Trout Pond

Michaeljon Drouin and Andy Bosley created this small trout pond in 2007 and stocked with 200 four to five-inch Rainbow Trout. The pond is located across the road from the hydro station above the Village Green.

To create the pond, they raised the level of the existing pond by four inches by installing an overflow pipe that would return all of the water to Rosy Branch Creek. This four-inch pipe was designed to allow several irrigation options downhill or to channel the water to other ponds. This formerly stagnant pond received extra life and oxygenation when they ran 400 feet of inch-and-a-quarter pipe upstream to achieve enough "head" to lift the water over the bank into the pond.

The pond already contained thousands of pollywogs, and the young fry gorged themselves. Some of them grew at the rate of one-and-a-half inches per month.  

This year, Andy and Michaeljon will install a small electric light overhanging the far end of the pond, which will help bugs fall into the water for more natural food, in addition to the conventional fish food they are being fed. In this way, thanks to our hydropower generator, the stream will still indirectly feed the trout.  

"I figure last year we lost about forty percent of the trout to turtles and great blue herons although we were delighted that some of the trout had reached seventeen inches. There was also one six-inch rainbow that had different markings; I am convinced that it entered the pond through the inch-and-a-quarter pipe as an egg or a fingerling, and that the Great Spirit also had stocked our pond from Rosy Branch Creek." MD

"Our primary goal in creating the trout pond is to provide an opportunity for full members of Earthaven and their children to catch, eat, and simply observe these beautiful fish. This year, we plan on stocking 250 fingerlings and on getting the turtles relocated quicker." MD