Get Your Gear Ready For (Environmentally Sound) Salmon Fishing At Lake Berryessa

NAPA VALLEY, CA — A surge of young salmon hit the water at Lake Berryessa last week as state crews turned a campground boat ramp into a release point for a major inland fisheries operation that stretches across California reservoirs.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife released about 100,000 Chinook salmon fingerlings into Lake Berryessa at the Steele Canyon Campground launch ramp, while hatchery staff from the Silverado Fisheries Base directed the stocking operation.

The release is part of a statewide inland salmon program, which also stocked fish in Lake McClure and Lake Shasta and scheduled additional plantings in reservoirs across the state to build cold-water sport fishing opportunities.

Hatchery teams produced the fish from surplus Chinook salmon eggs collected during spawning operations at the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville. Technicians raised the eggs and fingerlings at both the Feather River Fish Hatchery and the Silverado Fisheries Base before transporting them to inland waters for release.

Managers released the fish as triploids, meaning they rendered the Chinook salmon sterile before stocking. Scientists confirmed the process prevents reproduction by ensuring that, after fertilization, the resulting fish carry an extra set of chromosomes that blocks normal reproductive development. Officials designed the method to protect naturally spawning salmon runs downstream while still delivering fast-growing fish for anglers in reservoir fisheries.

The fingerlings now disperse through Lake Berryessa, where they will feed, grow, and support recreational fishing without establishing a reproducing population in the reservoir.