Last July I did a stocking of about 30 Rainbows. They were in the range of 7-9" long. It took a while but they began taking food from the surface and life was good. This spring, after the 30" of ice melted from my pond I only found 1 floater which made me very happy...soon after ice off, they were feeding as per usual again.

I havent done a whole bunch of fishing in the pond, but a few days ago a tied on a #14, Bumble Bee-pattern fly, made two casts and WHAM! my rod tip was going side to side and the acrobatic Rainbow flew into the air a couple of times before I eventually pulled it onto shore just as my 3lb tippet broke.

I couldnt believe the length and girth of this fish. It blew my mind that a Rainbow could grow so fast in just over 1 year. This trout was about 20" long

Anyways, just thought id share a couple pictures of the fruits of my labour....

Nice fish. It don't surprise me that it would grow that much in a year. The first year I had them it did tho! I have had a few that get to 3# in 8 months, so you are going to have some monsters in there in no time. Now that you see it's possible for 3#, it's is going to seem small and you are going to be shooting for a lot bigger . Who knows, you might already have a 4 or 5# in there and just haven't caught it.

Fun times ahead!!!!

Great trout for 1 year old and stocked at 7"-9" long. Keep up the good work and keep us advised as they grow.

A good example of what selective breeding can do. Rainbow trout have been selectively bred for at least a century. Hopefully we will see this more with bluegill, bass, and yellow perch.