Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3621 Sept 29- Oct 13 2017 | Page 20

18 Sept. 29 - Oct. 13, 2017 MAP FEATURE VOL.36 • ISS. 21 The clear waters of Lake Valley Reservoir host rainbow and brown trout, brown bullhead catfish and green sunfish. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. L Hit Lake Valley Reservoir For High Elevation Catfish And Trout ake Valley Reservoir, nestled on the North Fork of the American River near Yuba Gap, offers anglers a unique chance for shore anglers to land both rainbow trout amidst high mountain scenery. While channel catfish are found in many lower elevation foothill lakes, there is a short list of lakes above 5,000 feet in elevation that host the smaller but very tasty brown bullheads available for shore anglers and boaters in good numbers. These include Frenchman and Davis in the North Fork of the Feather watershed, Rucker on the North Fork of the Yuba and Union Reser- voir off the North Fork of the Stanislaus. Set amidst a boul- der-strewn shoreline sur- rounded by a thick conifer forest, Lake Valley is a haven for bank anglers, kayak fisher- men and trollers. Unlike many reservoirs, mo- torized fishing boats are restricted to a 10-mph limit, so you won’t find any water skiers or personal watercraft users speeding around the lake. It is one of my favorite reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada – and its proximity to Interstate 80 makes it an ideal location to fish when I want to get away for an afternoon or morning of fishing. Rainbow trout are the only species of fish that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) currently plants at Lake Valley. The Department most years stocks around 4,000 pounds of rainbows in the reservoir. The lake also hosts a sleeper population of German brown trout. The CDFW has stocked 2.900 rainbows in Lake Valley so far in 2017, about 50 percent of the allot- ment, and more trout will be planted in the next couple of months, according to Jay Rowan the Senior ES Supervisor-Hatch- eries, North Central Region-CDFW. The fishery management of the lake has a long and fascinating history. A Department survey done of Lake Valley on July 23, 1958 forecasted that “Eastern Brook Trout should do very well,” noting that the lake had a good forage base thoug