The Wyoming Game and Fish Department partnered with the State of Wyoming Women’s Correctional Center in Lusk in mid-April to stock large channel catfish raised at the Center’s aquaculture facility. The aquaculture facility was created in 2007 and has reared catfish for stocking around the state a couple times since 2020. This year marks the end of the rearing program, and these catfish were stocked in community fisheries in the Casper, Rock Springs, Green River, Laramie, and Sheridan regions. Specific locations can be found online using our interactive fishing guide.

The stocked catfish average three pounds apiece and 18 inches in length. To reach these sizes, the fish were brought in from an Arkansas hatchery in 2023 when they were around eight inches long. The Women’s Center then reared them to their large size at stocking. Game and Fish does not have a fish hatchery with water temperatures warm enough to produce the growth rates these fish experienced, so the partnership with the Women’s Center produced an exciting opportunity to stock more large fish around the state.

“This is a very unique opportunity for the department and the fisheries in these communities,” said Travis Trimble, Game and Fish assistant fish culture supervisor.  “Game and Fish is very grateful for all of the hard work that Heidi Atwood and the crew at the Women's Center has done over the past year to accomplish this.”

Game and Fish sends its thanks to the Women’s Center for its years of partnership in raising catfish. The fish reared at the facility have provided high-quality angling opportunities around Wyoming, including for many beginner anglers who have learned to fish at the community fishing ponds where these fish are stocked.