Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Rainbow Trout in Ponds

U have about a acre big pond and i was wondering if anyone knows if rainbow trout(or any time of trout) could be stocked in my pond and live. i have a big fountain in the middle and is well oxygenated and clean. i live in kentucky. but the summers are pretty warm. there are trout in the river right next to me but they die off in the summer. i dont think they can live but just wondering if it would be worth trying to put them in. thanks if someone helps me out

If you can keep your temps 65 or below you can do it. Otherwise you are wasting your money. I run well water into a much smaller pond in summer to keep my trout alive.

You could stock of course RT in the Fall, after the water temp is low enough, and feed them through Fall, Winter, and Spring. Some folks do this to increase the utilization of their ponds in the cold months. Any RT you do not catch out before the water warms up in late Spring will die, but if you have LMB large enough they will get some great forage from the sluggish RT first.

During the winter if the water temps can stay between 50 and 69 degrees you can grow trout.

Any higher and the trout become stressed and/or die.

Hatchery rainbow trout are eager and aggressive feeders.

ok thanks....how big will the rainbows get between fall and then that next spring time. i know the water temp will stay below 65 during that time and also would any of the other fish in my pond be a problem to the rainbows. i have big catfish and some 6-8 lb large mouths, and crappie...but there are alot of baitfish and minnows in there too for food. would the dead rainbows hurt other fish in pond too when they die or do i need to try to get them out in summer time. also how many would be recamended to put into pond in fall

Help, Cecil, Help!

CB1 may have the best idea on growth rates. If you have an idea what size RT you might start with, post it.

6-8 lbs LMB should make a good go of cleaning up slowly dying RT in the Spring. I suspect the remainder of them won't hurt a thing. They'll get cleaned up by "Mother Nature's 4-legged Cleaning Crew" as cold-water killed Tilapia are always reported to.

If/when I do a Winterstock of RT, I'm going with my fish supplier's minimum order for the first year as a trial. This is 50 lbs. of 1-3 lbs RT. I have a 1 acre pond.

ok...just wondering but where could i get rainbows to stock in pond and do you know around hw much they are?

I know that Jones Fish has got them listed. I have not bought RT off them, but they did the rest of my stocking and I was happy with their service and fish.

They are not too far from Cincinnati; IIRC they will deliver to KY. Used to be be free for an order over $150.

I live in Western North Carolina where there are a lot of rainbow trout hatcheries and I paid 5 dollars for roughly 15 trout.

Edited to add: I picked them up myself.

ok thanks yall for the help...if anyone has anything else to say abut trout in ponds or anything i would apreciate coments. thank you

Guys, let me add my "virgin" comments. I put 50 Kamloops in my pond. They grew from about 3-4" in fall 04 to 12-15" in fall 05. I fed "Blue Seal" pellets 40% protein during spring/summer/fall 05. I fed 3/4-1 lb twice a day....that was way to much!I probably won't feed at all during warmer summer months. I will say...my rainbows out grew the 200 brookies by about 6-8". I also added another 3lbs. of fatheads in spring 05. I'm in northern Pa. where annual mean temp is 45-50 degrees. Summer 05 was unually dry and some of my springs went dry. Be careful about feeling to much. It will add to nutrient loading,algae growth and low D.O.. This spring i'm feeding 1/2 lb. in morning and evening.Probably will not feed this summer. Stomach contents of brook trout have shown hvy. feeding on fatheads.If your pond is healthy you probably won't need to supplement. I just enjoy walking around my pond at daylight/dusk watching the fish jump/grow! Another reason for not getting to carried away with feeding is....I eat the fish on regular basis. Not real comfortable with contents of most feeds.Herons beware... owner is armed and at times quite dangerous, (so my friends say)I use the three strikes and your're out rule.Actually I shot towards and not at all pedators. They become conditioned to take flight as the front door flies open. Persistant thiefs are given lead in the head! Hope this info helps someone out there.

slydog

Extremely interesting comments on the trout and feeding, slydog.

Did you read resonses to your first post?

Hi Bruce. Yes I did read comments.I intend to take some pictures of pond/fish etc. May need help posting though. I don't want to sound like a know-it-all. Hope I don't come across that away. I have some background in watershed management/forestry. Have worked for U.S.D.A. and Corps of Eng. for close to 28 years. Have a inlaw that just retired from a Federal Cold Water fisheries lab. here in Pa. He and colleagues have shared a lot of info on trout,and I just researched the subject to death!

slydog,

Two things, at least, that I liked about your post:

1)the 50 Kamloops...several months ago Bruce posed a question to the Forum as to what they would do with a small pond and small budget in a dream northern pond...my dream wish was...Kamloops trout

2) I like your thoughts on artificial feeding and agree with them. The natural food approach is far superior, in my opinion of pond management options.

A couple more thoughts on trout. I buy from a supplier that guarantees disease free fish. Pay the few cents more per fish for the piece of mind! As much as I wanted to stock browns I resisted. They stay deep, will ravish smaller trout and can be hard to catch. I love to fish for them though and may put in several "local" wild browns for fun. One or two last words...My reseach, professional advise and pond design "suggest" that some limited reproduction may be possible. We'll see about that. Lastly, I put a lot of fish attractors/rock structure in the pond. When I post pictures you will understand. Slydog

Actually many folks in other states have no choice when it comes to disease free fish. I cannot plant any trout without disease free status from my suppliers and an O.K. from my state. My state takes it very seriously. (Of course that doesn't stop them from planting diseased fish but if you make the rules I guess you can break them)

Browns are more of a challenge to catch but a very worthwhile fish IMHO. In fact I no longer raise rainbows. I have a much higher demand for browns and brooks. To me rainbows are a dime a dozen.

Limited reproduction of rainbows in pond? That's a new one to me and any researchers I know. The only trout that I've seen reproduce in a pond or lake are brook trout. They need upwelling water to do so.

Not trying to challenge your assertions but I respectfully disagree.

I'll take one of these guys over a rainbow any day! This male brown was just under 12 lbs. and was caught on a kastmaster spoon out of my trout pond a couple of years ago. My neighbor is holding him as he got off his lawnmower to net it for me. :p