I'm a first time poster and have been reading and learning for a while. My guess is this information is already here somewhere so please point me to an existing thread if appropriate.

I have a newly excavated pond in NE Minnesota that is between 1/4 and 1/3 acre in size and about 14 feet deep. I'm pretty deep into ground water which runs at about a constant 53 degrees.

I'm planning to aereate the pond (at only about one CFM) and feed using a automated feeder. I'm hoping to stock rainbow trout in the spring and then fish out during the summer and fall. With some luck, I'm hoping some will winter over.

My question is how many fish do you all think is a reasonable number to stock. A local fish biologist says the pond will support 25 - 30 fish without feed or added air. The hatchery that I was planning to get fish from says it should handle 100-200 10" fish with some aeration and feeding.

I'd appreciate any thoughts.