DNR Fisheries
Service Announces Preseason Trout Stocking
ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Fisheries Service today announced that it has recently stocked eight lakes
and ponds with 7,500 preseason trout. The Fisheries Service will continue
to stock additional areas as weather permits and it is expected that
approximately 50,000 fish will be stocked during the preseason. All
preseason stocking should be completed before the first Saturday in March.
Most of the stocking took place in the Western Region of the state at
Greenbrier Lake (1,500), Blairs Valley (1,000), Antietam Creek (1,000),
Big Pool (1,000), Frank Bentz (250) and Cunningham Falls (1,500). In
addition, Rainbow Lake (750) and Taneytown Pond (500) were stocked in the
Central Region.
The preseason trout will average a little better than one half a pound
each, and 11 inches or so long. The rearing of trout for the 2006 season
requires that at least one raceway at the Albert Powell Hatchery near
Hagerstown be cleared to receive the fingerlings from the hatch house.
This allows DNR to grow the fish a little larger than some states. Some of
the fish for the Eastern Region have been grown over the winter at the
Unicorn Hatchery outside Millington, while fish to be stocked in the
Southern Region were raised at the Cedarville Hatchery near Brandywine.
Most of the put-and-take trout fishing areas have brief closures
periods for stocking. These closure periods allow stocked trout to spread
out and acclimate to their new surroundings. Additionally, having a set
opening day gives all fishermen an equal chance at catching fish. Anglers
should check their Maryland Freshwater Sportfishing Guide for details
concerning closure periods for their favorite waters. In addition, a trout
stamp is required to possess trout in Maryland and to fish in special
trout management areas.
The DNR trout stocking program is funded entirely by the sale of
freshwater fishing licenses and trout stamps and Federal Sportfish
Restoration Program (Wallop-Breaux) funds which are generated by anglers
and boaters’ tax dollars. For more information about trout stocking in
Maryland, visit
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/recreational/index.html