April 19, 2024 - California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is kicking off the annual trout season opener with freshly stocked lakes, and with the mild weather it’s a great time to take advantage of an annual California tradition.

The 2024 opener starts Saturday, April 27, one hour before sunrise throughout many counties in the state.

“In 2023 the historical winter kept a lot of the lakes frozen, making it hard to fish,” said CDFW Fisheries Supervisor Nick Buckmaster. “This year the lakes are thawed, and we were able to stock more fish in more lakes with our hatcheries operating at nearly full production.”

This is also an ideal time to try out CDFW’s new License App for mobile devices. The new application allows residents and nonresidents to display California sport fishing licenses and validations on their mobile phones and other mobile devices in place of a physical license. Go here for information on how to get yours today.

Current fishing conditions are available by calling local visitors centers, chambers of commerce, sporting goods stores and resorts, while CDFW stocking schedules are available on the Fish Planting Schedule web page.

Every fishing season, anglers are also advised to check specific area regulations and opening dates at 2024 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations (PDF)(opens in new tab). All anglers 16 and older must possess a valid California sport fishing license to fish within state boundaries, which can be purchased at CDFW’s Online License Sales and Services website(opens in new tab) or through a licensed sales agent(opens in new tab).

Check out the CDFW Recruit, Retain, Reactivate (R3) webpage for more information on fishing for beginners. A list of fishing resources, programs, regulations, tutorial and more can be found here under the “Fishing” tab or watch this R3 Harvest Huddle Hour on an Introduction to Trout Fishing.
Source: CDFW