(Atlantic) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources delivered 1,200 rainbow trout to the lake east of the dog park at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic on Friday afternoon. The trout came from the Big Spring Hatchery near Elkader.
DNR Fisheries Biologist John Lorenzen says the trout spawned 20 months ago at the Manchester Hatchery, where they stayed until they grew to about three inches long. They were then moved to the Big Spring Hatchery and another hatchery in Decorah to grow to a catchable size.
Lorenzen says the trout are fed a pellet diet while in the hatchery.
For anglers interested in catching the trout, Lorenzen says they will bite on most things, but something flashy may work best.
Lorenzen says the state raises and stocks about 360,000 trout each year. They stock trout in streams in northeast Iowa and in fishing ponds, including Big Lake in Council Bluffs and, in this case, the lake at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic.
