Stocking Trout in the Chattahoochee River
Winter 2024
Article and Photos by Steve Hudson
One of the nice things about enjoying the out-of-doors is that there are so many opportunities to give back. You can help someone learn a new skill or explore some new water, for example. Or you can help stock some trout!
Let’s take a look at that trout stocking thing – specifically, at helping to stock trout in the delayed-harvest portion of the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta. Several times each year, Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources offers outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to help stock trout there by participating in a “Bucket Brigade Day.” It’s a volunteer-assisted trout stocking event, and the good news is that another Bucket Brigade Day is coming up sometime in February.
The Bucket Brigade at work.
What’s Bucket Brigade Day? It’s a chance to have fun (especially with your kids!) as you help release trout into the Chattahoochee near Cumberland Mall. The trout come from the Buford Trout Hatchery up off Georgia Highway 20, and folks like you and me get to lend a hand by transporting them from the hatchery truck to the river.
“We need your help to stock trout in the delayed harvest section of the Chattahoochee River!” says the DNR website.
Let me share a snapshot of the Bucket Brigade Day that took place just before Christmas at the Whitewater Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area just of U.S. Highway 41.
It started about 9:30 a.m. with the arrival of the truck from the hatchery. About that same time, the first of dozens of volunteer trout stockers began to arrive, too, gathering near the truck. Most wore waders and carried five-gallon buckets, and all were clearly ready to go.
Lining up to get the buckets filled.
Among the folks waiting there was a father-daughter duo. The child, who I’d guess was six or seven years old, wore electric pink rubber boots, appearing as a visual exclamation point in a winding line of drab olive-and-tan waders, and she was holding securely with both hands an equally electric orange five-gallon bucket.
“Daddy,” she asked, after standing patiently for a while, “where do trout come from?”
The dad considered the question.
“Well,” he said at last, “they come from a place called the hatchery. At the hatchery they put them in that truck, and the truck brings them here.”
“Oh!” said the child. “Do they enjoy the ride?”
“I’m sure they do,” said the dad.
“What happens then?” asked the child.
“Well,” said the dad again, “then we get to take them to the river!”
The line moved a yard closer to the truck, and in a minute, it was her turn.
“Daddy, we need our bucket!” said the child.
The events can be fun and educational for the kids.
Her dad hoisted their bucket to the truck’s platform. Then the DNR man dipped a long-handled net into one of the truck’s holding tanks and pulled out a load of wiggly, splashy trout. The child squealed in delight as she and her dad and everyone within range got showered with a flying deluge of icy cold water.
“You’re all set!!” the man on the truck said.
The dad lowered the loaded bucket to the ground.
“Off to the river!” he announced with a big grin.
The two of them headed for the water, where a moment later and with great ceremony, the trout were carefully poured from the bucket into the cold, crisp flow of the Chattahoochee River.
“Bye-bye, trout!” said the child.Then she asked, “Daddy, is it time to go fishing?”
That’s what it’s like to stock trout on Bucket Brigade Day at the Chattahoochee River.
The next Bucket Brigade Day on the Delayed Harvest portion of the Chattahoochee is coming up in February. What will you need to get in on the fun? Bring a clean five-gallon bucket and some waders or other attire that you won’t mind getting wet. If you’ve got kids in tow, a dry change of clothes might not be a bad idea either.
After the stocking there is time to do some fishing as well.
Feel free to bring a fishing rod, too, for some post-stocking fun. Just remember that this is delayed-harvest water and that the fishing is catch-and-release with artificial lures-only. Lures can have only a single hook. Remember that you cannot use things Powerbait, but spinning lures or flies are fine.
And by all means bring the kids or grandkids! These events offer a great opportunity for young folks to get involved in the out-of-doors in a truly hands-on kind of way, helping to get trout in the water and maybe even catch a few fish once they are stocked.
It is an experience that neither you nor they will ever forget.
Steve Hudson is a freelance outdoor writer, book author and award-winning member of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. Steve makes his home in Roswell. Contact him at aa4bw@comcast.net.