HWACHEON, SOUTH KOREA – JANUARY 22: A fish is unhooked during a contest to catch salmon trout on January 22, 2007 in Hwacheon, South Korea. It is called the “Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival” and is a unique wintertime celebration that draws nearly one million visitors every year. To promote it as the nation’s largest and most popular winter festival, organizers plan a variety of programs and fun activities. Sancheoneo (Mountain trout into Korean) is a fish in the Salmonidae genus of the Salmoniformes family and only inhabit cool, pure streams of 20 or below. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Massachusetts fish and wildlife officials have started stocking the state's ponds, lakes and rivers with more than 500,000 trout raised in five hatcheries.
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife stocking program began earlier this week with bodies of water on Cape Cod, as well as in southeastern Massachusetts and areas west of Boston.
Some of the places stocked with rainbow trout include Spectacle Pond in Sandwich, Lake Cochituate in Natick, and Houghton's Pond in Milton.
Other bodies of water will be stocked with brook, brown, and tiger trout raised in hatcheries in Sandwich, Palmer, Belchertown, Sunderland, and Montague.
These fish, coupled with the more than 60,000 fish stocked last fall, will provide some excellent fishing in the coming months, the agency says.
Most of the trout are longer than 12 inches, with more than 600 brown trout and 500 brook trout over 18 inches.
The agency reminds anglers to buy a fishing license and to make sure that what they are fishing for are in season.
