The State of Nevada has four fish culture facilities which produce trout for stocking into our state waters. The combined production from these stations averages about 430,000 pounds of trout annually. Although rainbow trout make up the bulk of this production, brown, cutthroat and brook trout as well as certain hybrids are also produced.

The 20 most heavily fished waters in Nevada support 86 percent of the total angler-use statewide, and 15 of these are stocked with hatchery trout. In addition, 80 percent of the fisherman use in Nevada is on lakes and reservoirs and 20 percent is on streams and rivers. Most streams have self-supporting trout populations that are capable of maintaining the fisheries, so only the most heavily fished streams are stocked with hatchery trout.

By contrast, trout do not reproduce in most lakes and reservoirs in Nevada and hatchery stocking is needed to maintain quality trout fishing in these waters. More than 75 percent of the hatchery trout are stocked in lakes and reservoirs.

While the trout stocking program is popular and provides quality fishing in many waters of the state, it is also very expensive and utilizes currently about 50 percent of the total fisheries program budget. Current trout production costs are about $2.85 per pound of trout produced.