No Lahontan cutthroat stocking this year

Last year, the Nevada Department of Wildlife's stocking program put more than 20,000 of the fish into Lake Tahoe. “We don't have the allocation this year,” Haki said. “The future plan is to provide a recreation allocation for Lake Tahoe.” “We don't have any trout to put in there,” said NDOW spokesman Chris Healy.

“We usually harvest the eggs in the first week of June,” Healy said. “But we couldn't get in to Marlett Lake in time.” If the eggs aren't gathered from the population in Marlett Lake at the right time, they aren't any good, Healy said. The snows also blocked a lot of the Lahontan cutthroat from spawning. If the fish can't spawn, they'll actually re-absorb the eggs, he said.

Instead of Lahontan cutthroat, NDOW will plant 50,000 sterile rainbow trout into Lake Tahoe this year. The department makes them sterile by heat-treating the fertilized eggs for a short period of time. “The whole goal is to not stock rainbows that are reproducing in Lake Tahoe,” Healy said. “But don't forget there are plenty of rainbows that ascend tributaries and reproduce naturally already.”

It is unclear whether the agencies are attempting to reintroduce the Lahontan cutthroat trout to Lake Tahoe or are just stocking the fish as an additional interest to anglers. A reintroduction effort would take a lot more work than simply adding a few Lahontans for the fishermen, Healy said.

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