Friday April 24, 2026
CDFW —
Responding to angler interest in more close-to-home, warmwater fishing opportunities, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDF) has stocked smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass into the park pond at Gibson Ranch (YouTube video)(external link) in Sacramento County.
“We understand that most of California’s licensed anglers live in urban, metropolitan areas so creating diverse angling opportunities close to home is really important to keep these anglers engaged,” said Farhat Bajjaliya, a CDFW Fisheries Branch supervisor. “Creating a new fishing opportunity at a place like Gibson Ranch allows these anglers to get out close to home in a really beautiful area, a nature-like setting, and, hopefully, catch something.”
Gibson Ranch is a popular, 355-acre Sacramento County park located near the rural community of Elverta but still less than 15 miles away from downtown Sacramento. CDFW’s pre-stocking evaluations of the 7.5-acre Gibson Ranch pond showed an abundant food supply – including sunfish, crayfish and bullfrogs – to support the three types of black bass introduced. CDFW will continue to monitor the pond to see how the bass fare and how anglers respond to the new fishing opportunity.