A few million extra fish will be swimming in the vicinity of your lures this spring thanks to efforts funded by Ohio anglers’ fishing license fees.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife announced recently that more than 36 million fish were stocked by the Division of Wildlife in Ohio’s public lakes, ponds and rivers last year. Eleven fish species were stocked in 233 waterways across the state.

For Ohio’s 827,000 licensed anglers, the fish stockings are one of the benefits they gain from the money they invest in licenses. Money raised through license sales funds the state’s six fish hatcheries and stocking activities.

Ohio hatcheries raise walleye, saugeye, yellow perch, rainbow trout, steelhead trout, brown trout, muskies, hybrid striped bass, blue and channel catfish and bluegills.

Missing from the list of hatchery species are largemouth and smallmouth bass and crappies. While many anglers would prefer to see bass stocked in our waters, Ohio fish management authorities said our lakes and rivers tend to support sustainable populations of bass and crappies resulting from natural spawning. They said bass populations tend to balance with the available food and habitat.

Stocking, according to ODNR, is done to expand and diversify fishing opportunities in waters where existing habitats do not support some fish reproduction. Ohio does not stock walleyes in Lake Erie, which certainly has proven able to grow millions of walleyes that hatch from natural spawning activities.

In Northeast Ohio, stocking of walleyes has occurred for many years in Mosquito Lake and several other reservoirs.

ODNR reported five life stages were stocked in 2025, including 25.5 million fry, 10 million fingerlings, 258,925 advanced fingerlings, 493,840 yearlings and 117,943 catchable size.

Yearling stockings were done with brown and steelhead trout, as well as channel catfish. Catchable stockings included channel cats, bluegills and rainbow trout.

A total of 12,949 muskie fingerlings were stocked last year.

Ohio’s hatcheries produce many millions of saugeyes, which are a cross between saugers and walleyes. Triploid saugeyes are known to do well in certain waterways, but as hybrids they are unable to produce. Triploid saugeye stocking, therefore, is a put-and-take program that does not affect the genetics of host lakes’ walleyes.

Grand Lake St. Mary’s received a hefty saugeye stocking in 2025, which is expected to increase that lake’s angling opportunities in years to come.

Ohioans who would like to see hatcheries in action will want to visit one of the open houses scheduled this spring: St. Marys, March 28; Hebron and Senecaville, April 4; Castalia, April 11; Kincaid, April 18; and London, April 25. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on those dates.

Jack Wollitz has been reporting on Ohio fishing activities weekly since 1988. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.