New Melones Lake
Photo Credit: Bureau of Reclamation
SONORA, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s Central California Area Office will hold a C.A.S.T. (Catch a Special Thrill) for Kids event on Saturday, October 10, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at New Melones Lake’s Mark Twain Recreation Area, adjacent to the lake’s Administration Center. Each child will receive a free fishing rod and reel, bait, tackle equipment and instruction. Environmental exhibits will be displayed and activities will be offered. The morning will culminate with a free BBQ lunch.
C.A.S.T. for Kids teams up sponsors and anglers with special-needs children for a day of fishing enjoyment. Disabled and disadvantaged children 5 to16 years of age may participate in this fun and educational annual activity free of charge. New Melones Lake is located in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, some 60 miles east of Stockton. A special children’s fishing event begun in 1992 by New Melones staff was combined with C.A.S.T. in 2003 to offer special-needs children with increased outdoor recreational opportunities.
This C.A.S.T. for Kids event ties into President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative (http://interior.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/index.cfm), which seeks to empower Americans to share in the responsibility to conserve, restore and provide better access to our lands and waters and leave a healthy and vibrant outdoor legacy for generations to come. This event also ties into the Department of the Interior’s Let’s Move Outside initiative (http://www.letsmove.gov/lets-move-outside), which encourages children and their families to enjoy outdoor activities that abound in every city, town and community.
For additional information, to register a child, participate as a volunteer or contribute support for this event, please contact Park Ranger Mike McGraw at mmcgraw@usbr.gov or 209-536-9094 ext. 233 (TTY 800-877-8339). Pre-registration is required for participants and volunteers by Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. To register online, please visit http://www.castforkids.org/events-calendar/cast-events/lake-new-melones/. For information on the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation, please visit http://www.castforkids.org.
For information on New Melones Lake, please call 209-536-9094 ext. 0 (TTY 800-877-8339); stop by the New Melones Lake Administration Office, 6850 Studhorse Flat Road, Sonora, CA 95370, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; or visit http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/newmelones/.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
