Originally Posted By: catmandoo
[Moderators: If this would be better in a different forum, please feel free to move it -- Ken]

Let me start by saying I know very little about trout, except we like watching and feeding them, I'm sure the grandkids would love catching them, and I know we all like eating them.

In the next two to three weeks I plan to put 25-30 trout in my pond (half-acre / 9-feet deep) for the winter. I plan to put them in when the water stays consistently at, or below, 65 degrees about 20 inches down at the end of my dock. This week it has ranged from 67 to 71 degrees. Half would be rainbow, the other half would be West Virginia goldens. As far as I can tell from what the hatchery person told me, they would be 9-11 inches.


Good thinking on the temperature. If it approaches 70 F. you are in trouble with the trout.

Because of my recent poaching problems, I am also thinking about possibly adding some LMB. I haven't caught an RES in two years, so I'm planning on adding some of them at the same time.

Before I commit, is there a chance the trout are going to eat a lot of my small BG and LMB winter forage and stock? My pond is mainly for great BG. I don't want to disturb that significantly.

If your trout are 9 to 11 inches the only thing they will eat are small fish of about an inch or so if at all. If you feed them pellets they probably wouldn't even be interested in those. Even large rainbows (West Virginia Rainbows are also rainbows just a color selected variation) won't be that interested in eating fish especially if you feed them pellets.
Do I need to get special trout food? I now use either the TSC farm pond 36% protein feed, or a similar feed from the local farm co-op. The hatchery where I get my fish has food, but it sure seems expensive.

I would get higher protein feed for the trout about 41 percent or so. For the few fish you are getting a bag will probably carry you into the time temps really start to drop and possibly when they will pretty much go off of feed.

If I do adopt special trout feed, and my BG feeding season overlaps with the trout feeding season, will the same food be OK for both?

More protein won't hurt your bluegills at all.

For transportation, I figured I'd take two 20 gallon coolers, and get two of the 12-volt cooler aerators from Gander Mountain. I'm about 40 miles/60 minutes from the hatchery. The hatchery guy thought that would be satisfactory, but he also suggested I bring some ice. Does this seem reasonable to get them home?

Yes split them up and add a little ice but not too fast. However make sure you reacclimate them before planting into your pond.

Are 25-30 trout of this size a reasonable quantity for a half-acre pond? That is about how many I'd like to harvest by next May.

Fishing may not be fast and furious as they will cruise the pond and may not be where you're at. 30 fish is not very much for a 1/2 acre pond. I would plant a few more than you plan on harvesting. A small number may die and mostly likely you won't catch them all, but you might. My only concern is if you have large bass in the pond, they may eat the trout in the lower end of the 9 to 11 inch range you mentioned. How about getting larger trout? Say 12 inches or so at least? They shouldn't be that expensive.


Thanks,
Ken





Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 09/21/07 09:47 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.