DUBOIS, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) last week stocked 30 remote lakes near Dubois and Lander with over 40,000 trout.
WGFD used helicopters to fly a variety of trout, including brook trout, golden trout, tiger trout, rainbow trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout and Snake River cutthroat trout to restock the lakes, a process that happens every two years as part of routine population maintenance.
Lakes in this region have been stocked since the general public started introducing trout to them in the early 1900s. Fish don’t easily breed in these water bodies since they lack a flowing inflow or outflow stream in which to lay eggs.
“Through the years we’ve found a stocking rate that has worked well to maintain the fisheries and keep up with harvest and natural mortality,” Joe Deromedi, Lander Fisheries Supervisor, told Buckrail.
The introduced fish, bred in state-owned hatcheries around the state, are small, measuring between 1 1/2 and 3 inches, and won’t grow to a catchable size for two more years. They are transported in eight cylindrical tanks, each holding 30 pounds of fish, suspended below a helicopter.
“This is a very efficient way for us to stock multiple remote lakes at one time and even in one flight,” Deromedi said. “In addition, fish released through this method typically have higher survival rates than older, slower methods of stocking.”
The lakes stocked on this mission are located in the Shoshone National Forest in the Washakie Ranger District, north of Dubois, and the Wind River Ranger District near Dubois. Lakes received anywhere from two to 3,600 fish each.
