Crystal Lake Hatchery

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Facility

Brook trout, Eagle Lake trout and Pit River rainbow trout develop at the hatchery for one and a half years. They reach one-half pound before being released as catchable trout.

 

Brook trout are sorted by sex as well as maturity. The fish that are mature enough to spawn will be sent on to the next step. Immature fish are placed into holding tanks until they are ready to spawn.

 

"Milt" or sperm from a mature adult male is mixed with eggs from a female to complete the artificial fertilization process.

 

Egg jars are where the fertilized eggs are placed until they hatch. The egg jars are stored in the hatchery building where the fish will be transported to nursing raceways until they are large enough to be moved to the outdoor concrete raceways.

 

The fish are moved to the outside concrete raceways where they will be reared until they are about ½ pound apiece and ready to be stocked into local lakes and streams for anglers to catch.

 

The start of the catchable trout planting season begins in mid-April and keeps the hatchery crew busy daily throughout the summer. A fleet of trucks of various sizes carry loads of between 300 and 5,000 pounds of fish in 49-degree water, to roadside creeks and lakes. Fish planting slows down when waters become too low or too warm to sustain fish, and fishing pressure drops off.