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WCO John Cummings watching while trout exit a pipe into Frances Slocum Lake last Wednesday.

Marty Bisher, left and Neil Andres help stablilize a pipe while trout are stocked at Frances Slocum Lake. Exiting the pipe is one of many trophy golden rainbow trout that were stocked.

WCO Aaron Lupacchini with one of several nets containing trophy trout that were stocked into Lily Lake on Friday for the April 18 opener of trout season.

WCO Aaron Lupacchini empties a net of trophy trout into Lily Lake on Friday. Despite a snowstorm, Lupacchini and fellow PFBC employees managed to stock two truckloads of trout into the lake.

With two trucks holding more than 5,000 trout and a crippling snowstorm making for treacherous conditions on Friday, Waterways Conservation Officer Aaron Lupacchini was left with little choice.

He had to get the trout in the water.

After all, Lupacchini’s stocking destination on this day was Lily Lake, one of the most popular places for trout anglers in the area.

“One way or another the fish had to get in the lake. A lot of anglers count on this place being stocked,” Lupacchini said. “Not stocking it isn’t an option.”

Options were exactly what Lupacchini didn’t have at this point. With late winter weather causing other stockings to be canceled and rescheduled, Lupacchini said there just wasn’t any more available days to bring the fish back and get them in Lily Lake before the April 18th opener.

So while snow piled up in a hurry, Lupacchini had to figure a way to get the trucks close enough to the lake to release the fish. Typically, the trucks are backed down the boat launch and the trout are piped into the water. But the snow made the launch too slick for the trucks. Backing them up through the grass alongside the launch presented conditions that were just as risky, so Lupacchini’s only choice was to park the trucks on the bridge above the spillway, connect a series of pipes that would reach into the lake and chop a hole in the ice.

With some effort, the idea worked and within an hour all of the trout were safely stocked into the lake.

“It’s less than ideal conditions – probably the toughest I’ve had since I came to this district,” Lupacchini said. “But we really don’t have the leeway to push the stocking back to another day. We had to get it done.”

Earlier in the week, at Frances Slocum Lake, volunteers Marty Bisher and Neil Andres connected a pipe to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s stocking truck and emptied chunky 10-inch trout into the lake without incident.

Tank by tank, thousands of 10 to 12-inch trout flowed into the lake.

It wasn’t until the pipe was connected to the last tank that things changed.

Instead of the 10-inch fish, monstrous rainbow and golden rainbow trout exploded out of the pipe and lofted through the air before splashing into the water.

“They look terrific. Real nice fish this year,” said Exeter resident Ed Parulis, who stopped by the lake to watch the trout being stocked. “After the winter, I look forward to this.”

Wednesday’s stocking was the first of the season for waterways conservation officer John Cummings. Approximately 5,000 trout went into Frances Slocum Lake, and in addition to the lunkers from the last tank, the stocking including a generous helping of 10-inch golden rainbows, which Cummings said is unusual.

“It’s a nice bonus,” he said.

A crowd of roughly 50 people turned out to watch the first truckload of fish go into the lake, including a few children. For Cummings, seeing the crowd and the kids was a welcome sight.

“Having so many people turn out tells me it’s been a long, hard winter and they’re looking for anything that reminds them of spring,” Cummings said. “As for the kids, it’s always nice seeing the look on their faces when the trout come out. That’s what it’s all about.”

Still, Wednesday’s stocking took some extra effort.

Ten inches of ice still covers the lake right up to the shore. To get the trout into the water, staff from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources used a small backhoe to bust a hole in the ice by the boat launch. With a bit of open water, the first stocking trout unloaded without a problem.

But the second truck had a little bad luck.

Cummings said the truck blew a brake line while en route to the lake on the Cross Valley Expressway. With time ticking away, the first truck went to the scene and hatchery workers transferred the fish with nets from the tanks of the disabled truck.

After an hour delay, the second load of trout arrived and were quickly released into the lake.

“Most of the time it goes well, but when you’re dealing with something mechanical this can happen every now and then,” Cummings said. “Our drivers know how to handle it.”