Annual Spring Steelhead Stocking Continued

It‟s great to inform everyone that approximately 65,000 steelhead yearling smolt were released once again this past spring into the mid-stretches of the Saugeen River below the Walkerton Dam and also into Otter Creek. These prime conditioned 12 month old fish were given a lot of tender loving care by the members of the Lake Huron Fishing Club who raised them from the egg stage to up over 8 inches in length.   Again, the reason for releasing these fish more than 50 miles upstream is to imprint the fish for great returns to prime spawning water. It‟s imperative that these fish get a good dose of the Saugeen so that when they do leave the river they know just where and how to get home again and into prime spawning waters.   I have a little saying that we should never raise fish to waste fish. Size at stocking is all important and the Lake Huron boys definitely get them up to the proper size. The next important thing is where to stock them for maximum imprinting and that‟s into waters below and above Walkerton