The recovery of Lititz Run over the past several years has been dramatic, to the point that wild stream-bred rainbows are sometimes caught. The work done on the Banta property provided an opportunity for an experiment to see if a wild population of brown trout could be established in the run.
Accordingly, fingerling trout were purchased by DTU with the intent of stocking them on this section of stream. To identify them in later shockings, they were anesthetized in a solution of clove oil and then their adipose fin was clipped.
Volunteers stocked the fish up and down the stream. Soon small rises could be seen as the fish began to feed.
The fish were then left on their own, with no fishing and no artificial food provided.
Unfortunately a subsequent electroshocking only revealed a few adult fish, but they were quite sizeable and in good health. Since it was felt we might have been precipitate in stocking so soon, before sufficient cover for protection had been established, the experiment was repeated a year later, with much different results.