I went to the hatchery here in great falls montana today. It was pretty awesome. They had about a 20,000 gal cement pond with albino rainbow trout and regular rainbow trout. They looked to be over 3 ft. long and were as thick as my leg(I have very thick legs 
) I put some of their food in and it was awesome to see those huge fish fighting over little bitty pellets. I don't really think that the cement ponds are the best for them. Most were missing either their fins or parts of their heads. Some were just strangely deformed. Probably comes from low gen pools from hatchery fish. They had very long troughs they raised the fry in until they were of a good size to release. They claim not to use any hormones or artificial means of fertilization. Just thought I would share. After our visit we went and caught some of these fish. None were caught over 1ft. We were fishing in a small pond though. Amazing how active they are with the water soo cold.
) I put some of their food in and it was awesome to see those huge fish fighting over little bitty pellets. I don't really think that the cement ponds are the best for them. Most were missing either their fins or parts of their heads. Some were just strangely deformed. Probably comes from low gen pools from hatchery fish. They had very long troughs they raised the fry in until they were of a good size to release. They claim not to use any hormones or artificial means of fertilization. Just thought I would share. After our visit we went and caught some of these fish. None were caught over 1ft. We were fishing in a small pond though. Amazing how active they are with the water soo cold.
