Channel catfish stocked in Sloans Lake in Cheyenne

Channel catfish stocked in Sloans Lake in Cheyenne

 

CHEYNENNE – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department stocked more than 1,000 channel catfish in Sloans Lake in Cheyenne in early May. The fish are catchable size, around 10 to 11 inches, and weigh about a half-pound each.

The department traded trout eggs with the Missouri Department of Conservation in return for the channel catfish. The department often trades with other states to give Wyoming anglers an opportunity to catch fish that might not otherwise be available in our state. Wyoming’s trout eggs are valued throughout the nation for their certified disease free status and our good genetic program in our brood stock fish. An excess of eggs allows the department to trade for warm and cool water fish.

“The Game and Fish Department is very careful where we obtain our fish,” said Information Specialist Robin Kepple. “We actively inspect them for potential diseases and aquatic invasive species to avoid spreading anything to Wyoming.”

Because the water in Sloans Lake gets warm in the summer it supports populations of  yellow perch, black crappie, largemouth bass and pumpkinseeds, which could serve as prey species for the catfish and allow the “cats” to grow to a good size.

Catfish have not been stocked in Sloans Lake for several years. But requests for catfish from Cheyenne anglers prompted the department to obtain the catfish. Channel catfish were also stocked in Kleenburn Pond and Geier Reservoir in Sheridan, Bryan Stock Trail Pond in Casper, in Guernsey Slough, and in Beck Lake in Cody.

Each year Sloans Lake is stocked with 5,000 catchable size (9-inch) rainbow trout, with half stocked in the spring and the remainder stocked in the fall. Sloans Lake was also stocked with approximately 300 Arctic grayling and 300 golden trout in October of 2013.

~WGFD~

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