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Canadian
ConservationNEWS
Canada ’ s Stocked Waters
by Wes David
The Canadian provinces are full of stocked rainbow trout lakes and ponds and most of us , myself included , have spent time fishing them putting little to no thought into the time and effort it takes to stock these water bodies for our fishing pleasure . Others have driven by stocked waters in search of bigger lakes with bigger fish , not giving the stocked trout waters a second thought . However , these ponds and lakes are loaded with scrappy rainbow trout that are eager to bite an angler ’ s offering . But the chance to catch these transplanted rainbows starts well before an angler even thinks of going fishing .
Privately owned and government trout farms receive thousands of trout eggs in the eyed stage throughout the year to accommodate a variety of different fish sizes and stocking dates throughout the year . Seven to nine days after the eggs arrive , they begin to hatch . For the first 14-days , after they hatch , the trout fry live off their egg sac . Trout that are released in the spring of the year arrived in the egg stage usually during the months of October through December the previous year . Throughout the winter months , the trout fry are hand fed a high-calorie Salmonid diet with feeding occurring four to eight times a day . The fish-feed pellets are 45-percent protein and 18-percent fat and as the fish continue to grow into fingerlings and larger , they are moved to larger aerated holding tanks where the water is strictly monitored and kept at a constant temperature of 15-degrees Celsius . The amount of trout raised depends on the size of the trout farm . However , 125,000 into the millions is common . Most privatelyowned trout farms release all the rainbow trout they raise . However , some trout farms will grow larger fish by keeping them for longer periods of time . But just like agricultural farmers , after the harvest season is over , the break is short lived .
Prior to bringing in new eggs for the next growing season , maintenance is
done on the equipment and all the tanks , aerators , and a variety of other equipment is sterilized and tested before the next shipment of trout eggs arrive . Roughly 90-percent of trout ponds are stocked during the last week of April , depending on weather and ice cover , and throughout the month of May , and June . The other 10-percent receive a second or even third stocking during the month of September and then the cycle repeats itself .
Where does the money come from ? Each province is different but a percentage of money from every sport fishing license sold goes to the province ’ s conservation association and back into the provinces fish stocking program . The stocking programs provide anglers with a chance to catch and harvest rainbow trout in many regions of their home province where rainbow trout angling is limited or non-existent . However , money is also set aside by the programs to post conservation signage at trout ponds and a variety of projects are ongoing at many ponds to help better the ponds water quality to help eliminate winter and summer kill . Local hunting and fishing clubs also raise money through a variety of club organized events to maintain local trout ponds and stock local club ponds .
Why Stock Trout Ponds The benefits to having an abundance of stocked trout waters help ease some of the angling pressure on the province ’ s fisheries as a whole . When fishing stocked ponds , pay close attention to the provincial fishing regulations as each pond may be setup differently . Many trout ponds are setup so an angler can catch and keep a limit of trout for the frying pan , while others have slot limits and some ponds are designed to be a trophy fishery and have larger slot limits or they may be a catch and release only pond . Be sure to check your fishing regulations before keeping fish out of any water body .
Provincial stocking programs play a very important role to provincial and Canadian fisheries and many don ’ t realize how important they are to future anglers . It ’ s estimated that 70-percent of kids under the age of 12 catch their first fish from a stocked trout pond .
31 Wild Guide . Winter 2018