According to Las Cruces Sun News the state Game and Fish Department said 77,000 bass were released at the lake Tuesday after being transported from the Rock Lake Hatchery near Santa Rosa. The facility has nearly a dozen 1-acre ponds to raise bass, catfish, walleye, bluegill and other warmwater species.
"This is an exciting time for the hatchery and for the state's anglers who enjoy catching warmwater fish," said hatchery manager Leonard Rice. "This also is a learning experience for us because we've never done this before."
Hatchery crews have been working since last fall to create pond environments suitable for raising a variety of fish species. The fish were placed in the ponds once the water produced enough phytoplankton and zooplankton for the fish to grow.
New Bass Released in Elephant Butte Lake
MEXICO - LasCrusesSunNewsThe first group of largemouth bass raised at the state's new warmwater hatchery in eastern New Mexico have been released in Elephant Butte Lake.