Despite intermittent light midge and what they call blackfly hatches, fishing on the Gunpowder has been very slow. Rock snot is making nymph fishing almost painful. So I decided to hit the stream in another capacity: as a volunteer helping DNR stock streams.
I fish mostly for wild trout myself, and I’m kinda lukewarm on stocking. I’d much rather see the money and effort spent on restoring and protecting wild trout habitat. I’m no purist, though, so I figured ‘why not?’
The process is somewhat fun, although I’m not sure how the trout feel about it. After getting divvied into buckets
the fish are distributed to favorable habitat along the river.
Seeing as alpine lakes in California have been successfully stocked by airplane, I don’t think this is too stressful for the trout. In all, it was a good day and a new way to see the river. It was fun to see the trout react to their new habitat.
If you’d like do it yourself, leave a note in the comments and I’ll put you in touch with the guys at the DNR. Here’s a link to the stocking schedule. Most of the action goes on weekdays during March. Note that many of the streams are closed during stocking, so be sure to check before you head out to fish.
James Kibler 