Fall Fishing Will Get A Big Boost At Spring Meadow State Park

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Fall fishing at Helena’s Spring Meadow Lake State Park will get a big boost next week when Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks stocks the lake with up to 400 rainbow trout weighing between three and four pounds each.  The stocking, scheduled for next Thursday, October 11 between noon and 2 p.m., is open to the public. "It will be wet and wild," said Gary Bertellotti, FWP Hatchery Bureau Chief in Helena. "These trout are big fish at 24 plus inches.  We’ll be netting them into the lake a few at a time." The trout were used as brood stock at the Ennis National Hatchery and are being "retired" from their job spawning new trout. Spring Meadow Lake State Park is considered an "urban" fishing pond designed to encourage youth fishing.  All regular fishing regulations apply.  For details check the 2001 FWP Fishing Regulations. Bertellotti said other urban fishing ponds in the state that will benefit from similar plantings of trout are Lake Elmo in Billings; Harper’s Lake and Frenchtown Pond near Missoula; and Lion Lake, Dry Bridge Slough, Snappy’s Pond and Upper Foys Lake all in or near Kalispell.