Cecil and others give me your thoughts. I have a 1/2 acre trout pond with all the gadgets to have an almost perfect enviroment. Tons of fathead minnows and everything in between. I love to bar-b-q a few to keep numbers in check. What really has me curious is when i clean one i always to a cowboy autopsy and see what is in their lower gut. I rarely find a fathead in the gut. Always snails, and water bugs. Do trout really prefer other forage to fatheads or are they lazy and don't want to work to catch the harder to stalk minnows. Anyone do any research on the preference of food choices of Steelheads and rainbow. Jeff

Jeff,

I have literature that says trout are not good minnow eaters. That said, if you had brown trout they would annhilate you minnows as they are more piscivourous. It depends on the species amd strain and size also makes a difference. I also have literature that shows trout not feeding exclusively on minnows until they reach about 16 or 17 inches.

Lots of exceptions of exceptions to the rule though.

It is possible your fatheads get digested so fast they are not as visible vs. the more difficult to digest things like snails and insects?

Are your fatheads accessible to the trout? Is it possible your fathead stay primarily in your rip rap and/or vegetation and do not go as deep as your trout?

Cecil-they do stay on the edges quite extensively and in the pallets and rip raf. Thats not to say the don't venture our because when i feed the trout occasionaly they so swim to unsafe waters. I was not aware that trout were not big minnow eater as both of my supplies get millions delivered in the spring and feed them as a supplement. When i do trap minnows and use them to fish with you get a bite 90% of the time. Crustations and bugs are the favorite and i must have a good supply as they are always full of the.

Thanks Cecil

I remember reading something to the effect that trout under 10 - 12 inches don't really eat all that many fish (excluding browns I guess). I believe it said 90% of their food would be insects and crustations, beyond 10 - 12 inches it said 70% of the diet is fish. However as your feeding they may simply never get hungry enough to bother chasing minnows, the energy required to chasse the minnows may be too much trouble for the return they get. If your consistant and regular with the feed they may have figured out it's easier to wait for the food to fall from the heavens than chassing minnows.

Chris H.