It was the spring of 1997 when the first trout arrived at Adams Lake from the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s newly purchased Castalia Trout Hatchery in northwest Ohio. My friend, biologist P.J. Phister ran the operation and knew how to raise fish. Formally in charge of Kincaid Fish Hatchery, where muskies were raised for stocking into Ohio Lakes, P.J. was hired by a private firm to raise trout at Castalia. And raise trout he did. Old timers may recall that during that spring three or four truckloads of trout were driven from Castalia down to Adams Lake. Once it was all done probably 10,000 trout were stocked into Adams Lake that spring. ODNR was scrubbing the facility and every left over trout had to go.
Adams Lake wasn’t the only lake to receive trout, nearly every small lake in Ohio got boatloads of trout. They hauled trout out of Castalia for three months trying to empty the holding ponds and raceways, testament of course to PJ’s ability to raise fish.
For Adams Lake it was the beginning of the annual trout fishery that continued uninterrupted for 25 years. Because of its southern proximity, and perhaps because its closest to the state’s Kincaid Fish Hatchery, Adams Lake had the honor of being the first lake in the state to receive trout every spring. Usually by the second weekend in March, anglers were lined up along the banks of Adams Lake catching rainbow and golden trout.
In some ways I believed that because Adams County’s Doug White was in Columbus at the time, Adams Lake finally got some attention from ODNR.
No more. ODNR has made new plans for trout stocking dubbed “Rainbow Trout Stocking Reset”, and it doesn’t include Adams Lake. After the last stocking this spring, you may as well put away your rooster tails and power bait or move your trout fishing to Turkey Creek Lake, cause after 2023, no more trout for Adams Lake.
Just prior to last Christmas, I attended a meeting at ODNR’s District Five headquarters in Xenia with Fisheries Executive Administrator Scott Hale and Inland Fisheries Program Administrator Richard Zweifel, who presented the new roadmap to Ohio’s trout fishery and it doesn’t run through Adams County.
“What we’re really trying to do is make the best use of these trout,” said Hale. “We raise 100,000, ten to twelve inch rainbow trout for stocking each year at Castalia, London, and Kincaid. ODNR’s been stocking trout since the 1940’s but what we’re moving toward is to concentrate these fish (into smaller bodies of waters and urban centers) so more people can catch them.” Hale went on to say that each trout stocked cost $4 per fish and represents over 20 percent of the hatchery budget every year.
The new trout stocking program is described as “connecting people and fish for improved put-take Rainbow Trout fishing”, -a timely course correction for rainbow trout stocking in small impoundments. Hale explained the trout numbers raised for stocking will still remain at between 85,000 and 100,000. ODNR will prioritize bodies of water under 25 acres (Adams Lake is 47 acres), prioritize counties by population, increase the numbers of waters stocked with a goal of high success opportunities, and stock trout into waters that offer higher success rate of catch with a goal of 100 percent of the trout stocked are caught within the first two weeks.
The new trout stocking priorities include counties with the highest percentage of licensed anglers, non-anglers, women, and racial minorities. Priorities are also given to specific trout derbys and special fishing events, thus the Shawnee Trout Derby at Turkey Creek Lake in April will continue. The state is not stocking fewer fish or excluding rural counties, they point out.
Some of the benefits ODNR is hoping to achieve by this new program is providing more closer to home opportunities for the number of anglers and connect with a more diverse group of anglers with an emphasis on stocking trout near population centers.
On top of the stocking list for 2023 and beyond are Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties, in other words Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. At the bottom of the list is Adams County and 41 other rural counties. After the bean counters got involved with the stocking program it was declared that ODNR was understocking the counties with the most anglers and overstocking the counties with the fewest anglers. No surprise that counties with the most people also have the most licensed anglers and 50 percent of Ohio’s population reside in nine of Ohio’s most populous counties. 76 percent of Ohioans reside in 27 counties and only 16 of these counties are stocked with trout.
The hoped for outcome of this new stocking program is making better use of the stocked trout by distributing the fish where people live.
So where does this leave Adams Lake? Hale and Zweifel both believe that a large percentage of the trout stocked at Adams Lake are not caught or wash over the dam during high water events.
Smaller bodies of water (under 25 acres) concrete the fish more so more anglers can catch them. The biologists feel there are better ways to use those expensive trout than by stocking them into Adams Lake.
There were discussions about smaller bodies of water within the county including Winchester Reservoir. Facilities like parking, public access, and number of anglers the lake could accommodate are all considered. Sadly, no other lakes in the county meet the criteria.
There was also discussion of a trade-off. No trout, but what about weed control of the lily pads that choke off the upper end of the Adams Lake, or an ADA compliant fishing dock or even a kayak locker at the lake where with a credit card you can pull out a kayak to use. These may eventually come to fruition but will they satisfy the local anglers who were waiting at the boat ramp when the hatchery truck arrives or the many fisherpersons that are looking to catch a few trout in the days and weeks after the initial stocking?
So, enjoy it this March when the hatchery truck pulls up for the last time and dumps the final stocking of trout into Adams Lake, because starting in 2024 trout anglers in Adams County will have to go elsewhere.