Hatcheries
Each year, our hatchery system produces between 600,000 and 1,000,000 sub-catchable Lahontan Cutthroat trout for release into Pyramid Lake and the lower Truckee River. We have a complex of three different trout hatcheries and two hatcheries that provide Cui-ui plants for the lower Truckee River.
With federal grants from the Desert Terminal Lakes Program, during the last three years, Pyramid Lake Fisheries has been able to upgrade our trout hatcheries with new plumbing, water tanks, ultra-violet systems and state of the art filtration systems. We consider our hatchery facilities top notch and ready to maintain quality fishing for years to come.
The latest research on the return of micro-tagged trout indicates that the best survival and return for our investment occurs with trout reared to 4 inches and released to the lake in October as soon as inshore waters cool enough for survival and before the abundant invertebrate population declines. At this stage, these young fish can make the switch from a hatchery diet to the more natural feed in the lake.