Rainbow Trout

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will stock rainbow trout in Lake Elkhorn through April.Scheduled dates include the weeks of Feb. 27, March 13, March 27 and April 10.The daily creel limit will be five trout per angler. Fishing will be permitted during daylight only.To fish and keep the trout, fishermen ages 16 through 65 will need a Maryland fishing license ($10) and a trout stamp ($5). People 65 and older need only a senior license, which costs $5.For information, call the Regional Office of Fisheries for Howard County at 442-2080.

Boiling down joy to its essence is a rather simple exercise, or at least it seems that way while standing at Patterson Park's Boat Pond on a not-ready-for-prime-time spring morning. The recipe goes something like this: small child, worm, bobber, rod and reel, trout. The prelude is filled with anticipation as an adult slides a worm onto a hook, snaps on a multi-colored bobber and pulls the line tight through the guides. Big eyes follow each step, little knees jiggle, tiny fingers reach to grasp the rod. From there, it's a short walk to the edge of Boat Pond, where a brief casting lesson (attention not required)

COLLEGE PARK -- The world may soon be able to use genetic engineering or special hormones to make fish grow to market size faster and to increase world food supplies, says a University of Maryland marine biologist who is working to make it happen.Thomas Chen, a biologist and professor in the biological sciences department at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, said that he already has rainbow trout and oysters growing at least 20 percent faster than normal -- and sometimes as much as 50 percent faster -- depending on the method used.

Rainbow trout with its mild, delicate and sweet flesh cooks in just five minutes. Together with the pumpkin puree, this meal takes only 15 minutes to make. Farm-raised trout is available in supermarkets and is a treat. A little brown sugar, salt and pepper is all that's needed for this quick entree. The trout come dressed, which means they have been cleaned and bones removed. They're sold with heads and tail on. If you prefer, ask for them to be removed at the market. Walnuts tossed with brown sugar top the sweet pumpkin puree.

Chad O. Hardy asks: Will the Department of Natural Resources ever restock rainbow trout and hybrids again in Prettyboy Reservoir? Don Cosden , Chief of Inland Fisheries, replies: The white bass-striped bass hybrid is a great sport fish. Unfortunately not 100 percent of them were sterile and research has shown that hybrids could breed with striped bass. So fear of genetic contamination in our wild striped bass populations led us to ban the use of hybrids in Maryland except for entirely landlocked aquaculture ponds that have no outfalls and no chance of escape.

Click here for dinnerCafe Pangea, Hampden's hip Internet coffee and wine bar at 4007 Falls Road, has an expanded kitchen, a new chef and a dinner menu. Richard Harris, a graduate of the Baltimore International Culinary College who has worked at M. Gettier, brings specialties like smoked crab cakes, scallops with pancetta and stuffed rainbow trout to the cafe's sandwich and salad menu. Fresh pasta is in the works as well. "We've been experimenting with homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and Swiss chard with a watercress sauce," says owner Buddy Wolfe.

Snyder's Willow Grove, Hammonds Ferry Road, 789-1149. This is a fine, old Baltimore restaurant that cooks with respect for traditional methods, serves with a touch of hominess and generally lets you relax. Just off the Beltway in Anne Arundel County, Snyder's has been in business more than 50 years. We found it a great place for dining with children; the menu is varied, the service friendly and the pace not too slow for young diners. They especially liked the complimentary sharp cheese and crackers and the rich cream of crab soup.

Over the next 10 weeks or so, DNR's Freshwater Fisheries Division will stock nearly 330,000 trout in rivers, lakes, streams and ponds across the state. And while most of the stocking will be with rainbow trout from 10 to 17 inches in length, 45,000 brown trout will be placed in areas where longer-term survival is expected.Most put-and-take areas will have a five-fish creel limit and will require a freshwater fishing license and a trout stamp.New areas to be stocked include Big Elk Creek in Cecil County, Shad Landing Pond in Worcester County, the North Branch of the Potomac from Jennings Randolph Lake upstream to the lower boundary of Potomac State Forest and the Youghiogheny River from Interstate 68 downstream to Youghiogheny Reservoir Garrett County.

If you don't golf at Hobbit's Glen - or know somebody who does - you might not have heard of Coho Grill. The restaurant doesn't have a lot of visibility - it's at the end of Willow Bottom Drive, the road leading to the semiprivate golf course. So its customers tend to be golfers and people who have learned about the 10-year-old restaurant through word of mouth. Once they dine at Coho, they tend to come back. The food is fresh and flavorful and the atmosphere pleasant. However, the service isn't always up to par. During a recent lunch, our waiter kept disappearing.

Just a few blocks from the exotic fish at the National Aquarium, research is under way to "redesign" some of their less glamorous cousins, such as trout and catfish, for faster growth that could revolutionize the farming of fish worldwide.Through the wonders of genetic engineering, Thomas Chen and his team at the University of Maryland's Center of Marine Biotechnology -- located at the Community College of Baltimore -- have increased the growth rate of certain fish species by as much as 40 percent.