I have a question; I live in Minnesota and have a very small pond in my back yard (4'wide X 20'long and 4' deep)for you guys this is not even a pond but a pail.
Anyhoo, I am wondering if it would be possible to raise rainbow trout for a season. My intention is to probably just fish them out during the year and not overwinter them or really try and raise them, just fish them. It has excellent aeration but it does get a bit warm. Is this just a pipe dream or is it possible? If not is there another species that could handle these conditions?
Thanks
It really depends on several factors, but I believe you could possibly do it successfully. A pond that size, if it has any water movement at all, will probably have pretty consistent temperatures everywhere. Rainbow would probably be my only choice. If you are north of Duluth, you might have a chance to make it through the summer, but not the winter. If you are south of the Cities, I'd say you don't have a chance to make it through the summer or winter.
You probably could do OK from ice-out until mid-June, and from late September until ice-over.
The neat thing about trout, if they have clean well-oxygenated moving water at or below the mid-60s, is that you can crowd them. Hatchery rainbow take feed readily, they grow fast, and they are easy to catch. Unfortunately, they start to die pretty quickly when the temperature gets into the high 60s, and/or if you don't have adequate oxygen.
Good luck,
Ken
