Group releases nearly 150,000 trout in lake

A group of volunteers raised nearly 150,000 rainbow trout in Banks Lake over the winter and released them from net pens in Electric City Saturday.

The Providers of Wildlife and Environmental Resources (POWER) fed the fish from last October on, growing them from 19.2 per pound to up to 5.4 per pound. They lost 2,594 to cold water disease, the group reported, and released 147,419 fish into the lake.

POWER operates the large net pens for about nine months each year, raising about 300,000 fish using automated feeders that have to be stocked with food every other day. They’ve been doing this since 1987, and President Carl Russell says they could use more help.

It takes about a half hour for two people to fill the feeders.

“We require two people for safety reasons,” he explains.

He suggests it’s a good project for someone with a little spare time in fair physical shape who likes to fish and wants to help wildlife. Knowing a little about computers would help, too.

Anyone interested can contact him at 633-0648.