(Lewis) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Atlantic Parks and Recreation are partnering with Optimal Aquafeed to stock approximately 250 rainbow trout in the small pond at Schildberg Recreation Area on the northwest edge of Atlantic at around 1:00 p.m. today. Officials with Optimal Aquafeed donated the fish for the stocking.
“The rainbow trout are expected to boost the fishing through the remainder of the fall and into the winter ice fishing season,” said Bryan Hayes, Fisheries Biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Hayes says Optimal Aquafeed is a spinoff company of Green Plains Ethanol located in Shenandoah, producing and testing fish feed. The nutrition lab at the facility has rainbow trout as part of their feed trials that they make available in stocking in partnership with Iowa DNR. The 9.5-acre Pond 1 at the Schildberg Recreation Area was selected for stocking because of its small size and proximity to Atlantic.
Adam Bean, Optimal Feed Aqualab Manager, says his company was pleased to donate the surplus fish and create a unique fishing opportunity for anglers in southwest Iowa. For the last three years, a similar trout stocking has been done at Rapp Park in Shenandoah.
Hayes says the trout range from ¾ of a pound to four pounds.
Anglers must have a valid fishing license and pay the $14.50 trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of ten.
Children aged 15 or younger can fish for trout with an appropriately licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit. The child can buy a trout fee, allowing them to catch their limit of five trout.
For more information, contact Bryan Hayes at 712-769-2587.
(Photo: Courtesy of Bryan Hayes)
