Frosty fishing fun at Scharnberg Pond
1,500 trout released Saturday
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NICK PEDLEY/SENTINEL-NEWS
Onlookers watch as the fish are pumped into the water on Saturday afternoon at Scharnberg Pond.
The sight of 1,500 rainbows dazzled visitors at Scharnberg Pond near Everly Saturday, but their gazes weren't fixed on the sky above.
NICK PEDLEY/SENTINEL-NEWS
This angler wasted little time getting a line in the water after the trout were released.
Curious anglers and other onlookers crowded the pond's south shoreline to watch a mobile tank filled with rainbow trout get released into the frosty waters below. The fish, which were trucked in from a Decorah hatchery, needed no coaxing after they were released from the tank via pipeline into a large hole cut into the surface.
The stocking was organized by the Clay County Conservation Board and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as part of a special program that introduces trout into areas that typically can't support the cold-water fish. The DNR stocks trout at Scharnberg Park in late fall and early winter, which gives the pond an ample supply until summer temperatures kill them off.
Saturday's release was greeted with comfortable winter temps and calm winds, but dense fog choked out any chance of sunlight peaking through. Many anglers set up their portable tents near the release point to get a fresh crack at the trout after they were let go, which only took a few minutes from start to finish.
A majority of the trout released into Scharnberg Pond were 10-12 inches long.
