It’s a bike! It’s a plane! It’s a … llama? ….. carrying fish? How Idaho Fish and Game plant fish in state waters
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Editor’s note: The following is taken from a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. EastIdahoNews.com reporter Rett Nelson contributed.
IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Department of Fish and Game stocks an eye-popping total of more than 30 million hatchery fish into Idaho waters each year.
Stocking by the Department has been ongoing in one form or another for over a century. The number of species and strains can vary from year to year, but generally, stocking is primarily made up of 16 different species of trout and salmon. The Department uses all kinds of transportation to get fish to their final destination, including bikes, planes, and llamas.
Typically, fish are stocked from hatchery vehicles ranging in size from pick-up trucks outfitted with small fish tanks all the way up to semi-trucks capable of transporting millions of fish at a time. Staff take into consideration road and trail access, trail use restrictions, past stocking records, the species, size, and number of fish planning to be stocked, time of year, weather conditions, personnel availability, and cost before deciding how and when to stock fish in each location. At locations where staff are unable to access the waterbody with a hatchery truck, we have a variety of alternative fish-stocking methods available.
Since the 1940s, the Department has utilized fixed-wing aircraft to stock alpine lakes. As the pilot flies over the lake, a passenger in the plane releases fish with water out of the bottom of the plane.
Museum of Idaho Managing Director Chloe Doucette points to airborne fish planting as one of Idaho’s major aviation accomplishments. The Museum highlighted Idaho’s aviation history in an exhibit last year. In 2024, Doucette told EastIdahoNews.com Idaho Fish and Game conducted its initial fish plant flight experiment over Stanley Basin in 1939.
The fish were dropped head first into the water from a maximum of 500 feet in the air. The Department of Public Works fish planting report, which was displayed in the exhibit, said the fish’s shape and weight made it possible for them to land in the water quickly with less than 1% being hurt or killed.
“They found it was a viable way to move animals around and to make sure that management of our natural resources was happening in the most efficient way possible,” Doucette explained.
For remote lakes that are surrounded by challenging terrain, including mountain ranges and trees, helicopters can be used. These helicopters are equipped with a specialized bucket that hangs below the helicopter from a cable, enabling the pilot to open and close the bottom of the bucket. This set-up allows the pilot to lower the bucket into the lake to collect water, fly to a landing site where staff can load the bucket with fish, and then return to the lake to release the fish by opening the bucket just above the water’s surface.
In certain situations, ATVs, bikes, backpacks, or even pack animals are used. Fish are loaded into coolers or buckets that are filled with water and equipped with portable aerators, or they are placed into bags full of oxygen and water. These fish are then driven or packed to their destination. It’s never a dull day when stocking fish in Idaho’s backcountry.
The stocking program is made possible by our committed hatchery personnel who spawn, rear, and stock fish year-round. Depending on the waterbody, fish are stocked as fertilized eggs, fry (0-3 inches), fingerling (3-6 inches), sub-catchable (6-10 inches), or catchable (greater than 10 inches) size. While some stocking efforts aim to support conservation and population restoration or research efforts, that vast majority is to provide you, the angler, with more recreational fishing opportunities.
The next time you embark on a fishing trip, you just might reel in an Idaho hatchery fish. Want to know if your favorite spot is stocked, or where your favorite species is being stocked? Visit Fish and Game’s historical stocking records and stay up-to-date on stocking forecasts and schedules.
Learn more about stocking and managing Idaho alpine lakes in the video below.