BETHEL – More than 1,000 yearling and older brown trout and larger rainbow trout will soon join other fish in the Androscoggin River between Gilead and Bethel.

On Wednesday, May 23, a float-stocking program will be conducted by the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance and volunteers from the Mollyockett Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Float stocking sees fish loaded into buckets from a hatchery truck then freed from drift boats and canoes. The fish are floated downstream and released into appropriate hiding places and feeding habitats.

The first group of boats will leave at 9 a.m. from the Gilead boat launch; the second group will stock from West Bethel to Bethel.

Float stocking is preferred rather than simply dumping fish into the river in one location, because brown and brook trout may not migrate up or down stream for weeks from the original stocking area. During this time, the fish are vulnerable to predators and adept anglers.

The IF&W has aggressively stocked brown trout since the Androscoggin was cleaned up to rebuild the fishery. It also continues to stock rainbow trout to supplement recovering wild stocks of rainbows.