Brown Trout Stocking in Lake Erie Tributaries

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commision is stocking brown trout into the tributaries of Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay again this year. The first stocking took place on September 28, 2010 at Trout Run. These seven inch long trout are fin clipped for identification purposes before being stocked. Additional stocking locations are Presque Isle Bay, Crooked Creek, Godfrey Run, and Orchard Beach Creek. All tributary stockings will be done as close to the mouths of each stream as possible as long as there is adequate water flow. If stream flow is low, the fish will be stocked directly into the lake near the stream mouth.

Lake Erie Fisheries Biologist Chuck Murray reported that, “The goal of this program is to emulate the brown trout program on Lake Ontario, but on a smaller scale. The intention of this effort is to add some diversity to the tributary fishery, create a near shore springtime fishery, and enhance the offshore summer boat fishery. These brown trout stockings will supplant the surplus steelhead stocked since the elimination of the Coho program in 2003. The brown trout stocking program was started in 2008 through the gracious donation of 100,000 certified disease free eggs provided by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. New York has provided the same number of eggs to the PFBC each year.

Murray also added that, “This will be a cooperative venture between the PFBC and local cooperative sportsman’s nurseries. In addition to the thousands of brown trout to be stocked by the PFBC, approximately 35,000 additional brown trout were already stocked earlier this year by 3-CU and the Wesleyville Conservation Club with the assistance of the PFBC Cooperative Nursery Unit. The success of the program will be monitored through creel surveys and existing assessment programs over the next several years. Brown trout stocking will be about 50,000-100,000 annually, representing about 5-10% of the steelhead stocking levels.”