BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana will be stocking 1- to 2-pound rainbow trout in 13 ponds statewide during January, for kids and grownups to catch.
It’s part of the Get Out and Fish! program put on by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation.
The department put thousands of channel catfish into the ponds during the fall.
Rainbow trout can be stocked only in cold and cool weather, according to a news release sent Thursday.
The program is open to ponds in or near a city or town, easily accessible to the public and with plenty of space to fish from the bank. They also must have potential for developing a quality fishery, restrooms, and adequate parking.
There are four in cities along I-20, from Turner’s Pond in Minden, through Grambling and Ruston to Kiroli Park in West Monroe. There’s one at William T. Polk Park in Vidalia and four in southwest to south-central Louisiana, from Purple Heart Memorial Park in Ragley through Jennings and Lafayette to Southside Regional Park in Youngsville. And four are in the southeast, from BREC’s Burbank Park in Baton Rouge through Walker and Hammond to Joe Brown Park in New Orleans.
This year, those 13 ponds got a total of 26,500 pounds of catfish and 3,000 pounds of rainbow trout. They’re bought in a size big enough to eat for dinner.
Department biologists provide technical assistance and recommendations for maintenance and fishing management. They also work with each participating organization to decide how much fish to buy for stocking.
Anglers 16 and older must have a valid Louisiana fishing license.
The department asks anglers to check in at the website each time they visit a pond in the program, to help monitoring and continuing the program.
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