El Paso County’s Ascarate Park lake to be restocked with rainbow trout

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso County Parks and Recreation Department is set to release roughly 1,500 rainbow trout into one of Ascarate Park's smaller lakes on the south end.

The fish drop was originally scheduled to be released in Ascarate’s larger lake. However, a recent routine test of the large lake found a low to moderate golden algae toxicity. That does not pose a threat for human life, but can kill off large amounts of fish.

The county has worked to ease that concern over the past few years, such as using aerators, floating gardens and a boat that clears out weeds at the bottom of the lake.

"The golden algae flourishes in cold weather, so the last week or couple weeks we've had a bout of colder weather," said Stout, "so we want to make sure we don't have any problems come up with the algae before we drop more fish into the larger lake."

The 'Winter Trout Reel In' event that was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18 has been postponed for a later date.