We have a trout pond here in Michigan. My wife and I are very happy with the pond but have been thinking about introducing Perch to the pond. Can anyone tell us if that is a good or bad idea? Will the perch take over? Or can they get along together. thanks

Without a higher end predator than just trout I think you'll end up with issues. I take it your pond remains cool enough for trout to survive year round? You would most likely have to add an addition predator to the mix to assist in controlling the perch. Management techniques such as the removal of egg strands in the spring, angling and trapping could also assist in keeping the perch under control.

IMO and experience and as CJ says the two would probably get along too well where the trout would not eat enough of the YP to keep them controlled esp if the trout are fed pellets. Not feeding the trout pellets would help. I think the two would compete for the same natrual foods if one of the species is not fed pellets. If you want some YP, I suggest that you add only females stocked prespawn, during or soon after spawning season when females are easily recognizable.

If we decide to put in perch in our pond, we were thinking about catching some perch out of a neighboring pond, (of course with the owners permission)and transplant them into ours. My wife and I really like the taste of fresh perch, but we dont want to mess up the trout fishing that we enjoy now.

CJ, In regard to your question of whether our pond was good for year round trout suppport, it remains to be seen. This will be our third year with the new pond. The first year we over airated and we lost all 200 rainbows in mid June. The second year we only airated 2 hours a day, and the trout made it nicely through the hot summer.

Tframe - as a pond ages it gathers more organic material and nutrients which annually consumes more DO. Nature's rule. As this happens, esp during warmer summers the pond often looses too much DO from more accumulated decaying organic materials, also while getting too warm. Be aware of that fact. Some years will be good and some not so good for the trout esp if there are no cool well water or spring water inputs.

At first I would emphasize stocking only lower numbers of plump female YP that you can catch. Each spring add a several adult female YP. Spawned females will have larger redened genital vents. Look for it and it is farily apparent. Males near spawn season will be thin bodied with flowing milt. Once you see it, the features are fairly easy to recognize. YP in your area should be in the main spawn period now. When the trout thing is failing you can always add male YP and maybe some smallies.

do the trout reproduce naturally or do you stock them?? sounds like you stock them. How big is the pond. and if you like to eat the perch, it wont hurt your fellings to thin them out at all. i agree with Bill Cody, Throw some in.

Trout are predatory and will feed on young perch. I hear trout become more canibolistic about 12-16 inches, and browns more so than rainbow.
If you stock them when they are too little though the larger perch might consume a good portion of your 200 fingerlings, mabeye buy a little bigger fish or feed them in a seperate tank until they get big enough to defend them selves.

jmo

I don't think that it's a good idea. As far as I understand, you have only trout so far and sometimes you catch some of it and probably eat. That means you will have to restore your trout population after some time (trout isn't a crucian carp that can easily breed in every pond). Probably you be willing to put little trout in there and don't you think that perch would eat them?

The cost increase from fingerling trout 3" to 6"-8" trout is minimal esp in a small pond. YP will have to be pretty big & fast to eat a 4" trout. YP predation on trout (except fry) will almost always be minimal. Adult YP rarely eat full sized 3"+ fathead minnows and a FHM is a lot slower than a trout.
If you stock YP I would stock pellet trained YP. They will grow better and faster if fed pellets. Pellet untrained larger YP are difficult to train to eat pellets. When cooler trout are feeding on pellets the YP may not get a lot of pellets, but when surface water is warm and trout are sluggish at surface, the YP will get adequate pellets.

Bill, where do you get feed trained YP in the Midwest?