AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — Enjoying a day fishing for rainbow trout doesn’t require an airline ticket from Alabama to Big Sky Country. All it takes is planning, investment and cooler temperatures.

Corey Courtwright, an aquatic resources agent with Alabama Extension at Auburn University, said November is the perfect month to stock well-maintained ponds with the colorful fingerlings.

“Even though they are not native to Alabama, rainbow trout can live anywhere that the water temperature will stay below 68 degrees Fahrenheit,” Courtwright said. “It’s probably best to wait to stock until water temperatures consistently read 65 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Aside from water temperature, other considerations include stocking rate and size, total investment and spring management.

Additional Considerations

When it comes to selecting a stocking rate, Courtwright said cost is often the biggest factor.

“Trout fingerlings are pretty expensive,” he said. “Ponds could probably carry a couple thousand trout per acre without aeration, but that would be a bigger hit to the pocketbook than most would want. I’d say stocking 100 to 400 trout per acre would provide a really good winter fishery.”

Courtwright suggests stocking 6- to 8-inch fingerlings, which would grow about 1 inch each month.

“In Alabama, trout can stay in the pond until about March,” Courtwright said. “That’s long enough to take an 8-inch fingerling up to 12 or 14 inches. That would be about a 1-pound fish, and those are nice harvest sizes.”

Once water temperatures begin warming in spring, Courtwright said fishers should catch harvestable trout and stock their freezers.

Benefits of Rainbow Trout

Along with the joy of reeling in a catch, rainbow trout can provide numerous benefits to a pond’s winter ecosystem. Rainbow trout should be fed through the winter. Courtwright said the feed helps add beneficial nutrients into ponds.

“Come spring, you’ll get a good algae bloom,” he said. “That algae bloom helps with pond management by supporting other fish in the pond and preventing weed growth.”

Additionally, the trout can be a food source for other fish species.

“They’re a great forage source for bass,” Courtwright said. “It helps the bass come out of the winter strong, healthy and ready to grow. Even though it’s expensive, using trout as forage can really help if you’re trying to grow trophy bass.”

Fishing For Connections

For more information, reference the “Trout Producers and Dealers” web page at aces.edu.