout is gradually depleted, the quality of fishing declines accordingly. Nevertheless, each pond will have periods of optimum fishing, although some more than others. How does one find those ponds that are good candidates for excellent trout pond fishing? You have to start by monitoring your local trout pond stocking program. Go to your local Fish and Game website and get all the data possible on trout stocking. Ideally, the information you need to determine the hottest ponds is:

• Which of your area ponds are stocked annually with trout?
• The size (acreage) of each trout pond — this is important.
• Get a good estimate of the total number of trout that will be stocked in each pond for the upcoming trout fishing season — use the previous year’s numbers — this is important.

Now, do some simple math. Divide the total number of trout (T) to be stocked in each pond by the pond’s acreage (A), T÷A=Number of trout per acre.

Example:

The ponds with the highest number of trout per acre are generally the ones that will produce the best fishing action throughout the fishing season. Then again, some ponds can break this ruledue to extremely heavy fishing pressure.

Knowing which ponds have the greatest potential for trout fishing is not always the secret for the day’s best fishing. As I mentioned previously, “each pond will have periods of optimum fishing,” and this typically occurs immediately after a stocking. Surprisingly, that pond which appears to historically show little fishing promise could be the one that will produce a “50 trout day.” This is why monitoring your local trout stocking program is so vital.

Establish and maintain a somewhat detailed fact sheet on your trout ponds as shown in the above example. Stocking numbers of fish can change from year to year, although generally not by much — each pond typically gets approximately the same amount of trout annually.

OK! Tomorrow is fishing day! Which pond do I want to fish? Take out your fact sheet and check your local Fish and Game website for most recent stocking dates. Once you have all the facts, try not to complicate the mission at hand — pick ponds that falls in these two categories:

• Ponds that have been stocked within the last 10 days.
• Ponds which normally get the highest number of trout per acre.

If the local stocking program has come to a close for the current season, concentrate on those ponds that get the highest number of trout per acre. Keep in mind that the quality of fishing will decline considerably as the season winds down. Do not persist on fishing ponds that do not meet your late season expectations — try your next best choice.

The above method for determining the hottest trout pond fishing is relatively simple, although it does require a little homework — try it, in the long run your odds at catching trout can only befavorable.