Fish Hatchery

Saturday morning Chad, Maggie and I took a little drive up to Friant to check out the San Joaquin Fish Hatchery. This specific hatchery is one of the largest in the state and produces fish for lakes and streams all over Northern, Central and Southern California. The focus is on varieties of rainbow trout, but there is a small hatchery there for Kokanee salmon as well. We were able to feed the fish and they loved us for it. Walking along the troughs we saw small, medium, large and double-big-gulp-super-sized monsters that would pop my arm off if I caught one on my fishing line. Apparently some of the larger fish in the hatchery are 3+ years old and weigh over 10 pounds. Hello! Anyway, the three of us spent the morning watching and feeding the bigger fish before going inside to see the actual hatchery with the little baby fish. They look like feeder fish and there are billions of them. Before we left we got to see a man (I don't know if he was a ranger or just a regular State employee, but he was a man so...) drive a golf cart type thing along the rows of troughs. This little car had a mechanical spout that shot food out at the fish. When his cart came near the fish they went wild, splashing, frantically swimming and acting like crazy happy fish. It was interesting to watch and a neat way to end our fun morning at the hatchery.