Friday, August 5, 2016

Gravel Pit Rainbow Trout

 
The Pond at Sunset

There is a gravel pit near my home where I do a lot of my shooting. It's large enough to offer ranges of up to 400 yards with good high banks for safety.

One part of the pit is a lot deeper than the rest, and it used to form a sandy basin.  Decades ago the owner had dug an extra deep portion into the basin where he hit ground water.  Initially, there was only a small amount of water, but over the years the water table rose until it filled the deepest hole in the basin.  It created an 80 yard long by 20 yard wide pond within the basin.  For years it was a favorite swimming hole.

Then, amazingly, the water table began to rise even more until the pond overflowed and filled in the entire basin.  It formed a sand bottom lake 320 yards by about 80 yards.  Today, the average depth is about 5 feet, but the original hole where ground water was first struck is at least 12 feet deep.  That makes a 12 foot deep channel about 80 feet long in a 320 yard long lake.