Why do they stock fish that they know will not survive?
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The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources will stock 10,000 rainbow trout at two locations in Lincoln and Henry counties next week, among others.
Lincoln County’s Cedar Creek Lake will receive 9,000 trout Jan. 27 while a 6-acre lake on the Boone Tract of Kentucky River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) will receive 1,000 trout Jan. 28.
The 6-acre WMA lake is located adjacent to KY 389. A gravel parking lot and sign beside the lake are easily visible from the road.
“The trout stocked into the 6-acre lake on the Boone Tract are a new fishing opportunity,” said Mike Hardin, assistant director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. The trout stocked into both lakes will average 10 inches in length.
The department also will stock 4,500 trout each at two sites on Cedar Creek Lake: the ramp at the dam and the ramp on old U.S. 150, located in the middle section of the lake.
“Anglers are targeting and catching these trout in Cedar Creek,” said Dave Dreves, fisheries program coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “These stockings provide a good fishing opportunity because trout bite all winter long.”
Anglers can expect to catch trout through early summer in these lakes. Because trout cannot survive in the warmer water temperatures of summer, the department encourages anglers to keep what they catch. There is no size limit on trout and anglers may keep up to eight trout a day.
Visitors to Cedar Creek Lake or the Boone Tract of Kentucky River WMA can go online to the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website at fw.ky.gov to see a map and other information about these lakes.
Fisheries personnel tagged 500 trout for the Cedar Creek Lake stocking as part of a study to determine catch and harvest rates of these fish.
Dreves encourages people to return the tag from any tagged fish. The department has placed metal boxes around the lake where anglers may get an envelope, place the tag inside and fill out the information about the catch before depositing the envelope.
“The boxes are located at each boat ramp and at the public fishing area next to the KY 1770 bridge,” Dreves said. “Those who don’t want to fill out the information at the ramp can take them home.”
The envelopes are postage paid. Anglers may fill them out at home and send them back to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. Anglers must include their name, address, phone number and whether they kept the trout or released it.
Adult anglers must have a trout permit in addition to a fishing license to keep these fish. A trout permit is included in the senior/disabled license and the Sportsman’s license
Why do they stock fish that they know will not survive?
The idea is that they will mostly be caught (or eaten by other fish) by the time they would die from the summer heat. It's a great program, my opinion. Catching rainbow trout otherwise would require a lot of travel/expense for Kentuckians. Thanks to KDFW, rainbows are close by.
Here is the link to the monthly stocking schedule, I wish they would post more than just 1 months at time.
http://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Monthly-Trout-Stocking.aspx