It’s the middle of February, the water is cold, and literally dozens of fishing lakes and park ponds across Southern California are being stocked with hatchery rainbow trout.
This run-down of nearby fishing locations includes both lakes that were scheduled to be stocked last week ahead of Valentine’s Day (February 8-14) and those where the stocking truck will make deliveries during this week ahead (February 15-21).
For your convenience, I’ve compiled lists for both of those time periods and organized by county, so you have a better idea of when and where to catch a rainbow trout or two.
In my years of experience fishing for stocked trout across the West, including as a boy in Southern California, it’s best to not wait too long before hitting a freshly stocked trout lake. These fish are eager biters and tend to get caught out quickly.
That being said, the lakes that were stocked last week likely have peaked for catch rates by the weekend but will still yield some catches in the week ahead.
The lakes on the schedule for stocking this week should be at their very best in the handful of days after being planted.
You don’t have to be an expert angler to catch hatchery-reared trout. A simple bait-fishing set-up with PowerBait, salmon eggs, worms or other common trout baits is the easiest and most popular tactic around.
Rainbow trout are aggressive, so they also will strike lures such as spinners and spoons. And even though these fish were raised in pens, they still hang on to their natural instincts to feed on insects, so fly anglers can tempt them as well.
We have a free how-to trout fishing guide to the simple tricks, tips, and tackle you can use to catch fish in these waters and elsewhere.
Fishing for stocked hatchery trout isn’t for everyone. These are not fish in their native habitats, and in fact they cannot survive in waters that warm up significantly by spring and summer.
Bear in mind they are put into park ponds and similar low-elevation waters to provide immediate fishing opportunities close to home for many anglers, with the expectation they’ll be caught quickly.
These days, I don’t fish as many stocked trout lakes as I pursue more challenging options. When I go now, it’s usually to take new anglers somewhere they are more likely to be successful, so I really do appreciate these wintertime opportunities.
I’d like to hear what you think in the comments section.
As a side note, there are a few lakes around that are stocked with trout that also harbor some trophy-sized largemouth bass that also appreciate the incredible buffet delivered to their doorsteps. Some of California’s amazing near-world-record bass have come from waters where they could inhale all the trout they wanted during the cooler months.
In some of these waters, savvy bass anglers will deploy large life-like rainbow trout imitation lures (often swimbaits or glide baits) to catch some of the biggest bass of the year.
As mentioned, the lists below are organized both by stocking dates and by county, to help you find your trout near home. If you see the name of the water is highlighted as a link, you can follow that to a more in-depth article about fishing in that location. Most of those are listed down below in the second round of stocking trips coming up this week.
Stocked February 8-14
Kern County
Ming Lake, northeast of Bakersfield
Los Angeles County
Alondra Park Lake, Lawndale
Belvedere Lake, East Los Angeles
Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles
Hollenbeck Park Lake, Los Angeles
Kenneth Hahn Lake, Los Angeles
Lincoln Park Lake, Los Angeles
La Mirada Lake, La Mirada
Orange County
Carr Park Lake, Huntington Beach
Centennial Lake, Santa Ana
Eisenhower Park Lake, Orange
Laguna Lake, Fullerton
Huntington Park Lake, Huntington Beach
San Luis Obispo County
Atascadero Lake
Barney Schwartz Lake, Paso Robles
Ventura County
Rancho Simi Park Lake, Simi Valley
Stocked February 15-21
Los Angeles County
Cerritos Lake, Cerritos
Downey Wilderness Park Lake, Downey
El Dorado Park Lake, Long Beach
Hansen Dam Lake, Los Angeles
Legg Lakes, South El Monte
Puddingstone Lake, San Dimas
Santa Fe Reservoir, Irwindale
Riverside County
Cahuilla Park Lake, La Quinta
Lake Skinner, Winchester
Little Lake, East Hemet
Rancho Jurupa Park Pond, Riverside
San Bernardino
Cucamonga Guasti Park Lake, Ontario
Glen Helen Park Lake, San Bernardino
Mojave Narrows Regional Park Lake, near Victorville
San Diego County
Chollas Park Lake, San Diego
Lake Jennings, Lakeside
Lake Murray, San Diego
Lake Wohlford, Escondido