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Anaheim Lake opens for trout fishing for first time in 25 years
Anaheim Lake is where a lot of Orange County anglers learned to fish for trout in the 1970s and 80s when Russ Cleary operated the lake, planting it heavily with hatchery trout in the fall and winter months.
A lot of people are adults now who learned how to catch trout at that lake, said Bill Andrews, who now operates the fishing concession at Anaheim Lake and Santa Ana River Lakes with his partner Doug Elliott. I think it must have been 1981 or 82 to the last time trout were planted in Anaheim Lake.
Thats changing this year. Anaheim Lake will be planted heavily with rainbow trout from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms in Red Bluff. The lake, which is currently open to anglers for catfish, will be closed from Sept. 25-28 for trout planting, and it will reopen to fishing for its first trout season in many years on Friday, Sept. 29.
Anaheim Lake, which normally is only open when Santa Ana River Lakes is closed for maintenance, will be open into at least into November this year, and Andrews and Elliott decided to go ahead and open for trout season. They were given an additional incentive when it was found the water temperatures were dropping this week thanks to the addition of Metropolitan Water District water coming into the lake. When the last September opening date was set, they realized this will also be the earliest fall trout opener at an urban lake in Orange County.
-- Jim Matthews
Anaheim Lake is where a lot of Orange County anglers learned to fish for trout in the 1970s and 80s when Russ Cleary operated the lake, planting it heavily with hatchery trout in the fall and winter months.
A lot of people are adults now who learned how to catch trout at that lake, said Bill Andrews, who now operates the fishing concession at Anaheim Lake and Santa Ana River Lakes with his partner Doug Elliott. I think it must have been 1981 or 82 to the last time trout were planted in Anaheim Lake.
Thats changing this year. Anaheim Lake will be planted heavily with rainbow trout from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms in Red Bluff. The lake, which is currently open to anglers for catfish, will be closed from Sept. 25-28 for trout planting, and it will reopen to fishing for its first trout season in many years on Friday, Sept. 29.
Anaheim Lake, which normally is only open when Santa Ana River Lakes is closed for maintenance, will be open into at least into November this year, and Andrews and Elliott decided to go ahead and open for trout season. They were given an additional incentive when it was found the water temperatures were dropping this week thanks to the addition of Metropolitan Water District water coming into the lake. When the last September opening date was set, they realized this will also be the earliest fall trout opener at an urban lake in Orange County.
-- Jim Matthews
