my pond's are as wide and deep as the streams that they come from so size isnt the problem i have somewhere around 5000 gallons total. with alot of shade and oxygenation. plus so many plants i can hardly see my fish unless i trim them back once a month. more than likely brook trout and not rainbow. The life expectancy on brook trout is only 3 years in the wild so they only grow 8 inches but if they thrive in my pond they may spawn and ill call some of the trout fisherman to come fish them out and let some of the wild ones go. just trying to do my part to help the trout population. (i would never re release the fish i have had in my pond, i would feed them to the rest of my fish first) if the dnr have a problem with my kids catching some baby fish out of a stream where in 1/2 mile we saw about 50 fisherman all catching boatloads of fish then they have there prioritys mixed up. they need to be working on growing more fish or enforcing length and quantity limits. not internet tracking someone that threw some minnows into his home pond that his 6, 7, and 9 year old kids caught when they were on a hike.
rainbow trout
- Thread starter perfect_prefect
- Start date
perfect_prefect, it's not that Fish & Wildlife would have a problem with you in particular keeping the trout, but there are regulations that apply to all 50 states on keeping native fish. since brook trout are true natives, Fish & Wildlife is very strict about enforcing those regulations. although you would like to do your part to help the wild population (nothing wrong with that idea), you would need a permit to do so in many states. again, check your local regulations. Fish & Wildlife is simply (and admirably, IMO) trying to protect the wild population. if everyone caught a few fry from the stream, any wild population that existed would be decimated in no time.
however, you are quite wrong about brook trout size and age. brooks can live for 7-10 years, and can grow up to 24 inches and well over 10 lbs, especially if provided with a steady food source.
however, you are quite wrong about brook trout size and age. brooks can live for 7-10 years, and can grow up to 24 inches and well over 10 lbs, especially if provided with a steady food source.
Kids taking illegally collected trout below size limit and far exceeding the daily bag limit is one thing....posting this behavior on the internet is quite another.
Maybe once the kids are older they can learn to shoot deer at night with lights? I'm sure the DNR has better things to do but if we don't manage our own hobby the law will make sure and manage it for us.
All this being said, I doubt you have trout and more likely you have a local minnow. Care to post a photo?
Maybe once the kids are older they can learn to shoot deer at night with lights? I'm sure the DNR has better things to do but if we don't manage our own hobby the law will make sure and manage it for us.
All this being said, I doubt you have trout and more likely you have a local minnow. Care to post a photo?
at the point that i got the fish they could either be tossed into my pond or dumped out on the ground, they put them in a mountain dew bottle, and thats generally not the kind of thing you want to put back into the stream to possibly contaminate it. imo. rather than dumping them on the ground and just letting them die i put them in the pond and post on a forum to try to get some info on how to give them a decent life. i wouldnt teach them how to shoot deer at night with lights we have a suv, easiest way to kill a deer in my neck of the woods. we got soo many of them from the dnr putting too many regulations on them the population sky rocketed and we have more than is natural for our area since there are no predators left here, exept our vehicles that is. so maybe all those protecting the population rules arent quite perfect and some things should be a little more lax. no i dont believe in shooting deer with spot lights but sell a few more tags, and hey leave some guy alone thats trying to raise some trout in his pond, i understand if i caught 100 6" trout in a net and took them home. come on be realistic. relax a little.
perfect,
We're not all that far from seeing eye to eye believe it or not. DNR's from around the country read this site (if you don't believe me just look at the people that have been busted from the forums). I understand the "it's just a few illegal fish" argument but the law is the law regardless of the situation. If everyone thought that way.....
Perhaps indicating the circumstances up front might have been the best policy.
So your kids brought home a mess of tiny trout in a mountain dew bottle? First, I don't think a little mountain dew would pollute the stream terribly but if they survived a trip home in a pop bottle that still may or may not have still contained a highly sugared and caffeinated beverage suggest that my original thought holds true....you probably don't have trout at all and more likely a minnow. I think the smart thing to is properly ID the fish before you get advice 180 degrees opposite of what you want to do with the mystery fish. Any advice at this point is silly since you honestly don't know what you have.
We're not all that far from seeing eye to eye believe it or not. DNR's from around the country read this site (if you don't believe me just look at the people that have been busted from the forums). I understand the "it's just a few illegal fish" argument but the law is the law regardless of the situation. If everyone thought that way.....
Perhaps indicating the circumstances up front might have been the best policy.
So your kids brought home a mess of tiny trout in a mountain dew bottle? First, I don't think a little mountain dew would pollute the stream terribly but if they survived a trip home in a pop bottle that still may or may not have still contained a highly sugared and caffeinated beverage suggest that my original thought holds true....you probably don't have trout at all and more likely a minnow. I think the smart thing to is properly ID the fish before you get advice 180 degrees opposite of what you want to do with the mystery fish. Any advice at this point is silly since you honestly don't know what you have.
Notice that he said "wild" trout. Those stocked in streams that are heavily fished rarely reach anything close to their max. size/age, hence them being stocked. They never become mature enough to breed. In perfect's pond if A) they are trout and B) they survive, they might eventually end up close to the 24" they are capable of, but in a trout stream, 12-14" would be a "big" trout with as heavily as they are fishedflaringshutter;2150560; said:
andyjs;2151103; said:
That's what I'm saying though - in his pond, they could easily exceed the size that he's prepared for. It's a very different situation than they would be in if left in the wild, where they would definitely be caught before reaching full size. However, if he's planning on feeding them on pellets, with clean water and no predators, they could easily reach monster size.
i keep rainbows in a cold water tank about 500 gal, temp 52 w/a huge amount of water flow. theyre reall cool fish and before i get the legality talk i keep them in a tank that i maintain for the city water department. i just put this tank in a month or two ago but ill probally post pics at some point
Hey niblit, that's a killer gig you've got! How did you snag that one? Are you keeping them as a water quality control check for the city, or what? Let us know how they do. 
