Branch Pond on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., has been stocked with hundreds of fish for the fall fishing season. If you have a fishing license and base access you can come out and enjoy this unique Edwards gem.
“This is our fall stocking,” James Papin, Branch Pond Conservation Manager said. “We decided to stock with largemouth bass and some bluegill.”
The largemouth will grow to a maximum length of 24″ with the bluegill growing to about 10 inches. One thousand-three hundred bluegill were put into Branch Pond during the stocking with about 500 largemouth being added in as well. While waiting for the stocked fish to grow, Papin says there are many large fish already in the pond waiting to be caught.
“It is a really good stocking event for the pond,” Papin said. “Branch Pond is in great shape and we saw a lot of fish already, so it’s a good time to be fishing.”
“It’s recreation for the people who live and work here,” Greg Paape, Willow Creek Fisheries explained. “You are out in the middle of the desert and something like this is a little goldmine. If you look around you got the trees and the cattails. It’s beautiful and is such a nice place to go.”
“Civil Engineering and Environmental Management is happy to keep this pond up to date and keep in great shape for whoever wants to come out and fish,” Papin said. “If you have access to the base and have permits through the state and ISportsman, you can come out and fish. We are happy to see people out here on the weekends and during the week. The mornings and the evenings are a great time to come out. So, this one of the recreational areas we are happy to provide.”
If you need a EAFB fishing pass in addition to the state fishing license, visit https://edwards.isportsman.net/default.aspx
