Have trout, will travel
Trout aren’t automatic in waters of the Inland Northwest.
Without a boost from hatcheries, most lakes in this region would be troutless.
And without “Trout-Haulin’ Tom” Wortman and his truck-driving cohorts, most hatcheries would be useless.
Wortman is the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department’s heavy-equipment operator supervisor based in Olympia. But this time of year, he launches out like Santa Claus all across the state, depositing the gift of trout to please the little kid in anglers of all ages.
“I’ve been doing this for 16 years and I’ve never kept track of the miles,” he said as he backed his tractor-trailer rig into Sprague Lake Resort earlier this month. “But from January through May, I haul fish full time.”
In the course of a year, Wortman’s crews and other state hatchery staffers will have stocked:
•6.5 million trout fry (2-3 inch) into 303 lowland lakes (aircraft or hikers will spread some of those fish into 233 high lakes over a three-year-period).
•14.5 million kokanee fry into 31 lakes.
•3.4 million catchable-size trout (7-10 inch) are into 374 waters.
•42,200 triploid trout (1 1/2 pounds) into 95 lakes.
•33,900 hatchery broodstock trout (up to 5 pounds) into 113 lakes.
•2,800 other species such as walleye, tiger musky and bass into about 10 waters.
The fish hauler’s job is specialized. “I don’t deal with the biology,” he said, noting that he hadn’t even heard of rotenone, the chemical used periodically to eradicate competing fish to pave the way for his trout-stocking visits.
“My job is to keep the truck and the compressor running, maintaining the dissolved oxygen levels and water temperature to make sure the water in the tank is colder than the water in the lake where we’re planting the fish.”
He said he’s never had a major disaster that resulted in the loss of a truckload of fish.
“But I’ve had a compressor go out once, forcing me to dump a lot of extra trout in one pond so I wouldn’t lose them,” he said. “The fishing at Quarry Pond (Walla Walla County) was real good that spring.”
Most lakes hold carry-over trout from the previous year when Wortman arrives for his annual visit. Sprague Lake, however had been barren of fish since the October rotenone treatment. Wortman brought the lake to life as trout flushed from the hatchery truck tank at the rate of 1 pound of fish per gallon of water. Soon the fish were dimpling the previously mirror-flat surface. Gulls swarmed in like teenage boys at a pizza giveaway.
The media, too, often swarm around his truck for an easy photo and story. Wortman is easy with the interest.
“I haven’t fished for years,” he said, giving the same well practiced line to each reporter who asked him whether he was a fisherman. “That would be like the mailman taking a walk on his day off.”