KAMLOOPS
by
Jeff Carlo
The time has finally come for the
Round Valley Trout Association to introduce Kamloops
Rainbows to the Round Valley
fishery. As decided in our recent
Stocking Committee meeting at total of 3,000 Kamloops
Rainbows will be stocked this Spring. This will be done in a two wave effort. The fist stocking is scheduled for March 26th
when 1,500 fish will be released. The
second stocking will occur on May 7th with the balance of the fish
going in.
These fish have grown rapidly in
a hatchery environment, with the average size of the fish at stocking around 13
inches. All of the Kamloops that will be stocked will have a silver
jaw tag. This was done in an effort
for clear, easy identification and the hopeful release of the fish, even if it
is caught at greater than 15 inches.
These fish will all be of legal size by mid Summer. While it is completely legal to keep one of
these fish when greater than 15 inches, our hopes are, that all of these fish
will be released during this first year.
Kamloops
rainbows represent a new future for Round
Valley. If catch and release of these fish is
maintained for several years, in the future there could be enormous Kamloops Rainbows for the taking at Round
Valley. The State of New Jersey’s
rainbow trout will be tagged for identification this year as well. This is so the relative growth rates of the
two species can be compared. If you
catch a legal Kamloops
or regular rainbow and do decide to keep it, please return the tag to the
Division of Cold Water Fisheries. This
information will be valuable in monitoring the Kamloops program. Who knows, with favorable information
returned on the Kamloops,
they could be introduced into other fishing impoundments in the state.
Next Spring, all of this years fish will be over 20 inches in length with some
approaching 24 inches (averaging 4 to 5 pounds). In the Musky Trout Hatchery they averaged
growing 1 inch a month. Allowing for the
fact that the Kamloops
will no longer be in a controlled environment, a length of 20 - 24 inches is
reasonable by next Spring. Those fish that make it to the Spring of 2002 should be solidly in the 24 to 28 inch class
and have an average weight of 6.5 to 8 pounds.
Any of the initial fish that make it to the Spring
of 2003 (that’s 4.5 years of total age and 3 years in Round
Valley) should easily be in the 10
to 13 pound class. At that point the Kamloops will reach sexual
maturity, but they still have an estimated 3 to 5 years of life before they
expire. The growth rate should slow
after they reach sexual maturity, but fish that do last until the later part of
their life could reach 20 pounds or more.
This is provided Round Valley
is a good fit for the species.
By the way, next years’ Kamloops are
now about 6 inches and doing great. The RVTA will continue to stock this strain of trout into Round
Valley as long as we have the
State’s permission and the species appears to be doing well, with no negative
impacts to the ecosystem. Let’s keep our
fingers’ crossed and see what happens; this could be a really great thing for
the State of New Jersey and the
organization of the RVTA.