Routing for the L.A. Lakers

Spring has sprung, and it’s time to celebrate the L.A. Lakers.

No, not the playoff-bound, pride-of-the-city professional basketball team. I mean those other Los Angeles Lakers--the fish found in metropolitan lakes.

Thanks to the California Department of Fish and Game’s Urban Fisheries Program, 20 Southland lakes are regularly stocked with trout from December through April, and with catfish from May through November. The agency’s Fishing in the City program also includes regularly scheduled fishing clinics and children’s ecology programs at these neighborhood lakes. For the hiker who likes to fish and the angler who likes to hike, these urban lakes offer some enjoyable, easily accessible outings.

The idea behind the Fishing in the City Program is a nostalgic one: the ol’ fishing hole of yesterday returning in the form of neighborhood parks and reservoirs.

Lakes stocked by the Department of Fish and Game are scattered throughout urban and suburban Los Angeles County: Echo, Lincoln and Belvedere parks in the heart of the city; Balboa Park Lake in the San Fernando Valley, and Legg Lake and Sante Fe Reservoir in the San Gabriel Valley. Fishing lakes in the city’s southeastern suburbs include John Ford Park Lake in Bell Gardens, La Mirada Park Lake and Cerritos Park Lake.

The lakes range in size from a diminutive one-acre lakelet in Downey Wilderness Park (so close to the 605 Freeway that an angler might hook a motorist in the slow lane with an errant cast) to 252-acre Puddingstone Reservoir in San Dimas.

Lake Evans in Riverside County and three lakes in Orange County--Mile Square Regional Park, Centennial Park, Tri-City Park--are also regularly stocked.

A free “Where to Fish” brochure listing the 20 urban lakes regularly stocked by the department is available by calling (310) 590-4835. To find out which fish are being planted where, call the 24-hour Fish Stocking Information Line at (310) 590-5020.

Three of my favorite lakes to hike and fish are Cerritos Park Lake, Ken Hahn State Recreation Area and Puddingstone Reservoir.

Cerritos Community Regional Park boasts a huge gymnasium and swimming pool, lots of ball fields and tennis courts, as well as a pleasant five-acre lake. It’s less than a half-a-mile walk around the lake on a paved pedestrian path. Another three miles of walking-jogging path lead through the park.

To reach the park, exit the 605 Freeway in Cerritos on Del Amo Boulevard. Head east to Bloomfield Avenue. Turn left, then make a right into the park.

Highlights of Ken Hahn State Recreation Area are the park’s pond and the hiking trails in the surrounding Baldwin Hills. A three-mile loop tours the park’s Olympic Forest and a palm oasis before climbing to a point.

Enjoy views of the Wilshire Corridor, Westwood and the Hollywood sign. You’ll spot sailboats tacking this way and that as they head out to sea from Marina del Rey.

From the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) in Los Angeles, exit on La Cienega Boulevard and drive south a few miles to Ken Hahn State Recreation Area.

Puddingstone Reservoir has been a popular destination since 1928, when it was created by the county Flood Control District. Today, the large reservoir is part of Frank G. Bonelli Park, the county’s second-largest park.

A six-mile trail loops around Puddingstone Reservoir, crossing the park’s chaparral-covered hills and leading through quiet canyons shaded by oak and walnut groves. The trails are not well signed, but the path rarely strays too far from the reservoir and park roads, so you won’t get lost.

To reach Puddingstone Reservoir in Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, exit the Foothill Freeway (210) in San Dimas on Via Verde.

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L.A.’s Urban Lakes

WHERE: Cerritos Park Lake, Ken Hahn State Recreation Area, Puddingstone Reservoir.

DISTANCE: 1/2-mile to all-day hikes.

TERRAIN: Urban-suburban lake shore.

HIGHLIGHTS: Fishing and hiking.

PRECAUTIONS: A California Sport Fishing License is required for persons 16 years and older when fishing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact California Department of Fish and Game, 330 Golden Shore, Suite 50, Long Beach, CA 90802; tel. (310) 590-4835.