The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the State Law Enforcement Division teamed up Thursday to make sure the lower Saluda River is teeming with trout. SLED used its Huey helicopter to release 16,000 trout at various points along nine miles of the river below the Lake Murray dam.
The 13,000 brown trout, averaging about 6 inches, and 3,000 rainbow trout, averaging 9-10 inches, were from the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery in Oconee County. The trout were taken by truck to a site near the river and then put into a special bucket attached to the helicopter. The chopper then lifted the bucket, carried it to the river and released the fish.
DNR spokesman Mike Willis says, "We don't have naturally-reproducing populations of these trout in the river. However, the ecosystem can support the fish. So we stock the trout, and the anglers, of course, come and fish and take 'em out, so that's why we call it a put-and-take fishery."
Using a SLED helicopter might seem like a lot of trouble, and expense, to stock fish, but trout fishing has an economic impact on the state of $18 million a year, Willis says. The Sport Fish Restoration program and fishing license fees helped pay for the trout stocking.
Releasing the trout at various points along the river by helicopter, instead of dumping them from a truck at a boat landing, allows the DNR to distribute the trout up and down the river, which prevents a concentration of fish in one particular area. Having been raised in captivity, the trout usually don't disperse on their own for several days after being released into the river.
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