Fishstock Concert Sept 5th

[flyboy]

Help fund food for the last race of trout at the Kernville Hatchery!
More info below:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/FishStoc ... =page_info
http://live-krvr.time.ly/event/fishstoc ... -festival/

[Calduke]

Heard rumors it was a big success.
The Kern was a bummer this year after I had so many great years. I drive 3-1/2 hours to Kernville, stay 3 days, and have done this 4/5 times a year in the past. Even though I don't drink, I spend money like a drunken sailor while I'm there. Once this year - with only 3/4 trout.
Hoping cool weather and lots of snow this year. I'm not sure, but, is the El Nino rain a 'warm' rain?

Would like to see more activity on this website.

[flyboy]

Raised over $20,000 and weather was much cooler on Sat than this week. This hot weather may delay stocking after mid-October? The flows are now down below 60 cfs.
Big El Nino coming. More rain/snow is great but there will be huge mudslides and a very silty river to come as well

[Calduke]

Is the fishing pretty much 'shutdown' until Spring? Will the DFG increase the stocking program next year, after the disappointing planting program of 2015? 2015 was a bummer; hope the Kern returns to it's glorious past.

[flyboy]

There were CDFW town halls over a week ago in Kern County to address concerns about the severe reduction in hatchery budgets and the drought impacts.
There will be no fertile trout plants any time soon (thru 2016). No area hatcheries serving Kern County can raise trout to sub-catchable size (+ - 8") until April 2016.
Nearly all CDFW planters statewide will be under 10" going forward. Total pounds stocked statewide will be half of 2014 levels.

Read about the new planter production here https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx ... 004&inline

The Kernville Fishstock trophy trout program has about 5,000 foot long trout that survived the drought on well water. They will be dribble most of those into the Kern River and Lake Isabella but need to last about 6 months and some will be retained to grow some 4 pounders over the next year or so. So those trout >10" will likely show up at holidays, Whiskey Flat days, and some tournaments. Just a few years ago they were stocking 5,000 foot longs EACH WEEK all summer.

Bottom line is the return to the glory days (before 2009 stocking ban)just isn't going to happen unless there are a lot more fishing licenses sold. Numbers of licenses sold is dropping fast. License revenue is growing at about 3 percent a year (fee increases) but costs going up much faster than that. So if they keep charging more for licenses and stockers are getting a lot smaller and fewer you know what the long term is going to portend.....

Very sad indeed.

[Calduke]

Flyboy - thanks again for your replies to my inquiries.
BUT!!
Your answer ruined my day - not to mention my 2016!!

Yes, sad. Fishing The upper Kern was a great diversion from the weekly noise and stress of the city.
I drove 200 miles to fish there and spend money like a drunken sailor(I don't drink alcohol -but, spend Like I do)
Lower than sad - depressing. Hope something positive can happen. Probably not enough political 'pull' in the Kern/Isabella area to make any uptick in the fishery.

[Calduke]

Did the hatchery release some trophy trout during the last few days??

[Calduke]

Will most of the 'stocking' be at campsites??

[Calduke]

I just took a glance the DFG stocking website and it appears that most of the fish are going to
Los Angeles-Orange-Riverside, San Diego and San Bernardino Counties; to many- mostly private locations.
They pay big money to get these plants, so, the DFG should be getting a reasonable amount of money year around