Otago Fish & Game officer Steve Dixon took the organisation’s newly acquired stainless-steel fish transporter on its maiden voyage from the OceanaGold NZ Macraes trout hatchery to the Southern Reservoir fishery in Reservoir Rd, Mount Grand, on Wednesday.
His trailer load of 130 2-year-old rainbow trout — to stock the reservoir for today’s beginner fishing class at the "put-and-take" fishery — was evidence of the new larger fish transporter’s value, he said.
"I love it," Mr Dixon said.
Because the load was two and a-half times larger, the 4000km he typically travelled, taking between 5000 to 8000 fish to a dozen put-and-take fisheries in the region, would halve — as would his time and petrol use, he said.
The hatchery-reared trout were only released into dams and reservoirs with no natural spawning.
Most of the fisheries he would stock were in the Maniototo, but he would also be making stops around Alexandra and Queenstown in his fisheries tour this spring, Mr Dixon said.
The Southern Reservoir is closed to the public during September for Take a Kid Fishing events.
However, the 2022-23 fishing season begins on October 1.
