AuSable River gets stocked with brown trout
By MIKE LYNCH, Enterprise Outdoor Writer
POSTED: May 12, 2008
Article Photos
“The only thing more fun than throwing them in is taking them out,” said Blackenship, a director for Tri-Lakes Trout Unlimited and a catch-and-release fisherman.
Blackenship was one of about two dozen volunteers who helped state Department of Environmental Conservation employee Mike Wallace stock the West Branch of the AuSable River between Lake Placid and Au Sable Forks, a stretch that has some of the best trout fishing in the East.
Although Wallace works at the DEC fish hatchery in Lake Clear, he had to travel about five hours to western New York to get the fish because the Lake Clear hatchery raises only landlocked salmon. The 1,600 brown trout were from the Caledonia fish hatchery. They were each 2 years old, about 14 inches long and weighed more than a pound.
Prior to arriving to the Adirondacks, the fish were not fed for a few days in order to clean out their systems, Wallace said. They travelled in six aerated tanks of more than 200 gallons each on the bed of a DEC truck.
The fish were put into the river using a variety of methods. Some were simply dropped with a net, others were carried in 10-gallon buckets, and finally, some fish were siphoned through a hose that attached to the tanks.
Trout were deposited in the water in more than a dozen spots, including the Olympic Ski Jumps outside of Lake Placid, Monument Falls near the Wilmington Notch, the bridge at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center and in downtown sections of Wilmington and Au Sable Forks.
In most spots, a small crowd of volunteers were waiting to help. There were even a few surprised fishermen. But this isn’t the norm.
Generally, Wallace said, stocking fish into area waters is a solitary act. But this public stocking often draws the help from community members of the Tri-Lakes, Wilmington and Au Sable Forks.
Actually, not only were there local fisherman involved, but students from a high school class in Newton, N.J. were present as well. The wildlife management class stays in Wilmington for about a week every year to fly fish and engage in other related activities.
“It’s a good experience for the kids, and it’s a lifelong memory,” teacher Dave Pede said. “There’s nothing like hands-on learning.”
By fishing and exploring the Ausable River in the Wilmington area, students gained more than just fishing skills.
“By learning how to fly fish, they learn about the aquatic entomology of the river,” Pede said.
While this was a unique experience for the students, stocking is an annual event for other volunteers.
“I got into this in my teens,” said 57-year-old Au Sable Forks native Bob Betters. “We’ve had the same group of guys for about two decades.”
Betters’ personal view was that stocking has become a necessity in Au Sable Forks because there are fewer native and holdover trout in the river compared to his childhood years.
When Betters was a teenager, the habitat was better suited for trout to reproduce, he said. There were more deep holes and more trees along the shoreline. In recent decades, he said the river has widened and the holes have filled in with silt, covering the gravelly bottom.
“If it wasn’t for the stocking, the fishing wouldn’t be any good,” Betters said.
Contact Mike Lynch at 891-2600, ext.28 or mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com'>mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com
