How to Raise Trout & Catfish Together

Channel catfish are the main species of farm-raised fish in America. Trout are also a highly popular home-farmed fish, which are typically raised in fall and spring because they prefer cool water in the region of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Channel catfish thrive in warmer water, which can reach temperatures of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. When farming these two species together, the trout should be raised in cages on the pond bottom, which is cooler than the surface.

Things You'll Need

  • Earth-bottomed pond
  • 5- to 7-inch-long channel catfish fingerlings
  • 3-inch-long trout fingerlings
  • Trout cages
  • High-quality floating fish food
  • High-quality sinking fish food
  • Feeding ring
  • Small row boat (optional)
  • Seine net
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase healthy channel catfish fingerlings from your local hatchery, and stock your pond in the amount of 500 fish per acre, if you are feeding on a daily basis. These catfish will reach a harvestable size in a single growing season. Purchase healthy 3-inch-long trout fingerlings from your local hatchery. The pond can be stocked with 1,000 fish per square acre when you are using cages. Both these stocking figures are half the recommended quantity because the two different species will be raised together in the same pond.

    • 2

      Buy catfish fingerlings that are 5 to 7 inches long, and release them into the pond. After 160 days, these young fish will weigh about 1 pound. Place your trout fingerlings into the cages, and space the cages evenly throughout the pond to allow the water to circulate through them. Cages can range in size from 4-foot-square units to cages that are 8 feet long by 4 feet wide by 4 feet high.

    • 3

      Obtain a high-quality fish pellet that contains 28 percent to 36 percent crude protein. These pellets should also be vitamin and mineral enriched. Opt for floating pellets for your catfish so you can monitor the fishes' health when they surface to feed. Your trout will need to be fed on sinking pellets, which must be distributed over the water surface, directly above the cages.

    • 4

      Place a feeding ring on the surface of the water, and secure it to a jetty or tree on the bank of the pond. These rings prevent the pellets from being driven into the reeds or other aquatic vegetation growing along the bank by the wind. There is less waste and less pollution when feeding floating pellets to the catfish, which should receive food two to three times per day. Also feed the trout two to three times daily. Depending on the size of your pond, you may need to feed the trout from a small row boat.

    • 5

      Drain the pond to just above the top of the cages when preparing for a large annual harvest of fish. Use a seine net to capture the catfish since they will become concentrated in the shallow water. Your trout can be harvested by lifting and removing the cages in which they have been cultured.