Hatchery Trout Stocking Plan
for Washington Lakes and Streams.
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Spring 2002 Hatchery Trout Stocking Plan for Washington Lakes and Streams. |
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This publication is organized into three sections. The first section is the lowland lakes catchable trout stocking table, followed by the stream stocking table and lastly, the lowland lakes and ponds stocked during the spring and fall of 2001 with trout fry. Each section lists the waters by county, shows the trout species, numbers to be stocked by size, and approximate time to be stocked. The locations, dates, and times presented are based on current information, so unavoidable changes may occur. Catchable Trout Plants Over three million catchable size trout (7 inches or larger) are scheduled to be stocked this spring into Washington's lowland lakes. About 140,000 trout are planned for stocking into selected streams, to provide mitigation for lost opportunity to harvest wild fish or to provide recreational opportunity in areas where habitat does not support wild trout. Triploid Trout Seventy-three lakes throughout the state have been selected to be stocked with 1½-pound average triploid trout for the third year of a program passed by the State Legislature. These trout, purchased by the Department, are sterile rainbows that are voracious feeders and have the potential to grow to trophy size if not harvested the first season after stocking. Triploid rainbow are identified as TRB under Species in the catchable trout socking table. See also: 2002 Triploid Stocking Schedule Trout Fry Plants Many lakes are stocked with 2- to 4-inch long trout fry. Over 17 million fry were stocked in 2001. Trout fry are planted in the spring or fall, where they forage on natural food and grow until the following spring when they are large enough to be harvested. The survival of fry plants varies depending on the lake. Some eastern Washington lakes are managed in such a way that fry survival is good enough to be the primary source of new trout available for harvest in the spring. Western Washington lakes are primarily dependant on catchable size trout plants because of lower fry survival and where fry are stocked, the ones that survive supplement the catchable trout plants. |
