Syracuse.com - Carpenter's Brook hatchery trout unaffected by cold, icy winter (video)

[HuntingNY-News]

The pre-season stocking schedule, though, could possibly be delayed.

Central New York's lengthy, frigid winter and string of sub-zero nights has iced over many of the area's waterways, but it hasn't bothered the trout at the Carpenter's Brook Fish Hatchery.

This week, none of the trout ponds at the hatchery in Elbridge were frozen. In fact, the trout in them there are weathering things just fine, according to Eric Stanczyk, superintendent of the hatchery.

Eric Stanczyk, superintendent of the Carpenter's Brook Fish Hatchery in Elbridge.David Figura | [email protected] 

"Believe me, they like the cold more than they do the warm water," he said.

That's good news for local anglers looking forward to the April 1 statewide opening day of trout fishing season, which is a little more than three weeks away.

The extended cold snap won't affect the opener which is set in stone. What may be affected, though, are fish stocking schedules. The county-run, Carpenter's Brook hatchery, handles fish stocking for streams and lakes in Onondaga County. The remainder of Central New York's waterways are covered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

How do the Carpenter's Brook ponds and trout runs remain unfrozen?

Stanczyk explained that the water in the hatchery's ponds is piped in from a nearby, spring-fed reservoir. Despite the cold air temperature, the water temperature in the hatchery ponds and runs remains around 45 degrees. An aeration system keeps the water oxygenated and constantly moving, preventing things from freezing over.

"The cold weather typically slows down the metabolism of the fish," he said. They're continuing to eat, he added, but their growth rate decreases "a little."

An aeration system at the Carpenter's Brook Fish Hatchery keeps the water oxygenated and constantly moving, preventing things from freezing over.David Figura | [email protected] 

Stanczyk said the hatchery, which makes extensive use of volunteers, is tentatively scheduled to begin stocking streams and lakes throughout Onondaga County by March 18. The game plan, Stanczyk said, is to stock more than 18,000 fish before opening day, and a total of more than 75,000 for the 2014 fishing season.

The DEC likewise put some fish in prior to April 1, but most get put in afterward.

Both Stanczyk and DEC Fisheries Bureau Chief Phil Hulbert noted the decision of when to stock each spring doesn't hinge on stream water temperature. What happens when all the snow and ice melts is another story.

"Water level is our biggest key (in determining early season stocking)," Hulberts told New York Outdoor News recently. "We have some stream stocking guidelines, and we'd like to get some fish out there by April 1, but the decision is more flow-driven than based on water temperature."

Stancyzk said the March 18 date to begin stocking trout in Onondaga County could be pushed back if the local streams are too high and muddy.

He said he wouldn't want to stock trout that could end up getting swept over a stream's banks and into a culvert somewhere.

"We prefer to stock streams when the water level is lower and inside their banks," he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog