Trout Stocking Begins for Season

In the first trout stocking this season by Casitas Municipal Water District, officials dropped 1,700 pounds of rainbow trout into Lake Casitas on Wednesday.

Officials will continue stocking the lake with about 2,000 of the one-pound, 9-to-12-inch trout every other week until March, said Casitas Park Services Manager Douglas Ralph.

The lake, which is five miles long and three miles across, attracts thousands of fishermen each year.

“Over the course of a year we have 900,000 people coming in to use the recreation area,” and many of them are here to fish, he said.

The fish come from Mt. Lassen Trout Farm in Red Bluff, Calif., which has a three-year, $90,000-contract with the water district. State officials also stock the lake with a comparable number of trout, Ralph said.

The fish arrive by tanker truck and are planted in the lake using hoses, he said.

For fishing information, call the Lake Casitas Marina at 649-2043.