After reading this forum about trout ponds not much has been said about trout and minnows as forage fish. I recieved the publication Managing Michigan Ponds for Sport Fishing (from Michigan State University) and they say not to have minnows in trout ponds, as they will compete with the trout for insect feed. Also this book says trout do not feed heavily on minnows. I am curious to see what people think of this.

I somewhat agree; smaller trout will not take minnows as aggressively as LMB, Y Perch, HSB and other warm water fish.
With that said, I have to say that we do stock fathead minnows in our trout pond. I also believe that trout can and will get bigger faster by eating MEAT. That includes minnows and artificial pellet feed.

Case in point: Place a fathead minnow on a hook (barbless of course) and see just how long you can go without a bite in a properly stocked trout pond. They do eat fatheads!

Ed

The clincher is MSU is talking about trout that are not artifically fed and must subsist on natural feed. In that case yes there is competition with minnows vs. trout. However as Ed says the larger trout can and do feed on fish -- especially fatheads which are too slow to escape. From research I have seen the major switch off from insects, zooplankton etc. in wild trout is about 16 inches. Of course it depends on if minnnows are available. Also brown trout are more carnivorous than the other species. I do fish one lake for planted rainbows where nitecrawlers out fish minnows 10:1 even though these trout run from 15 to 24 inches.

I also believe the length of time a trout has been on pellets has some bearing on how quickly they will take a minnow. My trout are so conditioned on pellets they will ignore a floating insect, and even have been known to ignore minnows and nitecrawlers. The browns I plant my pond with are already 2 to 3 years old so they've been on pellets for a while.

FME (From my experience) if you want big trout, and more trout per acre, feed them pellets as it's more cost effective anyway.

How much dod those lunker weigh?

I'm guessing 12, 180, and 10 lbs, respectively.

Nope. 9 lbs. 9 oz. for the rainbow, I don't remember on the brown trout, but somewhere between 6 and 8 lbs. Yours truly 170.

Twice now this morning I have LMAO reading these forums, Its a great place to be! A 180 lb. lunker, hehehehe

My trout pond is stocked with fatheads and rainbows. I have witnessed some of my rainbows actively chase fatheads in the shallows, sometimes even breaking the surface. But i do feed to make sure they get the proper nutrition they need.

I would stock your pond with fatheads as forage, but I would also feed, if you want your trout to have a good chance at survival and growth.


- Jighead