Tailwalkers are coming to Cachuma Lake this Thursday, Dec. 2.
These rainbow trout are acrobatic and earned the name “tailwalkers” for the hard-fighting, above-water “dance-on-their-tails” motion they display.
The Santa Barbara County Parks Department has arranged for the delivery of 4,500 pounds of these feisty fish, which have a reputation for strength, size and beauty.
Chalk Mound Trout Ranch, a family owned and operated business out of Bridgeport, Neb., raises the fish in pools with strong currents to condition the fish and take them to their physical optimum. The ranch specializes in raising the triploid trout, and because triploid trout are sterile, more energy is put into growth than into reproduction, which produces fish that are large and muscular.
The bulk of the plant will be a mix of 1½-pound and three- to five-pound trout. The fish will be 14-inch size and up. The balance will be a hefty 400 pounds of trophies from eight to 12 pounds. At other Southern California lakes where tailwalkers have been planted, anglers are catching their limits.
Head up to Cachuma Lake to catch a limit of tailwalkers. Boat rentals are available from Cachuma Marina at 805.688.4040. Fishing from shore is also productive.
Click here for more information about Cachuma Lake and fishing, as well as launch requirements.
— Melissa Kelly is an assistant naturalist for Cachuma Lake County Park.