The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service,  will soon be conducting helicopter stocking of fish in backcountry and wilderness lakes outside of Dubois and Lander. This initiative will include lakes in the Shoshone National Forest, specifically in the Popo Agie and Fitzpatrick Wildernesses.

Over the course of a few days, a total of 30 lakes will be stocked with over 40,000 fingerling-sized fish (one and a half to three inches). The fish won’t grow to a catchable size for at least two years. The species to be stocked include brook trout, golden trout, tiger trout, rainbow trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and Snake River cutthroat trout.

“Many backcountry lakes support wild, naturally reproducing fish populations and do not require periodic stocking. However, the lakes being stocked this year do not support natural reproduction and are stocked to maintain these fisheries for people to enjoy,” said Lander Fisheries Supervisor Joe Deromedi.

A small percentage of high-elevation lakes throughout the state are stocked on a rotational basis every two to four years. The majority of remote waters support naturally reproducing fish populations and do not need to be stocked. Historically, stocking fish into hard-to-reach waters was done by horseback, but helicopters have been used for decades and are a much more efficient means of planting fish in remote, roadless areas.

At the airport or staging location, fish are loaded into eight separate cylinder-shaped tanks that suspend beneath the helicopter. The individual tanks on the helicopter can hold up to 30 pounds of fish. Each tank is supplied with oxygen stones, and the water in the tanks is iced to slow down the fish's metabolism and increase the water's oxygen capacity.

“This is a very efficient way for us to stock multiple remote lakes at one time and even in one flight. In addition, fish released through this method typically have higher survival rates than older, slower methods of stocking,” added Joe Deromedi.

For further information, please contact: Joe Deromedi at 307-335-2608.

Photo at top: Wyoming Game and Fish fisheries biologists load fish into tanks to be carried by helicopter to backcountry lakes.