Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Hmm, trout for next winter?

Hi all,

Have a 2 year old one acre aerated pond in Northern Ohio, max depth 10’, with 70 original LMB, 30 new HSB (last fall), 60 CC, and BG / RES. I harvest or plan to harvest all species selectively throughout the warmer months. I feed above 55 degrees.

Active feeding / fishing goes from April to October or so. The other half of the year obviously gets slow.

I never considered it but was reading a thread or two about stocking rainbows. I’m toying with the idea of stocking some next fall and feeding them thru the winter for late winter and spring catching and eating. Here are my questions…

First, is this an OK idea or not? Next, when and how many to stock? Will they take pellets throughout the winter? Are they difficult to catch? How much will they grow? When will they die out?

Thanks in advance, Tony

Hi Tony , I was able to stock Rainbow Trout here last fall ( November 17th ) , 2 acre pond ( bottom diffused ) and it was the end of its first year of life for my new pond, I loved the Trout , they readily fed on Aqua max MVP and were a GREAT winter fish to cultivate , they were easy to catch and provided many meals and fillets for the freezer . I stocked 200 pounds of Trout as they were sold by the pound delivered here in Missouri ( about 200 1 LB trout ) . PROS were they were and still are A Lot of fun for the grand kids and ME , almost sure they fed HEAVY on the BABY LMB that i seen all over the edges last fall , another PRO was that feeding these Trout Daily I could also catch and see HBG and BG AND my feed trained LMB over the winter and knew they were eating and growing and feeding along with the Rainbow , the rainbow Doubled in weight almost every one of them is now 2 LB range 5 months later , I have kept track of EVERY trout caught and as of right now have 80 left. AS for Cons , the Price was a factor but not terrible but came in at 8.50 per pound delivered ( 1700.00 ) , you know as i sit here and type this i am asking myself if we got 1700.00 worth of enjoyment and the answer is YES SIR so don't let that be a deciding factor , REALLY the only Con I can think or come up with is anything that eats in our ponds will poop that right back out , so 200 trout feeding heavy AND along with all my other LMB,CC and BG created a lot of nitrogen so soon as it warmed up here in Missouri i had a heavy FA issue , i was able to correct it by Dying the pond and turning on my bottom Diffusers . I feel pretty comfortable I have until about first part of May here to get them out before they start to die out but that wont really be an issue as they are " THAT EASY " to catch and what a HOOT !!! SO to answer your questions, FOR me it was a great idea to stock them as I enjoyed everything about them , catching and watching them and it made me " get out " to the pond ALMOST every day , how many to stock ? I did 200 trout and IMO that was A LOT for 2 acre pond , WILL THEY TAKE PELLETS ? , they feed ALMOST from your hand and will WAIT all day for the feeder to go off so YES they LOVE the pellets , DIFFICULT to CATCH ?? nope again they are " feeders " and will eat almost anything that gets within a foot of their mouth BUT don't " Educate" them with catch and release, if you catch one take him out because they get real " smart " real fast over and around a feeder , as for growth , I pounded the feed to them EVERY DAY since November except for about maybe 5 total days the pond was iced over and they doubled in weight and still have 2 months left , hope this helps and this is just MY experience ( first year pond owner and as GREEN as they come )

Shorthose gives great testimony about using a fall stocking of trout. Numerous others here have also used trout in the fall with similar very good results. When it comes time in the Spring to catch them you could have a family fishing party. Great entertainment and fun. With almost daily feeding and with using aeration during winter ice to keep a small open water area the 1 pound stockers could be close to 3+ pounds by late June in Ohio when warm water over 70F and low deep water DO eventually kills them. Fenders Fish Hatchery near Baltic OH has nice trout in the fall. If you can figure out how to haul then back to your pond it would be a lot cheaper. A big meal frame water tote can be used for hauling. My local agri elevator has lots of them and sells them for under $50. Make sure water in the tote does not kill fish; test it before hauling trout. Sometimes you might be able to get on one of Fenders other deliveries into your area although delivery may or may not be cheaper than a regular delivery.

Great answers! I’m definitely going to stock trout this Fall. Maybe 75 6” or preferably larger fish in late October. Thanks!