Colorado Continues Fish Stocking Despite Pandemic

Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Aquatics section is working hard to protect fishing opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• by Travis Duncan

Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery truck shares the message: “Your fishing license fees fund fish stocking and habitat conservation.” Thanks, anglers!

Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Aquatics section is working hard during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure fishing opportunities are still available this coming season and beyond in Colorado.

“Fish populations across the state are strong,” said Matt Nicholl, Aquatic Section Manager for CPW. “Warm water species such as post-spawn walleye are feeding well. Pre-spawn bass fishing is starting to pick up. These species can be found in many of the lower elevations reservoirs across Colorado. Cold water species such as rainbow trout and brown trout can be targeted in many of our mountain streams and reservoirs.”

With the current health situation, CPW suggests fishing close to home and practicing social distancing while enjoying our exceptional aquatic resources.

Here’s how CPW has been handling this year’s unique situation for some of our most popular fish.

Stocking rainbow trout in Lamar

On March 19, CPW stocked more than 6,000 10-inch rainbow trout in five different lakes near Lamar (Jacksons pond, Northgate 2 and 3, Turks Pond, and Blackhole).

Aquatics staff made the 630-mile round-trip journey from Chalk Cliffs Hatchery to Lamar to stock more than 6,000 rainbow trout. Despite the cold, snowy morning of loading fish, as soon as the truck reached Highway 50, it was blue skies all the way to Lamar.

These fish will provide excellent early season opportunities for anglers on Colorado’s eastern plains.

Utilizing Nanita Lake Cutthroat Trout for Stocking

3-year-old Nanita Lake cutthroats during the first sort of the spawning season. The female fish full of eggs is on the right and the smaller, brightly colored male on the left.

The Glenwood Springs Hatchery is attempting to produce at least 600,000 eyed eggs for the CPW hatchery system to utilize for stocking. Nanita Lake cutthroats are a subspecies of Colorado River cutthroat trout named for Nanita Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, which provided the original broodstock for the hatchery. This strain of cutthroat is used extensively on Colorado’s Western Slope for high elevation recreational fish stocking. Most of the eggs from the spawn at Glenwood Springs will be stocked as fish in remote waters, some being transported in backpacks and some being stocked by airplane.

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