(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will stock rainbow trout in five urban lakes and ponds this month for anglers who enjoy winter fishing. Mike Steuck, the D-N-R’s regional fisheries supervisor for northeast Iowa, says trout get stressed in warmer water and can even die if the temperature is too high. “They don’t like temperatures higher than 70,” Steuck says. “So they’ll quit feeding. They act a little funny and they try and seek out colder water sources.”

Steuck says water temperatures are much cooler now, in the 30s, so it’s an ideal time for the D-N-R to stock the trout — and for Iowans to seek them out by casting a line. “We want people to catch them right away,” he says, “and take them home and see how good fish are to eat and see how much fun fishing is.”

Steuck says the DNR will stock one-to-two-thousand trout in lakes in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Mason City and a few other locations. He says people catch the fish generally within a month after they’re stocked.

(reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)