Streams in northeast Iowa will soon be teaming with new life. The D-N-R will begin stocking 45 of Iowa’s 105 trout streams this week with some 350 to 400-thousand fish. Dave Marolf manages the trout hatchery in Manchester, one of three hatcheries in the state. He says the new fish are catchable size — around 10 to 12 inches long — weighing around a half pound. Marolf some the streams in the nine-county area are stocked from three times a week, to once a month, depending on the stream and the amount of fishing done there. He says a small percentage of the fish stay in the streams for years, while many of them get caught quickly, and that’s why they stock some streams many times per week. Marolf says it takes one year to get the fish ready to stock the streams.He says if you visit a hatchery today you’d see fingerling trout — varying from a couple inches to three to four inches — that’ll be stocked next year, and you’ll see catchable size fish that’re being stocked this year. There are some streams in Iowa where the trout reproduce naturally, but Marolf says most areas need a little help. He says trout need clear streams with gravel beds to reproduce, and many areas where they reproduce have been silted in by runoff. Marolf says there is enough habitat however for the fish to live in the streams after they grow to the proper size. To find the stocking schedule, surf to: iowadnr.com.
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