Fish Stocking and Maintenance Underway in Missoula

The first fish stocking of the season is underway. Ladd Knotek with Montana FWP said Rainbow Trout are getting refilled in different waterways throughout Missoula as warmer temperatures continue melting ice into the valley.

"In western Montana, we typically only stock ponds and lakes because the rivers and streams are managed as wild trout fisheries," Knotek said. "Particularly some of the smaller lakes in the valley bottom and the ones near urban areas like Missoula, those lakes and ponds get a lot of pressure and they're pretty much maintained through stocking."

Knotek said Frenchtown Pond, Beavertail Pond and Harper’s Lake get stocked several times per year and spring is typically one of the times it happens.

The trout are brought in from the Jocko River Trout Hatchery in Arlee.