Ready for opening day: hundreds of trout stocked in Deer Creek
Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Volunteers Lucas Godinez of West Deer and Kellen Thomas of New Kensington load a float basket with trout as they prepare to stock a section of Deer Creek on Wednesday. The men waded along the creek, releasing fish from the basket as they made their way downstream.
Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Chade Hough of Ford City dumps a buck of trout in to his float basket while preparing to distribute trout in Deer Creek during pre-season stocking with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Wednesday. Hough, like other volunteers, waded downstream with the basket, releasing trout into the stream as he went.
Share this post:
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission began stocking trout in earnest this week despite frigid temperatures.
One of the first creeks to be stocked was Deer Creek on Wednesday, with volunteers braving 36-degree water temperatures and 20-degree air temperatures to release hundreds of brown, rainbow and golden trout.
Stocking began early this year because the opening day of trout season, typically the first Saturday in April, falls on April 5 — about a week earlier than usual.
The fish commission plans to stock more than 4 million trout statewide this year.