Tomorrow [Saturday April 29] is the traditional "opening day" of trout season. The impact of this date is far lass than in years past, due to many waters being open year round, or being managed on a schedule specific to the individual location's biology.

Also stealing a lot of the traditional thunder is the decrease in the number of waters receiving stocked trout. An environmental lawsuit several years ago mandated that the Department of Fish and Game follow a "Pre-Stocking Evaluation Protocol" before stocking; even on waters that had received stocked trout for over 100 years.

The DFG has done a pretty good job of getting this task completed, but some waters will not be stocked, due to possible conflicts with various native fish, amphibian, insect, or bird species.

Overall fishing conditions will not be ideal on opening weekend, reported Dave Ebright at Chico Sportsmens Den. "All reports are that the water will be high this weekend", observed Ebright. "The conditions will be tough, but when the water is up, a lot of anglers opt for spinners instead of bait. For anglers in our area, the Eagle Lake opener on Memorial Day weekend is a much bigger deal."

Trout plants;

Although fewer waters are eligible for planted trout than in years past, many areas will still be getting fish. The DFG planted catchable-size trout this week or last week in the following area waters: Butte County- Paradise Lake; Plumas County- Davis Lake, Lake Almanor, North Fork Feather River; Middle Fork Feather River; Shasta County- Kilarc Reservoir, Baum Lake, Clear Creek near Whiskeytown, Fall River Lake, Grace Lake, Hatchet Creek, Iron Canyon Reservoir, Keswick Canal, Lower-Middle-Upper Burney Creek, McCumber Reservoir, Montgomery Creek, Upper Hat Creek, Whiskeytown Lake, McCloud River; Tehama County- Deer Creek, South Fork Battle Creek, Trinity County- Carrville Dredge Pond, Lewiston Lake, Trinity Lake, Ewing Reservoir; Lassen County- Lower Goodrich Creek, Lower Susan River.