Southern trout coming to area lakes
Three lakes in western Pennsylvania will be getting some special fish this week.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been stocking trout statewide since Nov. 3 through its winter trout stocking program. Twenty-one lakes have or will be getting fish.
What’s unique this year is that eight of those waters — including Lower Twin Lake in Westmoreland County, Lake Rowena in Cambria County, and Lake Pleasant in Erie County — are getting trout from North Carolina.
As part of a pilot program, the PF&BC has purchased 13,900 rainbow trout from Tellico Trout Farms, which is based in Franklin, N.C. Those fish will go into the selected lakes this week.
Beginning in the spring, the PF&BC will purchase about 130,000 trout from Tellico to supplement its pre- and in-season trout stocking effort. It will buy a like number of fish again in 2005 and 2006.
By contract, Tellico’s trout must be about 10 inches long at the time they are stocked, just like fish from the PF&BC’s hatchery system. Waterways conservation officers will examine the trout before they are stocked to make sure they meet that requirement, and are also healthy.
The three area lakes are being stocked sometime this week.
is a former freelancer.