Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose trout with yellow perch

Having a pond dug starting next week that will be approx. 1/2 to 3/4 acres and approx 12 feet deep. This will be in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I would like to plant feed trained perch and maybe some rainbow trout. Any ideas or suggestions on how this should work out?

Some areas of the UP have pretty shallow bedrock. Do you have 12 feet of surface soil? Where are you located in the UP?.

The trout perch combination could work. However perch grow best or optimally at around 70-74F which are temperatues where trout start having survival problems. A trout pond will have over the year accumulated fewer heat units than a non-trout pond in your area. I assume (maybe incorrerctly) that you have a spring or well feeding water into the pond. Growth of perch will be somewhat slower than you would see if the pond was not as cool. My perch feed pretty good at water temps of 55 to 65F, but I am not sure how good the growth rate is at these temps.

The other situation where you may have some difficulty raising pellet trained perch with trout is due to trout aggresiveness. Trout feeding behavior may discourage or prevent the more timid perch from getting adequate amounts of food to achieve best growth in your water temps. If the perch are not getting the food their growth rates will be less than if the perch fed undisturbed and without fast aggressive competition for floating pellets.

I suggest you first raise perch in the pond by themselves for 1 - 3 yrs. See how they perform and what you can expect for feeding behavior and growth rates. Then introduce trout and compare the two situations. Do you have access to pellet fed perch? Trout are usually no problem to locate in Michigan.

I am very interested in the perch growth rates from your northern location. Please return here and let us know about your perch growth rates and include the maximum summer surface water temperatures. Depending on pond conditons, I would expect your typical, maximum, summer water temps to be around 75F-76F.

I`m just on the outskirts of Escanaba on higher ground so bedrock should not be a problem. The pond is being dug on the site of a tag alder swamp and will be ground and rain/snow fed unless we hit a spring. The pond will be surrounded by trees so this may tend to keep the temps cooler. I would expect it to be full by late spring. Should I put in minnows this year and wait a year for the perch? I was going to get perch from PRI is Standish.Would the perch spawn and provide food for the trout and the larger perch and would the offspring that survived learn to eat pellets or would they just eat natural food.