Lake Mendocino stocked with 7,000 trout

<p>Dozens of people gathered on the sunny shores of Lake Mendocino Thursday morning as state Fish and Game officials for the first time released 7,000 year-old rainbow trout into the reservoir just north of Ukiah. </p><p>“This is so cool,” said Janet Hagins of Ukiah. She had accompanied her husband, who was equipped to catch some of the 10- to 14-inch trout.</p><p>“This is a big deal for fishermen,” said John Hagins. </p><p>The trout were shipped in from a Redding hatchery to provide year-round fishing opportunities at the lake. Lake Mendocino is known as a warm-water fishery with smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, striped bass, catfish and carp that thrive in the summer, officials said.</p><p>“Any winter fishing is dead around here,” John Hagins said.</p><p>The fishermen in the group readied their rods and reels as a glistening stream of pink, white and green fish shot through a pipe and into the lake. The disoriented fish swam willy-nilly, some smack into the embankment and the tires of the truck dispensing them.</p><p>“They're a little out of it the first five to 10 minutes,” said Fish and Game environmental scientist Scott Harris.</p><p>Officials urged the fishermen to give the fish a fighting chance but noted it's legal to catch them as they are planted. It's an ethics issue, said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan.</p><p>About half of those fishing were children.</p><p>“I hope my great-grandchildren have fun,” said Albert Anderson of Willits. He watched as his grandson, Gary Anderson of Lucerne, coached his children, Kyren and Kaylee.</p><p>Kyren, 9, already is an adept fisherman.</p><p>“We take them fishing every weekend,” Gary Anderson said.</p><p>In January, Kyren caught an eight-foot sturgeon in San Pablo Bay, he said. They released the fish because it was too big to keep, Anderson said. </p><p>On Thursday, Kyren was the first to hook a trout, but it escaped just as it was reeled to shore.</p><p>“It's OK. We saw it,” someone shouted in encouragement.</p><p>Not everyone in the crowd thought that planting trout in Lake Mendocino is wise. </p><p>“I think it's a good thing. I just don't think it is the right place,” said Don Moir, who writes a fishing column for a local newspaper. Large bass are in the lake, lurking deep in the river channel running through the man-made lake, he said.</p><p>“The bass are just going to eat them up,” Moir said.</p><p>However, Hughan said Fish and Game conducted studies before releasing fish and that the location is a good one. They expect only 2 percent to 3 percent of the trout will be eaten by bass.</p><p>"We felt this was the best place to release them," Hughan said.</p><p>Fish and Game officials plan to release between 10,000 and 20,000 additional rainbow trout into the lake in the next couple of months, Harris said. Unlike Thursday, future plantings will not be announced, he said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or Glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>