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Trout day at Moorland Pond

Ben Wallace, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, doesn’t have a nickname for the truck they use to bring trout and other fish to ponds and streams through Iowa.

On Friday, it brought about 1,500 rainbow trout to Moorland Pond.

The suggestion of using the name Trout Taxi was taken under consideration.

“How about truck full of joy,” he said.

That was actually an apt description of what happened next.

Dozens of anglers were gathered around holes in the ice, baited and lured hooks at the ready, ready to reel in their five-fish limit. Within seconds of the first batch of fish making their way through the flexible pipe from the truck to the hole cut in the ice.

The first fish bit on the line of Jeremy Thompson, of Eagle Grove.

“It’s all about being there and having your bait down there,” he said. “Artificial wax worms seem to be the ticket.”

It took his nephew, Tucker Gordon, 11, of Webster City, a few more minutes to land his fish.

He’s fished for trout before and said he really likes it.

He also confirmed the adage that one’s worst day fishing is better than one’s best day in school.

“Yeah,” he said.

Wallace said the trout stocking program has been in place for some time.

“We’ve had a trout program in northeast Iowa for the spring fed streams for a long time,” he said. “Over the last decade we’ve been trying to expand it. We want to offer the trout experience and to get them to explore other areas such as the northeast.”

The fish are each about 1.5 pounds.

“They’re what we call put’n’take fish,” he said. “They’re ready to take.”

While trout normally require cool moving water to support a spawning population, the intent isn’t to turn the pond into a trout nursery. The fish are stocked for the benefit of the anglers.

To keep a trout, an angler needs a trout endorsement in addition to their fishing license. The limit is five trout per day.

“That money goes directly into the trout program,” Wallace said. “Depending on the annual costs, it’s between $1.60 and $2 to hatch them out and drive them to the pond.”

Wallace even has a suggestion for preparing the fish once home.

“Butter, lemon and dill,” he said. “You can’t go wrong with that. You can grill them, oven cook them or pan fry them.”

While each angler will discover on their own what lures and baits the fish hit on, Wallace suggests using something really shiny on freshly stocked ponds and corn or power bait later once the fish are used to the pond..”

He also notes that trout don’t have large mouths. He suggests smaller sized hooks and lures.

Bob Klein, of Duncombe, was ready for the mass school of trout Friday too.

“You can’t hardly drop it down and you get one,” he said.

He takes another option for preparing his trout catch.

“I’ll smoke mine,” he said.

This met with approval from Thompson who was fishing a few feet away.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Smoked trout is my favorite.”

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