I don't understand why state is stocking rainbows in all these ponds. It seems stupid, they should be stocking fish that are common to the area. I would really like them to stock the lnva barrier pond with white perch instead of the rainbows.

Taste good, cheap and easy to raise, grow to a minimum eating size very quickly in a hatchery setting.

I tear the trout up when they stock them! Good eating fish & fun to catch.

Ask the OT if they taste good.

Birds sure do get their fill of them....and they don't have a limit.

It does seem odd to spend money on a fish that will only live a month once it's stocked. Feed the birds.

Why not stock bass, bream and catfish? Something that could be caught year round.

IMO a nice bream eats much better than a stocked 10" trout.

When I was a kid the trout they stocked were nice size compared to the current stocking 8-10" fish. You have to be a sushi chef to clean that small thing.

I wish they would only stock trout in rivers. Bass and bluegills would be great in all the mud holes they put the trout in now. As far as flavor, crappie and sunfish taste much better than hatchery trout, which taste like trout chow. Wild trout are a different story, however.

Trout are stocked to bridge the seasons for the bank fisherman. They bite in winter when bluegill and crappie are in deep water and are not easily caught from the bank.

By the way, trout stocking is mostly paid for by the city where the pond is located, not by TPWD.

They need to stock walleye. They will live a bit longer than trout, have a great fight, and taste great. Bream tastes bitter to me.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/o...ter-5920606.php

Here's some history on the program.

You want to stir up a hornets nest?
Just criticise the trout stockings!

I only support stocking trout big bass lakes.

They don't fight good, taste like fish food, die too quick, and just help feed water turkeys.

How about we stock snook in the summer months and watch them die when it gets cold.

I read that the freshwater stamp on our license pays for it?

When the program started it was paid for by an optional "trout stamp" which cost $6.00. Then the TPWD reduced the price to $5.00 and called it a mandatory "freshwater stamp." They began charging the venues of the ponds for the trout. This season each trout cost the cities roughly $1.25 if memory serves.

The trout all come from Crystal Lake Hatchery. TPWD raises no trout themselves. They just distribute them. Because the TPWD buys small trout a few cities buy large fish directly from Crystal Lake, including the Tarrant Regional Water district, which stocks the Trinity River in Fort worth.

Amen!

I'd be game, I wanna catch one bad!