LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said spring is one of the busiest times of the year for fish stocking.

What You Need To Know

  • Stocking fish will enhance fishing opportunities in the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said

  • The department dropped 3,000 trout into the lake Tuesday in Waverly Park

  • Two Kentucky hatcheries grow fish for stocking 

  • The department added it stocks 120,000 catfish and 120,000 trout in 45 lakes each year

Adding fish to bodies of water will enhance fishing opportunities in the Commonwealth, state officials said. The department stocked fish in three different parks Tuesday in Louisville.

Every day, year-round, William Perkins fishes in Kentucky. He spent his Tuesday morning at Waverly Park.

“I grew up fishing," Perkins said. "My father used to take me when I was young. I grew up in Florida, in Ohio, and we used to fish on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday, when he wasn't working."

Now, he takes his grandson fishing every chance he gets. Theo, 3, sat lakeside with Perkins, watching both his bobber and the fish swim by.

“I brought my grandson up here today so he can see them stock and let him know on that on the day they stock, he could catch one," Perkins said. "That excites him, and that's what it's all about to me."

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife tossed 3,000 trout into the lake Tuesday and 900 catfish last week.

“These are keeper-sized fish that people can catch ... at these lakes here in Louisville,” said Dane Balsman, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife urban fisheries biologist. 

Different fish are stocked at different times of the year. Balsman said stocking fish helps species maintain their population.

“We again monitor those fish populations and make sure there's a catchable population of fish in these lakes," Balsman said. "These lakes get a lot of fishing pressure without stocking. You may have a good place to go, but you may not catch fish."

Fish grow at the Wolf Creek Hatchery in Franklin County and the Pfeiffer Hatchery in Jamestown. Some species will spend up to two years there growing to a catchable size.

“If I fish anything with the Ohio River, I never keep nothing because I don't know what kind of pollution is in the fish," Perkins said. "Here, they come straight from the hatchery ... I know everything I catch out of here, I could eat."

William and Theo brought their catches home to eat.

Balsman said the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife stock 120,000 catfish and 120,000 trout in 45 lakes each year.

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