Trout stocked as fishing season gets ready to start Tuesday

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Trout stocked as fishing season gets ready to start Tuesday

By EVAN WHITE

Story Created: Mar 31, 2008 at 11:27 AM EDT

Story Updated: Mar 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM EDT

ROME - Fishing season starts Tuesday, so Monday the Department of Environmental Conservation is prepping by stocking thousands of trout statewide.

The first step is to net all the fish in the various ponds, load them on the restocking truck, and drive them out to the ten counties the Rome Hatchery services.

The process began around 8 a.m. Monday morning. Scoop by scoop, Brown Trout and Brook Trout were loaded onto trucks at Rome's Fish Hatchery.

These fish have been growing in the ponds for a year and a half, some are as long as nine inches.

This particular group is headed to the Mohawk River; others are being sent to remote ponds in the Adirondacks by State Police helicopters.

Without this process, fishermen would have little to catch in the coming months.

"Some of the places...it's not enough, or the streams don't really support a lot of natural reproduction, so that's why we are stocking the fish," said Robert Lewthwaite, manager of the Rome Fish Hatchery.

With approximately 1 million pounds of fish produced each year, officials say it's vital to maintain the trout population for the scores of fishermen who'll be able to use their licenses again starting Tuesday.

While most of the fish only grow up to about 5 or 6 pounds, if you're lucky and you are fishing in a large lake you may catch one of these guys who can reach up to 20 pounds.

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