Fishing

General

Q. What days are you open and what are your hours of business?
A. We are open 7 days a week and only closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas unless there are special
activities that may alter the schedule. Visiting hours are typically from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Q. Do you give tours to the public?
A. Yes, but we prefer that folks call in advance to schedule a tour. If people are visiting we will answer their questions if it does not interfere with existing activities.

Q. How long does it take for the fish to bite after you stock them?
A. Fish often start biting immediately. The fish are typically not fed for about 24 hours before distribution and if they are not stressed, they can bite immediately.

Q. Where do you get the eggs and how long does it take for them to hatch?
A. All our eggs are shipped in from federal, state, or private facilities from around the west from places such as Utah, Colorado, California and Montana. The eggs come to us wrapped in damp paper towels in insulated boxes chilled with ice. They are about 30 days old and come in shipments of 200,000 to 500,000 and typically arrive by overnight delivery. They are then water hardened, disinfected, counted and placed in jars to hatch, which takes a week to 10 days.

Q. How often and what do you feed the fish?
A. Fish are fed as many times as it takes to add 5 percent of their body weight in feed. The smallest fish are generally fed
hourly. By the time they are ready to be stocked as catchables, feeding may only be once a day. Fish are fed a soybean and, alfalfa based feed that includes all necessary minerals and vitamins. It is a floating low phosphate feed that reduces outflow waste standards to meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

Q. How do you transport the fish to the lakes and streams?
A. The fish are transported in fiberglass tanks mounted on large trucks but when necessary, we will use rafts, horses, milk cans, backpack cans, and helicopters.

Q. Can I fish at the hatchery?
A. No. All hatcheries are closed to fishing. However there are areas adjacent to several of the hatcheries that are open to fishing; i.e. section along the west bank of Oak Creek, Silver Creek, Canyon Creek and Tonto Creek below the hatcheries.

Q. Why are there restricted areas in the hatchery?
A. Hatcheries are working farms with moving equipment and areas that are not conducive to a normally safe environment. The public is provided access to areas that provide a typical representation of our operations.

Bubbling Ponds

Q. What kinds of fish are raised at Bubbling Ponds Hatchery?
A. Most fish raised here are native Arizona species such as, the razorback sucker and Colorado pike minnow. Nonnative species such as bluegills, largemouth bass, and walleyes are also raised at different times of the year.

Q. How come I can’t see the fish?
A. The ponds usually have a phytoplankton bloom. This is a small algae, green in color that reduces the visibility in the pond water. The fish also stay near the bottom of the ponds. This makes it difficult to observe them.

Q. Where does the water come from?
A. From a spring located a one-half mile up the road. The water flows through a ditch to the hatchery.

Q. How much water flows through the hatchery?
A. Approximately three to four million gallons a day.

Q. What are the wire-lines crossing the ponds for?
A. Birds are a primary predator on cultured fish. The lines inhibit birds that fly in to and on the water. Eventually there may be netting stretched across the wires to provide additional protection.

Q. What kind of scat is all over the hatchery?
A. Otter scat. Otters were reintroduced into Arizona in the early 1980s lower on the Verde River. About 10 years ago they began showing up at the hatchery. Their main food items are crayfish and fish.

Q. How do you get the fish out of the ponds?
A. The ponds are drained and the fish are seined into a small area. Then the fish are netted out of the seine and
loaded onto a truck.

Q. How big are the fish when they are stocked?
A. Most native fish are 300 mm (8 inches) when stocked. This is to avoid most of the nonnative predatory fish. The sport-fish are only raised to finger size of 1-4 inches.

Q. How long does it take to raise the fish?
A. The native fish take approximately two years and the sport- fish are raised in a couple of months to a year.

Q. How big do the native fish get?
A. The razorback sucker can reach maximum lengths of 2-3 feet and the Colorado pike minnow can reach reported lengths of 5-plus feet.

Canyon Creek Hatchery

Q. How many fish do you raise here and what kind are they?
A. Approximately 300,000 catchable size (9.5 inches), and 500,000 to 750,000 fingerlings, all rainbow trout, are raised at the hatchery each year. These fish are distributed to fisheries along the Mogollon Rim and throughout the White Mountains.

Q. Where does the water come from and where does it end up?
A. Water comes from a captured spring and it flows through the hatchery and then to Canyon Creek.

Q. What’s the electric wire for?
A. The wires are electrified after closing time to reduce fish predation by perching birds, raccoons, and skunks.

Q. Where is the restroom and where can I get some water?
A. There are camp restrooms available at Forest Service campsites and we have recently installed a self-contained
restroom. No domestic water is available due to restrictions required for water systems that provide potable water to the public.

Page Springs Hatchery

Q. How many fish do you raise?
A. During a normal year, we may raise more than 600,000 catchable rainbow trout (9.5 inches), 50,000 brown trout of
assorted sizes, and around 100,000 rainbow fingerlings.

Q. Where does the water come from and where does it go?
A. The water is collected from a number of natural springs and seeps on the northern end of the property and from the
tunnel spring. The water is transported to a central collection point, where it is then passed through the hatchery and returned to a show pond, and then to Oak Creek.

Q. How many people work here?
A. There are nine people that work at this facility.

Silver Creek Hatchery

Q. How many fish are being stocked and when and where will they be stocked?
A. The fish are stocked on a weekly basis from May through September with native Apache trout in the following areas and targeted quantities: East Fork of the Black River: 1,417 trout; West Fork of the Black River: 729; Silver Creek: 500; Greer-LCR: 1,417; and Sheep’s Crossing: 500.

Q. What are the special regulations for fishing Silver Creek?
A. Catch and release starts October 1 and ends April 1. During this time, it is fly and lures only, barbless hooks, and fish must be released. Consult the current Arizona state fishing regulations for additional information.

Q. Which areas are closed during the catch-and-keep season.
A. After the catch and release season ends, we remove the special regulatory signs and reestablish the closed hatchery boundary area. Consult the current Arizona state fishing regulations for additional information.

Q. Can we hunt on Silver Creek Wildlife Area?
A. The public is allowed to hunt on Silver Creek for what is available, provided the hunter has the proper license, tags, and stamps. Small game such as cottontail, mourning dove, waterfowl and big game such as elk, deer and antelope can be found seasonally on the property. All regulations are strictly enforced with no shooting within a quarter mile of residences. Consult the current Arizona state hunting regulations for additional information.

Q. Why do you raise Apache trout instead of rainbow trout?
A. To give anglers an opportunity to catch and keep native Apache trout and stock them back into the areas where they were historically found.

Sterling Springs Hatchery

Q. Is this the place where I can bring my kids fishing?
A. No, this is a trout hatchery operated by Arizona Game and Fish Department; we supply fish for state waterways. The place you are looking for is Rainbow Trout Farm, a privately owned and operated fishing pond. It is located about two miles north of Sedona on Highway 89A. Their phone number is (928) 282-3379.

Q. When and where do you guys stock Oak Creek?
A. Oak Creek is stocked by Page Springs Hatchery during March through December. The creek is stocked wherever the hatchery truck can safely get off the roadway. Fish are hand carried in buckets to pools and deeper water all the way up the canyon ending at Pine Flat Campground.

Q. Where are the big fish?
A. Sterling Springs is a fingerling station; it receives egg shipments from many vendors and raises fish to the
fingerling stage, which is approximately 3 inches. The fish are then either stocked out as fingerlings or transferred to Page Springs Hatchery for grow out to catchable size (9.5 inches).

Tonto Creek hatchery

Q. How many and what kind of fish are in the tanks?
A. 12,000 per unit (catchable size ~ 9.5 inches) and the type of fish vary from year to year but for the most part they are rainbow trout.

Q. When do you stock the fish and where?
A. The stocking season starts in April depending on water and road conditions and continues through September. The local creeks and rivers as well as Woods Canyon Lake are stocked every week. Occasionally we do travel to Lees Ferry and in the White Mountains.

Q. How long do we keep them here at the hatchery?
A. Catchable fish remain on station for about 15 months, but about two million are stocked out as fingerlings in the fall. Trout are cold-blooded animals and growth is depended upon the ambient water temperature. We expect the fish to grow 0.6 of an inch per 30 days.

Q. How many employees work here?
A. Tonto Creek Hatchery operates with four full-time employees and hires an intern during the summer. We also use a volunteer host during the summer to conduct tours and help out when needed.

Q. Where does the water come from?
A. The water comes from a spring located in the canyon north of the hatchery. The water is captured and piped via gravity flow to a T-cup filter and then it passes through an aeration tower to de-gas and re-aerate before it enters the hatchery building.

Q. What do you do with the big fish in the show pond?
A. They are here for the visiting public to enjoy and are transported in a 600-gallon show tank to schools and wildlife fairs throughout the state.