05-31-2009, 11:10 AM
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is planting 36,000 rainbow trout at Caples Lake in Alpine County over the next two weeks. The first load of fish will be released Friday, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.
The planting is part of a joint effort between DFG and the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) to replenish the Caples Lake fishery after last fall's dam repairs that reduced the lake's fish population. More releases of trout are planned throughout the summer based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission mandated Fish Mitigation Plan for the lake, which calls for stocking in excess of 38,000 pounds of fish.
Last year DFG, in cooperation with EID, conducted two large-scale fish rescues at Caples Lake. Biologists believed that after draining down the lake for repairs, the water level would be too low to support extensive fish life over the winter period due to ice over and low oxygen levels. While not all of the fish could be saved, biologists and volunteers rescued more than 6,000 adult rainbow, brook and lake trout and approximately 18,000 juvenile trout of these species. All of these fish were transplanted to Silver and Red lakes located nearby.
This year a variety of sources are contracted to provide trout for Caples Lake before the Memorial Day Weekend, which kicks off the main fishing season.
Media Contact
Stafford Lehr, Senior Environmental Scientist, (916) 358-2900 or Harry Morse, DFG Office of Communications, (916) 322-8962
The planting is part of a joint effort between DFG and the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) to replenish the Caples Lake fishery after last fall's dam repairs that reduced the lake's fish population. More releases of trout are planned throughout the summer based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission mandated Fish Mitigation Plan for the lake, which calls for stocking in excess of 38,000 pounds of fish.
Last year DFG, in cooperation with EID, conducted two large-scale fish rescues at Caples Lake. Biologists believed that after draining down the lake for repairs, the water level would be too low to support extensive fish life over the winter period due to ice over and low oxygen levels. While not all of the fish could be saved, biologists and volunteers rescued more than 6,000 adult rainbow, brook and lake trout and approximately 18,000 juvenile trout of these species. All of these fish were transplanted to Silver and Red lakes located nearby.
This year a variety of sources are contracted to provide trout for Caples Lake before the Memorial Day Weekend, which kicks off the main fishing season.
Media Contact
Stafford Lehr, Senior Environmental Scientist, (916) 358-2900 or Harry Morse, DFG Office of Communications, (916) 322-8962