LAKE DELTON — When walleye, crappie, bass and other fish are released into the newly filled Lake Delton later this year, they will need something to eat.

That’s why David Gollon, co-owner of Dodgeville-based Gollon Bait and Fish Farm, could be seen Monday shooting more than 100,000 minnows through a tube from a tanker truck into the cold, black water.

Since the 267-acre lake and its fishery drained into the Wisconsin River last June, the Lake Delton Fisheries Restoration Project has raised more than $100,000 to restock the lake, with plans to raise $100,000 more. The DNR also plans to spend about $170,000 restocking over the next three years.

"Everyone has come on board slowly but surely," said Ben Hobbins, who co-founded the restoration group with television host and outdoor writer Dan Small.

Major donors have included $9,000 from Rhapsody Hotels, $7,500 from Walleyes for Tomorrow and $5,000 on Monday from Leinenkugel’s, which wants to raise $40,000 for the project by the end of the summer.

The project is also expecting about $10,000 from the Madison Fishing Expo and $15,000 from Taste of the Dells.

The lake, rimmed by resorts and home to other businesses that depend on its water, began filling in December after the breach was repaired and improvements to the dam were made. The lake should be full by the end of the week, said Tom Diehl, a Lake Delton Village Board member and co-owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show, which is known for its water skiing acts on the lake.

Still, the fishing won’t be spectacular — most of the fish will need years of growth before anglers can keep them legally — and the sagging economy might keep potential visitors at home.

If nothing else, though, the lake’s business owners have a product to sell again.

Bill Stecky, owner of Schleef’s Bait and Tackle shop on the lake’s edge, said his sales fell 75 percent last year.

"I never expected it (to drain and refill again) in my lifetime," Stecky said. "I tell people no matter how bad the economy is, I’ll only be going up."