STOCKING TROUT IN APPLE CREEK: May 5, 2009 Update

By Skip Nault

In August of 2005 I wrote “A short history of stocking trout in Apple Creek and its promise for the future” for the Clear Fork Journal.  At the time I prepared the report, Apple Creek had been stocked once in March of 2005 with 850 rainbow trout. The stream was also stocked in the fall with rainbows.

Since then, Apple Creek has been stocked in the fall and spring of 2006, 2007 and 2008, and most recently the spring of 2009.  While fish stocked in the spring of 2005 were of near uniform size (12 inches and one pound each), the sizes of rainbows in subsequent stockings varied; larger fish including 2-3 pounders have been included in the four fall stockings.  Also since the fall of 2007, brown trout have been included in the stockings. The cost to purchase trout, totaling over $22,000 for the releases, has been provided by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Wooster, the Clear Fork chapter (Wooster) the Emerald Necklace chapter (Cleveland) of Trout Unlimite and the Trout Club from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  Stocking of trout and cleanup of litter from Apple Creek has been done by volunteers from all three Ohio chapters, including Mad Men chapter (Columbus) of Trout Unlimited, the Wilderness Center Fly Fishing Club, students from the College of Wooster and other interested fly fishermen. The city of Wooster has provided supplies and needed equipment.

The origi (See the Full Article...)