Nearly 40,000 minnows, bluegill restocked in Cherrydale Lake in Hanover

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Nearly 40,000 fish have been restocked in Cherrydale Lake in the Mechanicsville area of Hanover County.

As the first of three restocking events, the lake was stocked with fathead minnows, redear shellcrackers and coppernose bluegills, according to the Hanover County Department of Public Works.

The project, which is state-funded, is intended to help reduce sediment and pollutants from traveling to the Chesapeake Bay, according to a spokesperson for the department.

For the next three years, the lake will be catch and release only, allowing the fish to be able to mature and reproduce.

Cherrydale is a private neighborhood lake and is not open to the public.