Wowzer and Holy Cow, what a show! Dusty Britches here to say that Mt. Lassen Hatchery didn’t disappoint! You’ll need to put a saddle on some of those rainbow trout that were planted last Thursday May 21st. Lane, the driver who delivered the 3,000 pounds of beauties may have included a new lake record trout in this batch. I just passed an angler on my way to the office who had his fingers stuck up the gill plates of two 10 plus pound trout as I’m listening to our north shore ranger at the same time on the radio spreading the word that another 10 plus pound rainbow just came out of the water. It’s definitely a cool thing to hear the screams of elation from across the water when someone hooks up. A blast from the past. Better than ketchup and mustard on a hot dog in the ninth inning with the score tied at a Padre game. The Bald Eagles are out putting on a show for the visitors, the Canada Geese are paired up and honkin, red winged black birds are growing in numbers, the bull frogs are sounding like a chorus at night, and just a walk on our trail around the south end of the lake in the evening. You can close your eyes and mentally match the number of sounds to the different critters making those sounds. The blue herons nesting in the tops of the pine trees over on Fletcher Island above Pump House Cove is a good one during an afternoon walk. In addition to the trout that were left over from the plant just before our world was turned upside down and last Thursdays 3,000 pounds, we plan to release the trout that are penned at the boat dock that we have been raising since early last fall. Ellie and Barbara are taking care of business in the main tackle shop, Jay, C.T.-3, Scott, and Steve are handling all the last minute problems that crop up, Bobby doing the sanitizing, Sarah is the rover and keeping folks honest, Wally has the front door, and Lenny has Chamber’s Park with Scott posting up at Lone Pine when he’s not helping out with other stuff. The visitors understand when we tell them some of the restrictions on occupancy, and we do our best to provide good customer service, reasonable access, and flexibility with their concerns. A good job done by all. We have made provisions regarding social distancing around the lake with signage. We have also taken steps to help out Dolores in the restaurant by constructing a tent canopy in the west parking lot and repositioned tables and chairs under the canopy from the restaurant for social distancing, blocking off half of her dining booths, and repositioned the remaining tables and chairs in the restaurant and on the deck to provide proper social distancing so when the County allows her to, she can become sustainable again. All the work that made this happen were mentioned above. Cudos! Ever watch a yellow lab chase a bullfrog in water? or a chicken? or a butterfly? or a squirrel? Or watch him eat ants, green grass, watermelon, apples, cantaloupe, fish bones, or coyote crap? I have. What a great life