Catch Me If You Can...

By Elaine Macdonald

  

One of 6 holding tanks in Prince George, filled with  young brook and rainbow trout

Six holding tanks are being filled with juvenile brook and rainbow trout, ready for release in northern lakes and streams. The fresh water fish are shipped to Prince George from fish farms in Clearwater, Summerland and the Kootenays.

The weekend of June 17th through 19th is the annual free fishing weekend, when all British Columbians are invited to  try fishing most non tidal waterways without having to have a license to do so. It's hoped that free weekend will get you "hooked" on fishing.

Assistant Manager of the Clearwater hatchery, Dean Worrall, says 1 million rainbow and brook trout will be heading for their new homes over the next week. These fish, which are between 3 and 6 inches in length, will grow to about 1 lb by fall. Most of these fish are heading back to lakes that have been stocked before . Worrall says if you have wondered why lakes stocked for the first time always seem to have big fish in them when they first open its beacuse of two reasons, first,  all the fish are one age when stocked and secondly,  these lakes typically have lots of food available in them.

The Prince George holding tanks service most of the northern fish stocking programs.

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