W ith the arrival of a few days of warm weather, fishermen are once again heading to the water, casting lines and hoping for the season’s next big catch. After Rock Creek was stocked with approximately 200 rainbow trout on February 27th, several fishermen were seen lining the banks hoping to reel in a few.

TWRA maintains 10 fish hatcheries across the state of Tennessee and stocks bodies of water with trout, starting in December through February. During the winter’s trout stocking program, rainbow trout were released at over 40 locations. Other fish species that TWRA manages, stocks, and monitors are crappie, striped bass, walleye, sauger, sunfish, catfish and alligator gar. The closest hatcheries are located in Flintville and Normandy.

The fish hatchery in Flintville, established in 1931, is the oldest in Tennessee and the only cold water hatchery in Middle Tennessee. This hatchery focuses on the production preservation of cold water trout and stocks around 120,000 rainbow and cutthroat trout annually into waters across more than 30 counties in Middle and West Tennessee. The main locations being Elk River, Harpeth River, and municipal lakes. This is where the trout that were released in Rock Creek were raised.

The hatchery in Normandy produces more that 1.8 million walleye, striped bass, crappie, hybrid striped bass, bluegill, and Florida largemouth bass each year. This hatchery is a warm/cool water facility. The primary stocking areas are in large Tennessee reservoirs, such as the Normandy Reservoir and the Duck River.