Californians love trout, and the streams and lakes in Southern California have been used by sport fishermen for more than 150 years. But are these prized gamefish natives to the region?

The answer is convoluted -- yes and no.

If we consider the area south of San Luis Obispo, there are only 10 significant waterways that support wild trout that begin and end in Southern California and drain into the Pacific Ocean -- the Santa Maria River, Santa Ynez River, Ventura River, Santa Clara River, Los Angeles River, San Gabriel River, Santa Ana River, San Mateo Creek, San Luis Rey River, and the San Diego River. There are numerous other streams and tributaries that may also support wild trout.

Prior to the urbanization of Southern California, rainbow and steelhead trout were native to these waterways and they were a source of food for the Native American tribes and early settlers in the region. In contrast, brook and brown trout are not native to California and were introduced to the state in the late 1800s.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, steelhead trout are migratory rainbow trout. They are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean for their adult lives, and then return to freshwater to reproduce. The offspring of two steelhead parents may become a purely freshwater form of rainbow trout, and the offspring of two resident freshwater rainbow trout might evolve into migratory steelhead trout.

The enigmatic steelhead trout in Southern California rivers are known as Southern steelhead trout. They have adapted to the seasonally dry streams in the extreme southern range.

Urbanization has led most Southern California's waterways to now have blockages that prevent the steelhead's natural migration.

So, a partial answer to the question is yes, rainbow and Southern steelhead trout are native to the rivers and streams here, but the steelhead are greatly diminished. They are on the endangered species list.

Several government and environmental organizations are working to restore the Southern steelhead's natural habitat in the area.

Southern California's rivers and streams were renowned for their excellent trout fishing, dating back to at least the 1850s. On June 18, 1853, the Los Angeles Star newspaper ran a small notation about local trout fishing:

"There is glorious fishing at the head of the San Gabriel; ditto at the Mission Viejo [San Gabriel Mission]. One day this week, a gentleman of this city caught fifty as fine trout as ever bit at hook."

Other streams here popular for early trout fishing included San Antonio Creek from Mount Baldy, the headwaters of the Santa Ana River in the San Bernardino Mountains, the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, and the Ventura and Santa Clara rivers.

In 1870, the Board of Fish Commissioners, the forerunner of today's California Fish and Game Commission, was established, and the first regulations on fishing seasons were implemented in Southern California's waterways.

A secondary question: Are trout native to the lakes in Southern California? Since the majority of Southern California's lakes are man-made reservoirs, this answer is also somewhat complex.

Southern California is on the coastal edge of the arid desert Southwest and has only a handful of natural lakes. Most of the area's natural lakes are small and experience dramatic changes in water levels due to droughts and water usage. The largest natural lake in Southern California is Lake Elsinore in Western Riverside County.

Some other notable natural lakes include Crystal Lake in the San Gabriel Mountains, Baldwin Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains (usually dry), and Laguna Lakes in Orange County.

There are also several sag ponds formed on low spots on the San Andreas Fault, such as Lake Hughes, Lake Elizabeth, and Jackson Lake.

Trout were generally not native to these lakes due to a lack of streams flowing in and out. They also couldn't thrive because of the extreme water level changes.

Beginning in the 1880s, native trout began getting trapped behind new dams on the rivers and streams.

Big Bear Lake was the first large-scale reservoir built in Southern California, completed in 1884. The man-made lake was promoted as an excellent location for trout fishing.

The May 25, 1892, edition of the Daily Courier in San Bernardino carried an article about a guest at Gus Knight's hotel at Big Bear Lake who caught a 10-pound trout at the lake.

With no indication of local fish hatcheries or fish stocking in 1892, the trout caught at Big Bear Lake were likely the earliest examples of native trout trapped behind a dam.

By the late 1800s, the native trout population began to decline, and in 1895, the state began stocking the local streams with hatchery trout from the Mount Shasta Hatchery.

The Bear Lake Fish Hatchery in Big Bear Lake opened in 1914 as a private fish hatchery. It was the first documented hatchery in Southern California. It was taken over by the state in 1916. Today, most fish stocking is done by government agencies.

The overall answer is yes, trout were and are native in Southern California's waterways, with some exceptions -- and they were once plentiful gamefish. The native trout that were trapped behind dams would likely have died out or bred with the stocked fish, so it might not be possible to identify them.

Today, the trout in Southern California's natural lakes and man-made reservoirs are non-native, stocked fish, but they're still great sport for local fishermen. And who knows, there might even be a few native survivors lurking out.

Trout from Southern California waterways were a staple for early settlers and tribes