Spiritofthesoul;4935645; said:
You do not have control over the temperature in many natural outdoor pond environments. It is important to remember that ice make a fantastic insulator.
In other words, My pond is around 15' deep and 100+ feet in diameter. I have never seen the entire surface of the pond "freeze" over (Two above ground spring feeds have kept those areas from freezing since I moved here in 1979.
Even in the event of a cold snap never before seen in central Maryland, where the entire surface of my pond froze over to a foot deep, I would not be concerned about the water temperature affect on the gar. I would be far more concerned about the gar not being able to reach the surface to breathe air!
It would be very silly to worry about water temperature in a pond with adequate depth. If my 15 foot pond freezes solid, EVERY FREAKING HUMAN BEING IN THE STATE HAS PERISHED!
I sure hope that you are more concerned about the MILLIONS of us humans that just our chilly fate than some pointy nosed toothy fish preserved in ice!