(Southwest Iowa) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is stocking Channel Catfish in public lakes throughout southwest Iowa.
DNR Fisheries Biologist John Lorenzen says this is the year southwest Iowa gets channel catfish.
This past week, the DNR stocked six public lakes in Mills and Fremont Counties. Those lakes included Lake Virginia, Percival, Scott B, Mile Hill, Glenwood, and Malvern.
Lorenzen says over the next few weeks, the DNR will assist the Rathbun Hatchery with stocking fish throughout the southwest district of the state.
Lorenzen says Channel Catfish are stocked at a rate of 18 per acre in most waterbodies. That rate varies for small waterbodies, which receive a flat rate of 50 fish, and large waterbodies, which receive slightly fewer fish per acre. He says the fish being stocked were hatched this year and average just over eight inches in length.
Lorenzen says these fish will be at the size most people like to eat.
