Trout season about to start

Saturday’s opening of trout season will see the fish normally associated with the Ozarks or the Rockies stocked in more than 30 Kansas waters. Doug Nygren, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism fisheries chief, expects about 200,000 rainbow trout to eventually be stocked around the state before the trout season ends on April 15.

Nygren said the current program of regularly purchasing trout for stocking began in 1997. Most trout stocked are around 10 inches, though a small percentage are more than 14 inches.

To pay for the program, all Kansas anglers 16 and older must purchase a special trout permit for $12.50. The permits run a calendar year. Unless exempt, regular fishing licenses are also needed.

Nygren said that youth 15 and younger can fish for trout without a permit but their daily limit is two per day. Youth who purchase a permit can keep the standard limit of five trout daily.

Five of the state’s most productive and popular stocked trout waters are in southcentral Kansas:

▪ Vic’s Lake, Segdwick County Park, Wichita

▪ Slough Creek, Sedgwick County Park,Wichita

▪ KDOT East Lake, I-135 and K-96, Wichita

▪ Walnut River, El Dorado State Park (below the dam)

▪ Dillon’s Nature Center, 3002 East 30th Ave., Hutchinson (trout permit only required for those fishing for trout)

For a list of other state trout waters and a look at other regulations, go to www.ksoutdoors.com, or call 620-672-5911.

This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Trout season about to start."