Approximately 185,000 brook trout will be planted into area lakes and streams this year.
The Marquette State Fish Hatchery has started loading up three trucks with 12,000 fish for a plant in the Escanaba River. It's a supplemental plant, as natural reproduction is occuring in that river.
They say it looks like we're in for a good fishing season. A nice amount of rain last summer and a mild winter creates ideal conditions.
According to the DNR, plants make that outlook even better.
"The lakes have traditionally been very good since there've been hatchery fish. These fish are going in at eight inches, and we expect them to do quite well in the area lakes," said a DNR hatchery biologist.
They'll continue stocking operations until the end of May.
Trout fishing season begins April 30 and lasts until September 3.
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