Brook trout, cutthroat and some strains of rainbow are adaptable and prolific in their spawning habits, sometimes using springs to spawn in high lakes. Uncontrolled reproduction in high lakes can lead to overpopulation. Such trout lakes are characterized by dense populations of slow growing trout with large heads and skinny bodies. Essentially, they are eating themselves out of house and home.
WDFW allows for a more liberal harvest in some of these over-populated lakes and stocks others with predator species to bring these populations under control. The agency encourages anglers to fish these lakes and has identified where over-populated lakes exist through the high lakes mapping tools. Anglers are strongly encouraged to seek out these lakes and remove the legal number of trout each day they fish. Reducing the over-abundance of trout in these lakes lessens the impact these populations are having on lake ecology and native aquatic fauna.