49lb Rainbow!

[corydoras]

I guess the question is why they do so well there and so poorly here - they grow very large in the wild in the US, and although they are native to the West coast, there are spawning populations in the Great Lakes with impressive growth rates:

 

"In forage-rich Lake Michigan, they grow 30-32 inches long and may reach 16 pounds by the time they are five years old"

 

http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfis...inbowtrout.html

 

Possibilities that occur to me -

 

Perhaps our waters are just too small for them.

 

Perhaps our climate doesn't suit.

 

Perhaps the strains of rainbow trout grown here have been selectively bred to be effective pellet-pigs, not to forage and grow in the wild. Are we comparing wild boar with escaped domesticated pigs?

Food supply has probably got something to do with it as well Steve. Michigan is full of copepods and crayfish.