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.
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