Touting about trout

MARGARETTA TWP. — Tucked away on Homegardner Road is a hidden gem: the Castalia State Fish Hatchery. The fish hatchery, located on 90 acres of land, raises more than half a million trout each year to stock in bodies of water throughout the state. It's responsible for all of the state's steelhead trout production. A private trout club built the fish hatchery in 1937, and the Ohio Division of Wildlife bought it in 1997. The fish hatchery is open during the week all year for people to visit and take self-guided tours. It's currently staffed by four full-time employees and one seasonal worker. Each year, the fish hatchery hosts an open house that includes various activities. The event happened this past April, and it attracted more than 1,500 visitors. "There's a lot of curiosity with the blue hole and wanting to see the fish," said hatchery superintendent Andy Jarrett. Flipping out over trout The Castalia State Fish Hatchery is a busy place, especially from late March through early May. That's when it's stocking catchable rainbow trout into ponds and lakes along with steelhead trout into Lake Erie rivers. The hatchery also receives eggs to incubate for the next year's stockings. Castalia's facility is a cold water hatchery, which is ideal for raising trout. The blue hole, an artesian well where the underground water flows up though the limestone to the surface, produces 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of water a minute. It was created in the 1890s. The water stays near 50 degrees year-round, and it's used for one of the hatchery's raceways. The original blue hole, which is located nearby and closed to the public, is owned by the Castalia Trout Club. Cold Creek is an additional cold water source for raising the rainbow trout at the hatchery. There are also cool water and warm water hatcheries that raise other types of fish. The state operates five other hatcheries — Hebron, Kincaid, London, Senecaville and St. Marys — that stock fish like catfish, perch, walleye and muskie throughout Ohio. Each year, the Castalia fish hatchery aims to put out 450,000 yearling steelhead trout and 85,000 catchable rainbow trout. London and Kincaid also raise trout but not nearly as many at Castalia. When it comes to yearling steelhead trout, the Castalia hatchery stocks seven rivers including Vermillion, Rocky, Cuyahoga, Chagrin, Grand, Ashtabula and Conneaut Creek. During one occasion this past spring, hatchery workers filled three trucks with steelhead, which are about 7 inches to 9 inches in length. Each truck hauls between 1,200 and 1,300 pounds of fish or about 11,000 fish per truckload. Steelhead go into the rivers and then spend a couple of years growing in Lake Erie before they come back to where most people will catch them. After that time, they'll average a couple feet in length and be several pounds. "A lot of the anglers like to fish for the steelhead because they do all the acrobats and jumping and they fight real hard," Jarrett said. "I don't think they're as popular as a walleye or perch for eating but they're more popular for the fun and the fishing." As far as rainbow trout, the fish hatchery raises them to a catchable size, about a foot long. They're also about a year old, but they grow much faster than steelhead. "The idea behind the catchable rainbows is that when we stock them, we hope people catch them right away and take them home to eat them," Jarrett said. "They're big enough to eat." The trout are sensitive to water temperature. If the water they're in gets too warm or the oxygen gets too low, then the fish can die. This tends to happen during the summer. When stocking rainbow trout, the dates are heavily advertised. There can be 30 to 50 anglers waiting, Jarrett said. "You try to keep them from throwing their fishing lures in the tanks," Jarrett said with a laugh. Rainbows bite well, so there's sometimes a kid's fishing event happening at the same time as the stocking. "For the catchable fish, a lot of anglers think we take them off food because they'll bite better," Jarrett said. "It's more for keeping them from getting sick." The trout are used to eating four times a day, but they're taken off food at least two days before transport to prevent them from becoming ill. The rainbow trout are stocked at about 70 different locations throughout the state. "There aren't many opportunities in Ohio to fish for trout so this gives people an opportunity," Jarrett said. Visit the hatchery Jarrett has worked at the Castalia fish hatchery for about 25 years. He grew up spending a lot of time outdoors and fishing has always been one of his favorite activities. It allows him to make memories and spend time with loved ones. Working with fish ties into his love for the hobby. He enjoys how his job includes a mix of different responsibilities. "It's kind of like a farm. It's a variety of everything," he said. "One day you're a truck driver, the next day you're a tour guide and the next day you're mowing grass." People can check out the Castalia fish hatchery anytime from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, for self-guided tours. It's located at 7018 Homegardner Road, Castalia. "I don't think people realize we're open during the week and they can come in here," Jarrett said. People can view the blue hole, the visitor's room in the hatchery building and look for trout swimming in the creek. Fishing in Cold Creek is not allowed unless a person was selected through a lottery. Jarrett said they'll host another open house next spring. It will be another chance for people to participate in a variety of activities and see what goes into raising trout. Until then, Jarrett encourages visitors during the week. People can search for "Castalia State Fish Hatchery" on Google and click the Ohio Department of Natural Resources link for more information.