California Fish Stocking
Agency: California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
| Annual stocking count | 800,000 fish/yr (2025) |
|---|---|
| Source | California CDFW — Fish Planting Schedule (wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/FGChart). Spring 2025 prep plants: ~800,000 trout statewide (CDFW, 2025). |
| Species stocked | Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Eagle Lake Rainbow Trout, Chinook Salmon (smolt) |
Top stocked waters
| Water | Note |
|---|---|
| Crowley Lake | Large Eastern Sierra trout plant. |
| Lake Tahoe | Trophy trout fishery. |
| San Francisco Bay | Striped bass, sturgeon, salmon. |
| Eastern Sierra streams | Mono/Inyo county plants. |
| American River | Chinook salmon smolt production at Nimbus Hatchery. |
CDFW plants ~800,000 catchable trout in spring prep (2025) and runs ~1,000+ plants per year statewide via its Fish Planting Schedule. CDFW also produces Chinook salmon smolts (Nimbus Hatchery target ~2.25M in 2025–26). All plants are published in near-real-time on the CDFW Fish Planting Schedule.
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