Several high-country lakes east of Yellowstone National Park will get a visit later this month from a helicopter loaded with trout.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will fly nearly 30,000 Yellowstone cutthroat trout and other species into remote lakes in the Absaroka Front and Beartooth Plateau areas of the Shoshone National Forest.
Many of Wyoming’s high-altitude lakes are not capable of supporting a self-sustaining population of fish, according to a statement released by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. So wildlife managers periodically stock those lakes to provide an adequate fishery for backcountry anglers.
Only a small percentage of wilderness lakes in the area are managed by stocking of fish. Many others have wild, self-sustaining fish populations, or are managed as fishless.
The helicopter and fisheries crew will stage out of the Crandall ranger station northwest of Cody, Wyo. Flights will begin around 6 a.m. on Aug. 13, and should be complete by 10 a.m., depending upon weather conditions.
Approximately 14,890 Yellowstone cutthroat trout, 5,570 golden trout, 4,200 lake trout, and 3,810 splake (a brook trout-lake trout hybrid) will be stocked during the one-day operation. Stocked fish will typically measure four inches or less. Fish being stocked will not be ready for the creel for at least two years.
Contact Yellowstone Gate at 307-213-9818 or [email protected].