It’s not as easy as shooting fish in the proverbial barrel, but adding fish to local lakes in the spring and fall increases your chances of landing a big one.
This week, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. is stocking three local lakes with catchable-size trout. Kemp, Matheson and Poirier lakes will receive a bounty of finned friends.
Kemp Lake is stocked with 750 catchable-size trout every spring and an additional 1,000 in the fall, while Matheson Lake receives 1,000 in the spring and another 1,000 in the fall.
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“The fish being put in there allows anglers to catch an edible-size trout within a few days,” said Tristan Robbins, hatchery manager for the Fisheries Society of B.C.
Freshwater Fisheries Society began stocking Poirier Lake in 2015, and a fishing dock was installed that year.
The dock is accessible via a path connected to the park’s Panama Rail Trail, about a three-minute walk from the boat launch parking lot or the Butler Road parking area of Otter Point Road. The lake is stocked with 250 catchable-size rainbow trout in the spring and another 300 in the fall.
“You can fish right off the dock at Poirier Lake, so it’s a great way to introduce kids to fishing,” Robbins said.
The money generated from the sale of fish licenses goes directly to the Fisheries Society of B.C. to keep the programs running.
“We get emails and calls from people thanking us for what we do, especially since we started stocking Poirier Lake,” Robbins said.
Through consultation with provincial fish managers, the society has stocked more than 800 lakes and rivers since 2003. More than six million trout, char and kokanee ranging from juvenile fry to catchable-size fish are released yearly.
Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery in Duncan is one of six hatcheries operated by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. The hatchery stocks approximately 50 lakes on Vancouver Island
Cast over to www.gofishbc.com to reel in more information on the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. and its work.
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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