Game and Fish continues stocking the Big Horn Basin and beyond

Posted 4/2/20

Not many know about Big Wash Pond. Some call it Cowley Pond. The spring-fed lake is down a long, dusty unmarked road northwest of town — a favorite for locals.

State fish culture specialist …

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Game and Fish continues stocking the Big Horn Basin and beyond

Posted

Not many know about Big Wash Pond. Some call it Cowley Pond. The spring-fed lake is down a long, dusty unmarked road northwest of town — a favorite for locals.

State fish culture specialist LeAndra Smith, new to the area, had never been. She was relieved to finally arrive on Tuesday, with no signs pointing the way. “They have to draw me a map for every trip,” she said sheepishly.

Carrying a load of 500 brown trout, Smith carefully backed the hatchery truck up to the southern shore and released the feisty trout to the aquamarine-colored water. Other than fighting strong gusts and dust, it was a pretty routine task.

It’s hard to believe the oasis is even there, out in the treeless, nearly featureless desert tract on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Smith will soon get to know much of Wyoming while helping to deliver fish raised at the Tillett Springs Rearing Station, located in the shadows of the Pryor Mountain range northeast of Lovell. Built in 1958, the facility raises almost a quarter of a million fish a year and 2 million fertilized eggs.

Keeping local fishing holes stocked is important for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department — especially now when travel is being discouraged due to COVID-19 concerns, said Tara Hodges, information and education specialist.

“If you choose to recreate outdoors at this time, please consider staying very local and remember to practice social distancing,” Hodges added.

The Tillett Springs station specializes in trout and, for the past two years, Kokanee salmon. The trout are distributed across the northeast part of the state, said Brad Welch, superintendent of Tillett. They plan to stock Deaver Reservoir with 1,000 catchable-sized rainbow trout this week and soon will stock the Shoshone River between Cody and the Willwood Dam with 8,000 Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

“I have fish to deliver [this week], tentatively, if the roads aren’t snowed shut,” Welch said.

A brood stock of Kokanee salmon have been a recent addition to the hatchery. Eggs of the species are harvested in a fish trap set up by the Game and Fish, start their lives at nearby hatcheries and then brought to Tillett to be finished before again harvesting eggs. Kokanee were chosen because they don’t compete with native fish, Welch said.

“They’re a plankton feeder, for the most part, feeding on small micro-crustaceans. You don’t have to worry about them competing with your rainbows or cutthroats or your other species,” he said. “They are a true salmon. There’s a lot of folks that really are interested in them.”

You can’t catch Kokanee around here at this point. Most are stocked in reservoirs and lakes in the southern portion of the state. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, south of Green River, has a thriving population that’s reproducing naturally now. There is some talk about stocking Boysen Reservoir, near Shoshoni, with the species, but no directives have been issued yet, Welch said.

Tillett is currently closed to the public, due to the coronavirus, but should be offering tours again soon. Despite being in operation for more than six decades, few make the trip to experience the facility.

“We’re out here. It’s amazing how many people don’t know,” Welch said. “As soon as everything gets passed the quarantines, we will be back open to the public.”

While the Shoshone River is the closest fishing hole for Powell residents, the cement pond at Homesteader Park is typically stocked in time for the annual free fishing weekend. The event is held the first Saturday in June, with the opening weekend reserved for young anglers. After the first day, however, it is open to all fishermen until fished out. The pond is stocked by the Game and Fish hatchery in Clark. However, this year it has yet to be decided if the popular facility will open as usual.

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