www.sfgate.com
Lake Merced having day just for the young angler
- Tom Stienstra
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
The next chapter in the rejuvenation of Lake Merced arrives Saturday with "Trout Day," a fishing day set aside especially for children and their parents.
To put the once-famous lake back on the map, the event will feature freebies, a youth-only fishing area, a special plant of giant rainbow trout, free fishing equipment rental for kids, several clinics -- and no fishing license required for adults.
Tackle boxes filled with gear will be given to the first 300 children, ages 5 to 14, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Last year's first-ever event was an experiment, and drew 1,500 anglers. To maximize that interest, the organization California Trout shifted the date this year to June 11 to coincide with school getting out for summer and the Department of Fish and Game's statewide free fishing day.
Lake Merced is San Francisco's backyard fishing hole, located across from Fort Funston along the Great Highway. Saturday's scheduled events will run 8 a. m.-1 p.m., but anglers can start fishing for the giant rainbow trout one hour before sunrise, or 4:38 a.m.
To maximize the chance for children to catch trout, the kids-only area will feature fish planted within a giant submerged net pen set up by Cal Trout. It won't be like shooting fish in a barrel, but it might come close. After the event, the net pen will be removed and the trout will disperse. About 5, 000 to 6,000 trout are being stocked this week in the North Lake.
The event has nearly 20 sponsors, including the DFG's "Fishing in the City" program, and more than $100,000 donated by PG&E, the Bella Vista Foundation of San Francisco and the Olympic Club to run the youth fishing program.
The key is Lake Merced itself. Honored as the site of best urban fishing program in America by Field & Stream magazine in the 1980s, the facility had deteriorated because of low water levels, poor oxygen counts, the loss of a first-rate concessionaire, and poor fishing. Cal Trout, a San Francisco-based conservation organization, took over the lead role for the lake three years ago and has reversed that direction.
A legal action filed by Cal Trout with the State Water Resources Control Board contended that over-pumping groundwater from beneath the lake was draining it. Pumping since has been reduced by 75 percent, with golf courses using reclaimed water for irrigation, and the lake level has risen from 16.8 feet (about half full) three years ago to 24 feet this week, approaching the target level of 26 to 28 feet. The DFG also agreed to plant roughly 50,000 trout per summer at Merced, though insufficient funds earmarked for hatcheries might preclude that from happening this year.
Brian Stranko, executive director of Cal Trout, said adults who want to volunteer to help the kids fish can call him at (415) 392-8887; more information at www.troutday.org.
E-mail Tom Stienstra at [email protected].
©2005 San Francisco Chronicle