Catchable Trout Stocked

North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries personnel recently stocked seven waters with catchable trout.

Jerry Weigel, fisheries development and production section leader, said these trout will provide exciting fall and winter fishing opportunities. “Shasta strain rainbow trout average more than one pound each, with some up to five pounds,” Weigel said. More than 800 were stocked in the Turtle River near Arvilla in Grand Forks County, while 115 went in the Owls Pond in Burleigh County.

In addition, Wyoming Game and Fish Department provided 7,500 Firehole strain rainbows as part of an annual trade for walleye fingerlings. These half-pound fish were stocked in McGregor Dam in Williams County, Lightning Lake in McLean County, Fish Creek Dam and Harmon Lake in Morton County, and Mooreton Pond in Richland County.

“Trout provided from Wyoming give anglers a chance to catch unique strains and species that otherwise would require a trip to the Rocky Mountains,” Weigel said.

Anglers should refer to the fishing tab at the Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov, for a complete stocking report.

Late Spring Influences Fish Reproduction

Fisheries biologists who questioned how a late spring and delayed ice-off would influence fish reproduction in North Dakota waters finally have a few answers.

“It looks better than we expected,” said Scott Gangl, State Game and Fish Department fisheries management section leader. “Our biologists have been seeing some pretty good numbers of young-of-the-year yellow perch in lakes statewide, signaling some good reproduction this year. This was especially true in our larger lakes that traditionally provided a perch fishery.”

Devils Lake and Stump Lake reported excellent numbers of young-of-the-year yellow perch. Reports also indicated good numbers of young walleye in the upper reaches of Lake Sakakawea, and fair to good numbers of perch on the east end of the lake.

Reproduction was poor for most fish in the Missouri River and Lake Oahe, which are still recovering from the forage losses during high water in 2011.

“We found some shad and decent numbers of white bass in Oahe,” Gangl said. “This was our second year in a row of stocking shad in Oahe, so it’s nice to see some reproduction of those alternate forages. The sport fishery will have a difficult time recovering without that forage base.”

On another note, Gangl said fisheries biologists are seeing good survival of walleye stocked around the state in North Dakota’s smaller waters.

“There were also fair numbers of young-of-the-year pike,” he said. “While we initially didn’t know what to think of the late spring, it apparently was good for fish.”