Anglers find gifts under trees

OLD Christmas trees keep on giving after the gifts are opened: They serve as fish habitat in lakes.

Bass and sunfish ambush prey from submerged vegetation, but many concrete-lined urban lakes lack bottom “structure.” Tangles of pines, chained to the bottom with concrete blocks, promote algae and provide cover for juvenile fish.

Dozens of volunteers sank 2,100 unsold trees into Rainbow Lake, Horseshoe Lake and Lake Chabot near Castro Valley on Jan. 8 to boost fishing. Pete Alexander of the East Bay Regional Park District says similar efforts in other lakes have helped fisheries.

-- Scott Doggett