CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said on Wednesday that a helicopter was used to stock “over 21,000 fish in high country lakes on the west slope of the Bighorn Mountains” this summer.
“Many of Wyoming’s high country lakes are not capable of supporting a reproductive population of fish,” the department said. “Therefore, it is necessary to periodically stock these lakes to provide an adequate fishery for backcountry anglers.”
Game and Fish usually stock waters in the Bighorn National Forest every other year.
Various species of fish were stocked into different lakes this July, according to Game and Fish:
- Yellowstone cutthroat trout were stocked in:
- East Marion Lake
- Emerald Lake
- Lake Elsie
- Lily Lake
- Little Poacher Lake
- Lost Lake
- Lost Twin Lakes # 1 and # 2
- Maybelle Lodge Lake
- Poacher Lake
- Golden trout were stocked in:
- Gunboat Lake
- Lower Pouch Lake
- Upper Pouch Lake
- Splake were stocked in:
- Lower Medicine Lodge Lake
- Tiger trout were stocked in:
- Cliff Lake
- Granite Lake
“Only a small percentage of the wilderness lakes are managed by stocking of fish,” the department adds. “Many others have wild, self-sustaining fish populations, or are presently managed as fishless.”
Game and Fish also used a helicopter to stock 94 alpine lakes in other areas with over 136,000 trout this summer. The department shared video showing how those helicopter drops were conducted:
“The helicopter offers a fast and low impact alternative for stocking fish in remote areas,” Game and Fish says. “To stock fish using this method, the fish are loaded in eight cylinder shaped tanks, which are attached to the helicopter by a cable.”
“Each tank holds approximately five to eight gallons of iced water and 10 to 25 pounds of fish, depending on the size and species of the fish. Each tank may contain different species or sizes of fish, depending on the lake to be stocked. Each tank compartment has a door that opens at the bottom to release the fish as the helicopter maneuvers over the lake. The pilot has a control switch that can trigger each door individually or all eight tank doors at once. The canisters are approximately ten feet above the water when they are opened.”
