Biologist hooks fish he stocked in 1983

[fishlipper]

Biologist Hooks Fish He Stocked in 1983

Posted by The Associated Press on Sunday Mar 16
“I may have actually clipped the fins on this very fish, and I know I was driving the barge when the fish were stocked, nearly 25 years ago”

Some people catch fish and release them. Bill Wengert releases them and then catches them _ a quarter-century later.

In April 1983, Wengert and other state Game and Fish Department biologists stocked some 12,000 young trout in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in southwest Wyoming.

Game and Fish spokeswoman Lucy Wold said Wengert was ice fishing recently on the 91-mile-long reservoir and caught a 23-inch Mackinaw trout, a type of lake trout.

Wengert noticed the trout's right pelvic fin had been clipped, indicating it was a hatchery fish that had been stocked. Examining historical stocking data, Wengert determined the fish was stocked on April 14, 1983.

[surferman]

What are the odds of that happening? Absolutely amazing. How long can fish generally live for anyhow?

[ledhead36]

I would think a 25 year old fish would have to be a lot bigger than that. 23" tellls me the water in that impoundment probably is very cold year round, slowing growth a little. Lake trout love cold water, so it may be a combination of something else, like lower oxygen levels, or low forage base.

[Rip-Plugger]

I agree with the cold water thing,it must slow all the rates down so they live very long.
I wonder how old a 30 pounder is in that lake?

R-P