IOWA TROUT STOCKING BEGINS APRIL 2
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| English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
MANCHESTER – More than 350,000 rainbow and brook trout will be heading to streams in 12 northeast Iowa counties over the next six months when the Department of Natural Resources begins its weekly stocking runs on Monday.
The three trout hatcheries – Decorah, Big Spring and Manchester – spend one and a half years to grow the fish to stocking size of one-half pound.
“Our stocking trucks will be going to different streams each day until the end of September when the announced stocking period ends,” said Mike Steuck, supervisor for fisheries in northeast Iowa. Trout will be stocked through October, but when and where is not announced.
Many anglers have already been out pursuing trout that spent all winter in the streams eating bugs and sharpening their survival skills making them more difficult to catch.
For the angler who is more novice than expert, Steuck said the key is to use light line and small tackle and to try to blend in to the background.
“These fish come off the stocking truck hungry and ready to bite, but trout have really good eyesight so you don’t want to announce your presence by wearing bright clothes or by using large tackle,” he said. “Toss your lure upstream and allow the current to bring it to the hole. Try a #4 spinner in gold, silver or black. For live bait, I would use a red wiggler or wax worm on an ice fly.”
There are other commonly used baits, like corn, marshmallows or scented baits.
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