How big are your browns compared to the brooks? Are they basically the same age?
I only sampled one brown trout (caught and released), and he was 17 inches and in the three pound range. I caught and released two brooks and they were 13 and 15 inches both under 2 lbs. Both species started out last spring at 7 to 8 inches. If all goes as planned both species should add about 4 inches over the summer.
The browns are actually younger than the brooks. They are a little over 2 yesrs old and the brooks are a little over 3 years old. The brooks were behind in growth due to the 45 water they were in at the hatchery I got them from on Lake Superior. Even though trout are coldwater fish that is too cold for good growth.
And no I'm not a pro at this. It's new to me (except a faded memory in a class called warmwater fish culture 30 years ago!) In the past I have purchased feed trained fish from suppliers as it was actually cost effective labor wise. But hopefully the information from Bill Lynch my perch supplier and Bill Cody who has hatched perch and I have a good shot. However things can happen. There can be a zooplankton crash and I could end up with nothing. Or Bill Cody tells me there could be predacious copepods etc. And a real concern is if a warm up is delayed there not be a zooplankton bloom and I could lose all the fry.
