Late spring delays Idaho trout deliveries

Hatchery trucks are scheduled to make sizeable deposits in 17 North Idaho Lakes this spring – but the lingering winter has delayed the schedule.

Snow, ice and cooler than normal temperatures and county weight limits on soggy back roads have postponed trout stocking.

The revised schedule set Monday was to stock about 12 of the region’s lakes with catchable-size rainbows between April 22 and May 1.

The first lakes to get trout, according to the tentative schedule will be Round, Hauser, Fernan, Little Twin, Robinson and Smith from April 22-25, followed by Sinclair, Bull Moose, Freeman, Kelso, Round and Jewell in the last few days of April.

Even that could be delayed slightly depending on road conditions, Idaho Fish and Game officials said.

The May schedule hasn’t been set.

Hayden Lake gets North Idaho’s largest plant – 270,000 Hayspur Kamloops triploids shipped up from southern Idaho hatcheries.

Cocolalla Lake is set to get 25,000, plus10,000 for Mirror, 4,000 for Fernan, Hauser and Kelso, 3,000 for Jewell, 2,000 for Brush, Robinson, Round, Smith, and each of the Twin Lakes.

Smaller plants are planned for Freeman, Post Falls Park, Sinclair and Bull Moose (east of Priest Lake).

Idaho makes it easy to take a load of kids fishing at 14 Panhandle lakes and ponds, with various fish species and simple regulations.

These “family fishing lakes” are Antelope, Bull Moose, Day Rock, Elsie, Fernan, Granite, Jewel, Kelso, Lower Glidden, Post Falls Park, Round, Sinclair, Smith and Steamboat.

The family fishing rules are: year- round seasons, limit of six trout and six bass, no limit on other species, no length limits, standard fishing gear.

Seven of these lakes are pretty much hatchery-trout-only waters: Antelope, Bull Moose, Day Rock, Elsie, Lower Glidden, Sinclair and Steamboat Pond near Kingston.

The rest have a mix of species.