Speas Hatchery Open For Business

Dan Speas Fish Rearing Station west of Casper is now a hatchery as well.

Wyoming Game and Fish managers held a grand opening Friday and demonstrated the loading up of 5000 lbs of trout in less than 15 minutes destined for a Wyoming reservoir.

The new facilities, located near Bessemer Bend, nearly tripled production in 2011 to just under 230,000 fish.

Assistant Fish Division Chief, Mark Fowden, says the great thing about the expansion is the flexibility it allows.

"We can actually meet the fish manager's request in terms of species, size, and time of the year that they're stocked, and that's the really great thing, now we have flexibility to meet all the manager's needs statewide."

The Speas expansion, cost round about $16 million, and will be raising and rearing various trout species to what, Fowden calls a catch-able size, from around 8 1/2 to 9 inches long. He says those fish will likely exceed 16 inches within a year.

The hatchery will be open to the public, seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 8 to 5.