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Disease-Resistant Trout Stocked In Colo. Stream

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Sep 1, 2008 6:42 pm US/Mountain

Disease-Resistant Trout Stocked In Colo. Stream

Written By Paul Day
Reporting
Paul Day
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) ― They're just five inches long but they're different from every other kind of baby rainbow trout raised in the state hatcheries.

"Preliminary results show it's got good potential," said Paul Winkle, Aquatic Biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

The young trout are Hofer-cross rainbows and testing shows they're resistant to whirling disease.

Winkle was part of CDOW stocking crew that recently released 1,300 young Hofer-cross rainbows into the South Platte River just upstream from Chatfield Reservoir.

"It's very exciting to be part of what could actually be a solution to one of the biggest fisheries problems that we've seen in the West," said CDOW fish researcher George Schisler.

Colorado used to have a fabled fishery of wild, naturally reproducing rainbow trout but it was decimated a couple decades ago by the onset of whirling disease. After infecting young fish, the parasite cripples or kills them before they grow big enough to spawn.

Researchers are betting the Hofer-cross could be the best way to bring back the good old days. But first these disease-resistant fingerlings must make it to spawning age. Those that survive could re-establish a wild naturally reproducing rainbow fishery within ten years, according to Schisler.

Besides the South Platte, the special trout have been stocked in the Poudre, the Gunnison and the Colorado rivers along with a couple Front Range reservoirs.

Funding the program comes from both private donors and the sale of fishing licenses.

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