Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3719 Aug 31- Sept 14 | Page 20
20
Aug 31 - Sept 7, 2018
MAP FEATURE
Loon Lake Dam is one of the better spots for shore anglers to pursue rainbow trout on the reservoir.
VOL.37 • ISS. 19
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Loon Lake Offers Superb Rainbow Fishing In Fourth Year Of Plant Program
L
oon Lake, situated in the Crystal
Basin of El Dorado County, has
been known in the angling community for
decades as a pristine location for trollers
and bank anglers to catch large numbers
of holdover and planted rainbow trout.
The conifer-lined alpine lake, silhouetted
by the snow-graced peaks of the Crystal
Range, is in my opinion the most beautiful
of all of SMUD’s Crystal Basin lakes.
Not only is Loon Lake scenic, but the
future of trout fishing at Loon Lake is now
even brighter, due to a new trout planting
program that was initiated in 2015.
SMUD, in conjunction with the Cali-
fornia Department of Fish and Wildlife
(CDFW), this June, July
and August stocked
Loon Lake, Ice
House and Union
reservoirs in El
Dorado County
with a total of over
25,000 pounds
of rainbow trout
this summer. These
stocked trout are one
to two pounds each
and in a few years
could be potential
trophy fish.
The amount of fish
stocked can number
as high as 50,000
pounds in a given year,
depending on matched
stocking by the Cali-
fornia Department of
Fish and Wildlife. This
is the fourth consec-
utive summer SMUD
and CDFW have
combined efforts to
stock the reservoirs.
“The trout planting
Boaters are able to launch their boats with ease at the Loon Lake boat ramp.
is intended to enhance
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
angling opportuni-
ties for the public.
Payne’s Creek. The company also stocks
low-cost, clean, non-carbon-emitting
According to surveys, fishing tops the
SMUD’s Rancho Seco Lake that ever
hydro power, enough to provide about 15
reasons folks visit the Crystal Basin
annually hosts the very popular Trout
to 20 percent of SMUD’s energy capacity
Recreation Area. On average, the stocked
Derby.
during an average year. The fish-stocking
trout weigh one to two pounds
This year SMUD is working with the
effort helps SMUD meet conditions of
each, with a handful of trophy
owners of the Ice House Resort to install
operating its FERC license for the UARP.
fish included,” according to
a board where anglers can post pictures of
Located an elevation of 6358 feet 45
SMUD.
their catch from Crystal Basin reservoirs.
miles northwest of Placerville at the edge
SMUD coordinated six
The “Crystal Basin Bragging Board”
of the Desolation Valley Wilderness Area,
separate trout plantings
offers anglers the opportunity to show off
the 76,200 acre-feet Loon Lake is formed
from June through August.
a photo of any catch they think is worthy.
by Loon Lake Dam, completed in 1963
Loon Lake received 6,250
A scale will be made available as well
by Sacramento Municipal Utility District
pounds, ending up with
if anglers wish to weigh their catch and
(SMUD).
1,000 pounds on August
claim biggest fish bragging rights.
The lake, designed to conserve spring
13, the last scheduled
“SMUD proactively works to improve
snowmelt runoff for use during the
plant of the season.
the quality of life in El Dorado County,
summer and autumn for hydroelectric
Union Valley, the largest
where many SMUD employees call home power production, is part of SMUD’s
of the three reservoirs,
and work, and where the electric utility
Upper American River Project.
received 10,000 pounds
owns and operates the Upper American
Loon Lake Dam impounds water at the
and Ice House, 8,750 pounds.
River Project (UARP), a system of hydro- headwaters of Gerle Creek that, prior to
The fish provided by SMUD came
electric generation facilities,” according
the dam, flowed intermittently through
from Mount Lassen Trout Farms of
to SMUD.
Loon and Pleasant Lakes, both natural
In 2014, SMUD was awarded a new
lakes. However, most of the water now
50-year license by the Federal Energy
stored in Loon Lake Reservoir arrives
Hard-fighting rainbows like these two
Regulatory Commission (FERC) to
from Buck Island Reservoir in the
are the reward for boaters and bank
anglers fishing at Loon Lake.
continue operating the UARP, which
adjacent Rubicon River watershed by way
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer
provides nearly 700 megawatts of
of the Buck-Loon Tunnel.
Staff.