Two strains of rainbow trout, fall and winter spawners, are reared at the Manchester Trout Hatchery. Fall strain fish spawn during September and October, and the winter strain spawns during January. Both strains are semi-domesticated fish. Eggs are removed from the females by hand stripping since the trout will not spawn naturally in cement raceways. The amount of food supplied to the fish is used in the culture process to control growth.
Rainbow trout inhabit the open water habitat in streams more than the other trout species.
They also tend to orient in a vertical posture within the water column. The diet of released rainbows is highly variable, with some fish feeding very little on natural foods while others seemingly taking nearly anything that drifts by them. A large part of the diet is comprised of mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and their larvae, small mollusks and fishes. Rainbow trout will continue to be our most numerically important fish for stocking as catchable trout. They are readily caught by fishermen and so provide the greatest amount of fishing recreation for the least cost.