On Tuesday November 27, 2012 at 9:00 am, the fish pens at the New Melones Marina will be stocked with 1-pound rainbow and brown trout. These pens are sponsored by Kokanee Power. The fish will be fed regularly by marina employees until they are fattened up and ready to be released in the spring. They grow quickly in the pens, and are usually over 2-pounds when they are released. This program has enhanced the fishing at Melones. Thank you to Kokanee Power and New Melones Marina for sponsoring the program.

These Brown trout are the last that California will plant anywhere!

Here is how we understand it: Because of a lawsuit against the Department of Fish and Game, only sterilized fish can be planted in waters that may provide access to any river or stream where native salmon or steelhead are present. There is currently no method to sterilize brown trout (rainbows can be sterilized). So these fish are the last of the brown trout to be stocked. We imagine that the increased cost of sterilization will result in smaller plantings of rainbow trout, as well.

From now on, it is vitally important to practice catch and release of brown trout, so they can spawn and thrive in the lake. Brown trout can successfully reproduce in New Melones if we let them, especially with the removal of the small weir from the north fork of the Stanislaus. It is our responsibility as anglers to manage our fisheries. Keep only what you can eat, and release larger fish and brown trout back into the lake so they can reproduce.

Thanks- from all of us at Glory Hole Sports