City of Hutchinson Parks and Facilities Director Justin Combs CREDIT CITY OF HUTCHINSON
By Emmie Boese
Trout fishing in Kansas runs from Dec.1 through March 31. City of Hutchinson Parks and Facilities Director Justin Combs said trout are stocked on a schedule through a program called CFAP through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
“So it stands for ‘community fishing assistance program,’” Combs said. “So essentially, we enter into an agreement with a contract with Kansas Wildlife and Parks. They stock for us, so they have set up all the arrangements for the stocking of the trout. They stock about once a month throughout the trout season, and then we get billed directly for the trout, but then at the end of the year, we submit a reimbursement to Kansas Wildlife and Parks, and then they reimburse us for about 80-85% of the cost of it.”
The city has four fishing ponds, but Carey Park Pond is the only pond that Kansas Wildlife and Parks stocks trout. Carey Park Pond is located behind the golf course.
“That’s the only one we stock with trout because of the depth’,” Combs said. “It is our deepest pond, so it’s a little bit more suitable for trout than some of our other ponds.”
Combs said he doesn’t have an exact number for how often trout gets fished at the Carey Park pond. He said there’s always people fishing for trout there everyday unless weather conditions are poor.
“I mean, people get to kind of knowing when the stocking schedule is, so there will be a little bit more people out fishing right after each stocking, but the intent is for people to have fun and catch fish,” Combs said. “Trout are not viable in those ponds long term so the intent is to catch them and then take them home and cook them. That’s really what we want people to do; trout won’t really do well in the summer months in that pond and that’s the whole purpose of the entire trout stocking in all of Kansas. It’s not just here. That’s something that Kansas Wildlife and Parks promotes, which is harvesting and cooking a fish. You know those sorts of things.”
Combs said those who want to fish for trout will need to buy an additional license on top of the regular state fishing license. A trout fishing license is $14.50.
“That’s a state requirement and the city does not charge any additional fee or licensing:” Comba said. “That’s part of being in the program (CFAP) is you can’t charge any additional fee. It’s whatever the state charges for licenses.”
Non-trout fishing ponds in the city are located at the front pond of Carey Park, Orchard Park and Dillon Nature Center.
“Other ponds get stocked occasionally with catfish,” Combs said. “They’re not on a schedule with what the trout are and so it kind of varies on what’s available through the state and how often Kansas Wildlife and Parks can get here to stock. It’s not quite as regular as the rest, but we do stock our ponds.”
More information about trout fishing and stocking schedules is available at ksoutdoors.com
