[Polished Arrow]

Anyone grow their own fishes on their smallholding?  Trout, maybe?
Just wondering how big a deal it is...  I am not thinking big scale - just enough to keep the family in fish 

[chrismahon]

Nearly bought a house which had trout in their pond (years ago now). Owner said because the water wasn't running through, but was fed by the house rainwater, the trout tasted far too earthy to be eaten. So I think suitable habitat may be an issue PA.

[Fleecewife]

I think you can cleanse earthy tasting trout by keeping them in clean fresh water for a few days before eating.
Ever since we bought our smallholding our younger son who is a mad-keen fisherman has been trying to persuade us to have a trout pond, but we have so far managed to avoid it     The main problem is that we have no running water, only that collected on the roofs.

[Hermit]

I am lucky, I have a trout burn running through my land. Strange though, we never fancy catching them ourselves as we love to  watch them. People come from miles to fish it at the place where it goes to sea and do catch some good ones.

[SteveHants]

You need a water supply for trout - ie if you have a lake, it needs to be one fed by a stream with a sluice etc, or on a hot day they will go belly up.


I used to be a trout farmer and the farm I started on was tiny - 12tonnes per annum from egg to table/restocking size. Can't see it being cost effective really on a smaller scale than that.




Now, carp, on the other hand....

[MAK]

It is something I have thought of for the future. The 5 houses in our village share a "pecherie" if that is the correct term. It's a shallow rectangular pond which is fed by the spring and the outlet feeds the stream down the side of my land. Neighbours tell me that they used to catch carp in the lake down the lane then keep them in the pond to "clean" them. I guess this means flush out the muddy taste.
The pecherie needs cleaning out but is opposite an empty barn that I have. If ever I find a few quid I will convert the barn into a gite for fisherman who can walk to a large lake. There are many lakes here and several Brits offer fishing holidays so I would have to make quite an investment to compete with others for bookings. The lake is drained and stocked by the commune every few years. Cleaning up the pecherie would be  a nice thing to do for the village and maybe my neighbours families could use it when they return on their family holidays.

[Polished Arrow]

Mmm.  We have three streams/springs and a well on our 8 acres, all in close proximity.  It would be a real possibility to make a small lakelet/large pond for trout, though I'd need more inf on how big for how many trout etc.  Will keep my eyes peeled and if I ever find out more, report back here!

[Rosemary]

We've got a book published by the National Trust called "Kitchen Garden Estate". It has a section on fish farming, as practiced on stately home estates.

[SteveHants]

Mmm.  We have three streams/springs and a well on our 8 acres, all in close proximity.  It would be a real possibility to make a small lakelet/large pond for trout, though I'd need more inf on how big for how many trout etc.  Will keep my eyes peeled and if I ever find out more, report back here!

That sounds ideal on paper - if you need any help give me a shout. You'd need to see about a section 30 consent to get them stocked...

[YorkshireLass]

Have a look at aquaponics... it's not elegant or pretty, as you have very functional tanks for fish, and the water is intermittently pumped through a growbed to feed/water plants. I think they like tilapia as they're fast growing fish. I gather pond fish have too many interfering factors e.g. algal growth for fish farming on this teeny scale?