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Ready your fishing rods, clear your weekend, and
head to Cachuma Lake Recreation Area—trout
plants have begun! Through April 2008, Cachuma
Lake County Park will receive plants of 4000
pounds of trout every other week. Promised are
at least 400 pounds of 2- to 7-lb. Fish; the
balance will be ½-lb. fish (12” length).
“We’d really like to see people come up and take
advantage of the fishing,” says Mitch Medeiros,
Park Operations Manager. “Along with rainbow
trout, Medeiros continues, “large and smallmouth
bass, crappie, and blue gill can be caught.
People are having success either from boats or
land.” During winter months trout fishing is
considered good from the shore or from the
Mohawk Mesa fishing pier, east of the marina.
Because of the size of the lake and its many
bays, boat fishing gives anglers greater
opportunity to fish otherwise inaccessible areas
of the lake. Trout can be taken at 20-30 feet
with night crawlers and powerbait, and by
trolling with needlefish at 7 to 8 colors.
Large and small mouth bass are taken at 15 feet.
Besides the Santa Barbara County Park
Department, the California Department of Fish
and Game is also planting rainbow trout at
Cachuma Lake biweekly. All in all, nearly 75,000
trout will be planted in Cachuma through winter
and spring. In addition to the productive
fishing, wildlife viewing is excellent this time
of year as mule deer are in the rut and can be
seen sparing, and the lake’s aerial anglers, the
bald eagles and osprey, have arrived for the
winter.
Cachuma Lake is located on Highway 154 in Santa
Barbara County between Santa Barbara and
Solvang. The Lake is currently open for boating
from 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hours change with
the season, so check times in advance. Shore
fishing is open 24 hours-a-day. A California
fishing license is required for those 16 and
over; day licenses cost $12.10, annual licenses
are $37.30, and can be purchased from area
fishing and sport vendors. Day-use park entry
and boat launch are $8 each, or $65 each for an
annual pass. Senior annual passes are $45 for
day use, and $55 for boat launch.
For Cachuma Lake camping and general
information, call (805) 686-5054, or go to
www.sbparks.org. For Cachuma Lake camping
availability, call (805) 686-5055. |
