This is a busy time of year for the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC as they cover the province re-stocking lakes and ponds before the water temperature gets too warm.

"We want to make B.C., the best freshwater fishery in North America," said Cameron Jope, a fish culturist with the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC in Summerland.

He and his colleagues released more than 400 rainbow trout into Shannon Lake on Wednesday.

"My job is to propagate, rear and eventually stock lakes with various types of trout, specifically rainbow trout is mostly what I work with," he explained. "But at some of our other facilities, there are a few other species, including cutthroats, brook trout and kokanee."

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC was created in 2003 as North America's only private, non-profit fisheries service funded by licence revenues.

"I'm growing these fish with the purpose of putting them in the lake, and then people can come out and enjoy these lakes and catch those fish," Jope says.

Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC operates six hatcheries across the province, and teams are working to raise and release trout, kokanee and steelhead for recreational fisheries and white sturgeon for conservation purposes.

Over the course of the spring and summer, they will release a little more than 2,000 rainbow trout in Shannon Lake alone.

"Hall Road Pond and Shannon Lake are great because they're really accessible for families," said Jodi Mousseau, admin and outreach clerk for the Summerland Trout Hatchery. "You don't need a boat. There's some great shore fishing here. So it's a great place to introduce the kids to fishing."

If you're looking to introduce the young people in your life to fishing, from the second week of May until Father's Day on June 15, staff will be set up at Hall Road Pond and Shannon Lake on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the Go Fish events.

Youth get a chance to borrow a rod and tackle and receive guidance as they cast their lines.

"Hopefully catch one of the big fish that we put into the lake," Mousseau said.

The fish released are sterile so they won't be able to reproduce or compete with any native fish, but that doesn't mean they don't get big.

"Depending on the productivity of the lake, how much space, how much food is available for the fish, we can have trout that grow in excess of 10 pounds," Jope said, adding he loves to fish himself and eats the fish he catches out of Shannon Lake.

"I can't wait for more days on the water this summer," he said.