Stocking pond this year, wat do? | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

Brown trout will eat anything when they get bigger - mice, frogs, other fish, etc. Rainbows are pickier and Brooks are even more so. This is in a wild setting, stocked and small pond trout will vary greatly. Will you be supplementing their diet with anything - like hatchery food/pellets?

Do you know what strains of each? How big is your pond? Size of the trout - fingerlings?

Baitfish, smelt, and brooks will more than likely be competing for the same food - so will the bows and browns when they are younger but as they get older they will start to go after things that are too large for the other fish and then the smaller fish as well.

Also the hardiness of the trout will vary depending on the strain and water conditions. What species do natural lakes/ponds in your area have? That is likely the best indicator of what will be successful at your place. Outside of extinct or very rare species of trout, my guess would be brookies for the NE US. Rainbow are mostly native to the rockies and the western U.S./Canada. Browns are European. Brookies are native to the eastern part of the U.S./Canada (there are some exceptions, for example we have a stream that has native brookies here in IA that was passed by from the most recent glaciation - their DNA is unique compared to brookies in the NE US). I am not saying those other trout species wouldn't fair well, but why reinvent the wheel?

Great info, chia.