Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain What do you do with your dead fish?

I have now killed 7 5-6" rainbows in my new 110 gallon growout tanks. Now I am left wondering what can be done with these young trout. I have thought about throwing them out in the garden, feeding them to the cats, and freezing them until I have fish big enough to eat them.

What do you do with your dead fish?

Hate to see rainbows go to the cats but they would love you for it. I usually take any fish I can't eat that dies and turn em into compost. My grandmaw started me on that.

Each year I would go to a pond in the spring and bring back 2 dozen small bluegill and "plant" one under each of her two dozen rose bushes.

She paid me 50 cents a piece for them which was good money to fish and dig a small hole to a kid anyway.

I don't know most instances I would just toss them for fertilizer but with them being trout something just feels wrong about that. I guess that is really silly a fish is a fish once dead but for some reason it just seems a trout should have a more noble purpose then rotting in the dirt,

I know what you mean. I stuck them in the freezer for now. I thought about using them as bait when the ice gets thick enough, but that seems wrong as well. Then again whatever hits a 5-6" trout will make me forget all about it!

I'm not sure what will really hit a thawed or frozen trout. Snapping turtle for sure; maybe a catfish???

I was hoping a 21" perch....