California DFG Gets in the Holiday Spirit

From Dec. 19 to Dec. 26, DFG's Fishing in the City Program will plant 1-pounders in some lakes and between 1- and 3-pounders in other locations around the greater San Francisco Bay Area. DFG withholds specific fish planting dates so that fishing activity will not be focused right after the plant. Also, occasionally, operational problems may cause alteration of the schedule.

"The idea is to encourage families to spend some quality time outdoors enjoying our local lakes," said DFG's Ethan Rotman, Fishing in the City Coordinator, San Francisco Bay Area. "And you can't find any better quality time than when the family goes fishing."

- Santa Clara County will receive plants in five lakes: Spring Valley Pond in Milpitas, Lake Vasona and Campbell Perc Ponds, both in Los Gatos, and Cottonwood Lake and Lake Cunningham, both in San Jose.
- Alameda County will receive four plants: Lake Shore Park in Newark, Livermore's Shadow Cliffs Reservoir, Lake Temescal in Oakland, and Don Castro Reservoir.
- Three lakes in Contra Costa County: Contra Loma Reservoir, Walnut Creek's Heather Farms Pond, and Lake Refugio in Hercules.
- Solano County receives one plant at Vallejo's Lake Chabot.
- Sonoma County receives one plant at Lake Ralphine in Santa Rosa.
- Marin County receives one plant at the Bon Tempe Reservoir.

The Urban Fishing Program, which acts as the organizational umbrella for the Fishing in the City Program, started in 1993. The program serves Californians living in the Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. The Fishing in the City clinics gives city dwellers an opportunity to learn how to fish, and to fish close to home. The clinics also give participants an opportunity to borrow rods, bait and tackle through the Tackle Loaner Program.

DFG stocks ponds and lakes with trout during the winter season and catfish the rest of the year. Rotman said the city fishing program was responding to requests from anglers for larger fish. Typical weight for fish plants range in the half-pound size, allowing the Department to plant more because the cost is based on weight. Funding for these special holiday plants comes from the federal sport fish restoration fund; a special excise tax paid for though the sale of fishing tackle and motor boat fuel.

"This is funding already set aside for fish planting operations within the Department's Urban Fishing Program," Rotman said. "This is money that we can shift from other scheduled fish plants that won't harm those areas – a more efficient use of the existing resources."

Source: California Department of Fish and Game