Took the Barclay 7.4 progressive to my little pond this afternoon and caught a few LM on a Bailes-inspired mini mouse. Right now the pond is loaded with smallish bass but not much else. We stocked a few hundred bluegills and redears along with 8# of fatheads this spring but I think the bass have had their way with them. Need to go bigger on the panfish stock next time.

It’s 1/3 acre, a little over 15’ deep and fed by several springs. Definitely has potential to develop into a decent little warm water spot. We’re also going to try stocking some catchable sized trout this fall to have something else to target thru fall, winter and early spring.















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Nice. What size did you tie that mini mouse? I have Chris’s 7*4 and it handles some surprisingly large flies nicely.

Wow, what a beautiful spot I’ll bet those bass were allot of fun on your Barclay

Beautiful fish! Is it any wonder they used to call them “green trout?”

Well done. beautiful fish.
Carl

I like your buddy...

That's a fine report! Those were some nice bass! And a pooch in the story, too! Bravo!

Will do.

This pond reminds me of the small ponds that I fish most of the time.They have been there for a long time and there are some very large bass and some large bluegill.Both are very hard to get on a line but they are there.There are also brown trout that they stock every year.These ponds are amazing ecosystems and fish thrive in them.If that pond is on your land you have a winner.

No but it’s got a sand bottom and the surrounding ground is very rocky. It’s in the Virginia Piedmont just outside Shenandoah National Park.

Yeah. The pond is spring fed for sure. I’ve talked to a couple fish biologists and we’re confident that trout will do ok fall thru late spring. Our summers get hot and their holdover through summer will depend on consistency of the springs flowing and the water temp in the deepest part of the pond. I haven’t dropped a thermometer to the bottom yet to check temp.

Found a hatchery not too far away that sells rainbow and brook trout reared in their own ponds. Figure they’ll be my best bet to try this fall. If those fish survive in hatchery rearing ponds hopefully they’ll survive in mine. Heck, even if they don’t, I won’t mind putting some in each fall to get the opportunity to catch them for several months. As a bonus, I’m now only about 20-30 minutes from several of my favorite Shenandoah Park trout streams.

Good luck with your experiment! If the pond is yet unnamed, I suggest Regal Beagle Pond.