How many trout to stock?
How many trout your pond will support depends on the pond and on your management of the pond. If you intend to have the trout survive off the natural feed found in a pond with no or minimal management from you, the limiting factor on the number of trout is usually the amount of feed that your pond can provide naturally. If you are providing supplemental feed for the trout, the limiting factor on the number of trout usually has to do with management factors necessary to maintain adequate water quality to maintain the health of the trout. For a pond with no or minimal management (little or no supplemental feeding), a general rule of thumb is that a mature pond (a mature pond is defined as a pond at least three years old) can support about 100 eight inch trout per quarter acre of surface area. This is only a very rough rule of thumb – the water chemistry, surrounding soil characteristics and other features of your pond can affect its trout carrying capacity significantly. Note also that a
