Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3721 Sept 28- Oct 12 | Page 18
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Sept 28 - Oct 12, 2018
MAP FEATURE
VOL.37 • ISS. 21
Big rainbows like this one landed by Dr. Al Hurwitz are the reward for anglers bank fishing and boat fishing at Del Valle in the fall, winter and spring.
Photo courtesy of ROCKY MOUNTAIN RECREATION COMPANY.
Del Valle Offers Most Diverse Fishery of Bay Area Lakes
L
ake Del Valle, a scenic reservoir
located 10 miles south of
Livermore off Interstate 580 at the edge
of the Sunol Regional Wilderness, offers
an outstanding array of fish species for
anglers to pursue.
The reservoir is surrounded by over
5,000 acres of beautiful oak-covered hills
at an altitude of 745 feet.
My first trip to Del
Valle was in 1979.
I fished the
reservoir with
two college
friends, Nona
Armstrong and
Sal Murrietta,
and we caught a
bunch of bluegill
while fishing
from a rental
boat. Since
that
time,
I
have mainly fished Del Valle for trout, but
there a lot more species than bluegill and
trout at Del Valle.
“Del Valle hosts the most diverse
fisheries of any Bay Area lake or
reservoir,” fishery,” summed up Ed
Culver, East Bay Regional Park District
(EBRPD) fisheries biologist, in the latest
report on the lake’s fish populations.
“Anglers target rainbow trout, channel
catfish, two species of salmon, bluegill,
redear sunfish, black crappie, striped bass,
largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, as
well as several other species of fish.”
The lake features large resident and
self-sustaining fish populations of
bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie,
striped bass, largemouth bass, and
smallmouth bass, along with regular
plants of trout and catfish by the
park district and the California
Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
Del Valle and New
Hogan are unique
among California
reservoirs in that
they feature healthy
naturally-repro-
ducing populations
of stripers. The
stripers in Del Valle
spawn in the lake’s main
tributary, Arroyo Del Valle,
and where the creek water
merges with the lake
waters.
The park district
and CDFW stock
rainbow trout
in the fall,
winter and
spring
when the
water
tempera-
ture is
cool.
The district then stocks channel
catfish in the summer months
after the surface water tempera-
ture becomes too warm to stock
rainbows.
The amount of catfish and
trout planted varies year by
year – and the park district
plants are dependent on money
collected from each fishing
permit, weather conditions and
fish availability.
This year to date, the East
Bay Regional Park District
(EBRPD) has planted 10,700
lbs. of trout and 3750 lbs. of
catfish while the CDFW has
stocked 5000 lbs. of trout/
catfish.
In 2015, the EBRPD stocked
37750 lbs. of trout and 6225
lbs. of catfish, while the CDFW
planted 9000 lbs. of trout/
catfish.
In 2016, the EBRPD stocked
24000 lbs. of trout and 4000
lbs. of catfish, while the CDFW
planted 15000 lbs. of trout/
catfish.
In 2017