By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Nanaimo area lakes flush with fish

Jun 7, 2017 | 3:46 PM

NANAIMO — Thousands of trout are available to be reeled in at several Nanaimo area lakes, thanks to the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC).

The society’s latest releases happened on Wednesday, where 500 rainbow trout were fed from a large tube into popular Long Lake.

“They do really well in a lot of these urban lakes in southern Vancouver Island, they’re really great feeders, you can catch them on a hook or fly, anything like that,” said Christopher Stone, fish culturist with the society from Long Lake.

Stone took off for nearby Brennan Lake to release more trout after meeting with NanaimoNewsNOW.

Video: 500 trout spewing into Long Lake.

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Stone said the catchable sized trout they release are about one-year-old and weigh about 230 grams. He said they can grow much larger.

“I’ve heard of big fish being caught in Fuller Lake, up to five pounds.”

He noted food sources, weather and fishing pressure determines the strength of trout numbers at the lakes they stock.

The fish are raised at the society’s hatchery in Duncan then shipped out to lakes all over Vancouver Island.

The FFSBC reports about 32,000 rainbow trout were released into seven Nanaimo Lakes last year (Colliery Dams 1-3, Westwood, Diver, Long and Green Lakes).

800 lakes around the province are stocked with 8 million fish every year, according to the FFSBC. 

Detailed fish stocking information can be found at the FFSBC website here.

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