MANAGING WITH STOCKED TROUT AFM Rick Lorson Under Construction.

MANAGING WITH MANAGING WITH STOCKED TROUTSTOCKED TROUT

AFM Rick LorsonUnder Construction

Stocked Trout Program Elements:

• Over 4 Million Adult Trout

• 8 Million Angler Trips *

• $250 Million Angler Dollars *

Other Program Elements:

• 1.2 Million Cooperative Nursery Program Adult Trout

• 1.1 Million Fingerling Trout

Presentation Purpose:

Where and How Many Trout Stocked?

How we Evaluate Stocked Trout Program.

Actual Stocked Trout Angler Use.

Streams will be covered first, then Lakes.

Adult Trout are Stocked in over 4,400 Stream Miles

• How Many Trout should be Stocked in each Stream?

Harrisburg, PA

Phoenix, AZ

Stocked Trout Streams Are Categorized By:

• Wild Trout Population• Stream Bank Ownership• Human Population Density• Average Width• Access By Roads• Amount Of Vehicle Parking

Mountain Stream

Valley River

Mountain Stream

Valley River

Wild Trout

Smallmouth Bass

Stocking Rates For Streams

• Public Stream 400/Acre

• Urban Stream 350/Acre• Suburban Stream 235/Acre• Rural Stream 125/Acre

• Small River 100/Acre• Large River 75/Acre

Wild Trout >< Stocked Trout

2020 Legal Wild Brook Trout per Mile

9090 Legal Wild Brown Trout per Mile

1,1101,110 Legal Stocked Trout per Legal Stocked Trout per Mile- Public Streams CategoryMile- Public Streams Category

Miles Stocked By Category:

• Rural Streams 2,435 miles (55%)

• Suburban Streams 652 miles (15%)

• Public Streams 462 miles (10%)

• Urban Streams 283 miles (6%)

• Small Rivers 227 miles (5%)

• Large Rivers 208 miles (5%)

How Do We Evaluate Our Trout

Stocking Program?

How Do We Evaluate Our Trout Stocking Program?

Performance MeasuresPerformance Measures

-Angler Effort

-Angler Catch *

-Angler Trips Produced

Rank each Performance Measure from Lowest to Highest to obtain:

ANGLER EFFORT ANGLER CATC H TRIPS PRODUCED

COM BINED RAN K

Some Other

Categories

for Streams

TROUT STOCKING IN LAKES

Adult Trout are Stocked in 117 Lakes

• How Many Trout should be Stocked in each Lake?

Lakes Are Categorized By:

• Lake Size

• Human Population Density-- For The Lake Itself-- For The Surrounding Area

Stocking Rates For Lakes

Very Small Lakes 600/Acre

Small Lakes 325/Acre

Medium Lakes 150/Acre

Large Lakes 75/Acre

Very Large Lakes 5/Acre

Stocked Trout Program

Stream and Lake Summaries

The Three Top Ranked Categories for Performance

Measures were:

Delayed HarvestPublic StreamsVery Small Lakes

Angler Trips on Streams were Considerably Higher for the Opening Week Compared to the Week Following an Inseason Stocking.

Trout Catch on Streams was Higher for the Week Following an Inseason Stocking Compared to the Opening Week.

Total Angler Trips for a Stream Stocking Category Statewide was Highest for Rural Streams.