ATHENS, Texas — It's the most wonderful time of the year -- but we're not just talking about the holiday season -- it's trout season!
Trout season is underway and we're taking you behind the scenes as 200 Texas lakes and ponds get stocked with rainbow trout this winter.
Trout stocking doesn't take long, it can be over in minutes. Texas
Fisheries Biologist Jeremy Gillert checks out lake levels around the area that are crucial for fish to survive.
“We’re gonna test the water in the lake and make sure the dissolved oxygen and the temperature is close to what the temperature on our trailer is and then we will release the fish into the water," Gillert said.
We asked Gillert to release a few with a net. Typically, if the lake levels are good, it goes faster.
“More than 1,000 trout are now in the lake here at Tyler State Park but that’s not where this story starts no it starts at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in the raceway building," Gillert said. "That’s where the trout originally arrive in Texas."
You don't need a special license to fish for trout and you can beep up to five a day.
For the stocking schedule and locations, click here.