Ric & Cecil,

Thanks for the replies. The rainbows shouldn't decimate the brookie population as I bought all female stock. I intend to harvest these as soon as they are big enough to catch on hook & line.

As for Size, of the 40 fish I caught & kept.

37 were 7.5 - 8.5 inches, never smaller. In this size they are not very deep chested at all. To me they have the same physical appearance as mountain stream dwelling brookies. Is this overcrowding or normal for 2 year old brookies?

3 were 9.5 inches or better at this size they are deep chested and heavy. I wouldnt have kept these but fishing with live bait doesn't always leave you the option of letting them go.

I fished in all conditions sunny through cloudy weather, hot to cold, early morning through evening. The fish always bite.... I usually fish to keep 8 Fish, under the best conditions it takes longer to put on a worm than catch a fish and the worst day I had (cold/cloudy/light rain) was 1 hour to get my 8 fish.

So any ideas how many fish I should keep per season (2 acre pond) & what sizes should be kept and what should be released to get bigger fish overall?

Thank you all for your input

Chris H