TILLAMOOK – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will be stocking several north coast lakes with rainbow trout beginning the week of March 8.

“We’ve got approximately 21,500 legal-sized rainbow trout scheduled to go into North Coast lakes next week,” said Robert Bradley, an ODFW fish biologist in Tillamook. “We want to encourage anglers to get out and catch these fish.”

The lakes scheduled to be stocked are Coffenbury Lake, Lost Lake, Vernonia Pond, Spring Lake, Cape Meares Lake, Lake Lytle, Hebo Lake and Town Lake. As a bonus, ODFW will be stocking Lorens Pond a few weeks early with 1,000 legal-sized trout and 200-300 larger-sized trout.

“Lorens Pond is a neat place to fish, it’s close to town and a great place for families,” said Bradley. “It was the natural place to put these extra fish when they became available.”

Trout stocking will continue throughout the spring. The stocking schedule is available by calling ODFW in Tillamook at (503) 842-2741 or on the ODFW Web site at (www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/trout_stocking_schedules/2010/northwest/north_coast.asp)