Aerial fish stocking of Colorado's high-elevation lakes, June 2022

It's the time of year when Colorado Parks and Wildlife stocks high-elevation lakes by airplane. Because the fish are small and released along with water, they easily survive their airplane drop.
On June 28 and 29, CPW started its summer aerial stocking program with its Rifle Falls Hatchery delivering cutthroat trout to be stocked by CPW's Cessna 185 Aircraft. Flying in the mornings both days, one pilot was able to stock nearly 55,000 fish into 25 different lakes.
It's e-fish-ient.
Over 250,000 cutthroat trout will be airplanted into some 200+ alpine lakes across Colorado's Rocky Mountains this summer.