Tigers Release Trout — Students stock Saratoga Lake with trout hatched and raised in hallway of Encampment K-12

SARATOGA — Students from Encampment K-12 released dozens of trout into Saratoga Lake on May 8.

Since January, the Encampment Tigers have watched the fish grow from tiny amber eggs to free-swimming fingerlings inside a tank in the school's main hallway. Last Thursday, the fish were freed into the wild world of Saratoga Lake.

The fish, equipment and field trip to the Lake were a part of the Trout in the Classroom Program, a partnership between Wyoming Game and Fish and Trout Unlimited.

“This program teaches the students valuable lessons about our watersheds, healthy fish habitats, and riparian ecosystems,” Encampment Teacher Rayna Greenwood said. “They also get hands-on experience observing the different life stages of trout, from egg to alevin (sac-fry), and swim up fry to fingerlings. The middle and high school-aged students also learned about nutrient cycling and the importance of good water quality. In addition, students gain an understanding of caring for live animals and the time and effort that goes into raising them.”

A local non-profit was crucial to the Tiger’s participation in TIC, according to Greenwood.

“Our participation in this program would not have been possible without the generous donation of The Mother Mountain Anglers non-profit group,” Greenwood said. “The Saratoga Sun wrote an article on them and their donation to the school at the beginning of our venture.”

Encampment was one of 67 schools across the Cowboy State to participate in the TIC program, according to Laramie Regional Fisheries Supervisor Bobby Compton.

“What’s really great about the program is it’s pretty far reaching,” Compton said. “Sixty seven schools and all those kids are getting a good lifelong foundational knowledge in aquatic conservation, the biological needs of fish and their explained life history.”

For Compton, keeping species in their natural habitat is a pertinent lesson taught in the TIC program – especially after 2022, when Game and Fish killed all the fish in Saratoga Lake to get rid of the invasive yellow perch.

“It took a lot to restore that fishery,” he said. “We’re trying to explain to everyone that you don’t move fish around. Introducing a new species to a new environment has a lot of lasting consequences. There’s a time and place for professionals to do what we do, but we don’t want people moving fish around and releasing aquarium pets or turtles.”

What makes Wyoming special is how much untouched nature there is, Compton said. This program will hopefully help kids to not only notice but appreciate and conserve the State’s unaltered environment.

“My favorite part of the experience was watching the kids' interactions and excitement with the trout,” Greenwood said. “I also really enjoyed learning about the intricacies of raising trout.”

Compton’s favorite part of TIC is connecting with the students and seeing how inspiring the teachers are.

“I love interactions with the school kids,” Compton said. “It's a K-12 program, a lesson for a highschooler is different than one for a second grader. The kids seem to learn a lot. They spend all semester raising these fish, so there’s a lot of pride. It’s inspiring. There’s a good future ahead with those kids, what they’re learning and their teachers. Between getting the aquarium and lessons together, it’s the teachers that do all the heavy lifting to make it meaningful.”

Tigers behind the Tank

The entire process from tank set-up to release was about seven months, according to Greenwood.

“It began with TIC orientation at the end of October,” she said of the process. “Shortly after the orientation, we began the pre-cycling process, which is where you farm good bacteria in the tank to create the water quality necessary to support trout. On January 7th, we received 150 Rainbow Trout eggs and raised them through several life stages before releasing them in Saratoga Lake last Thursday.”

Encampment Juniors Caleb Koehn and Korbyn Barkhurst were the Tigers tasked with tank set-up, maintenance and the feeding of the fingerlings.

“They first introduced us to it toward the beginning of the school year,” Koehn said about when they first found out about the tank. “We talked about it and we were finally able to execute it toward the end of 2024.”

With small classes and lots of free time, the boys figured they’d volunteer and take charge of the tank, Barkhurst said. The tank arrived back in January and the set up was simple, the boys said.

“It was pretty easy,” Koehn said about the set up process, “We just had to wait for everything to get here. We had to order all the fancy stuff, like the cooler. The hardest part was making sure everything worked well together, because the eggs are fragile and need very specific conditions. We had to pay more attention to the chemicals in the water, making sure they were staying stable enough for the eggs.”

With the chemicals stable, the water at the correct temperature and eggs placed, Cohen and Barkhurst ran tests twice a week and checked on the eggs everyday.

For the boys, it was cool to have a hand in a school program that the younger students enjoyed.

“It was really cool,” Koehn said. “When the fish were in the tank at school, everytime I went to walk by there’s some kid looking at them trying to learn and ask questions.”

“We got to feed them,” Barkhurst said. “It was cool to have little kids watching while we’re feeding them and being able to hand them out the little kids to release them is cool. Just being a part of it because it’s a cool experience for these kids.”

Besides creating learning opportunities that will last a lifetime for the younger Tigers, Barkhurst’s favorite part was weekly chemical tests.

“It was actually fun to test all the chemicals,” Barkhurst said. “It’s nice because we did it every Monday, so it was kind of a break from schoolwork. Every Monday, coming in, testing all the chemicals and making sure the fish are doing good.”

Koehn’s favorite part was feeding the fish once they got to fingerling size, he said.

“Once they got to some size, feeding them was pretty fun,” Koehn said. “They start going crazy as soon as you open up the top. It was like a feeding frenzy, pretty cool to watch.”

The boys are grateful for the program and have plans for next year.

“It’s a cool opportunity to work with Game and Fish,” Koehn said. “We’re thankful our school had the opportunity to be a part of it. Hopefully, we’re going to continue doing it, maybe with different species.”

This story was published on May 16, 2025.