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Roughly halfway between Grass Valley and the crest of the Sierra lies Grouse Ridge. This area contains dozens of small lakes and many connecting small streams. Most of the lakes are between 6,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation and they are currently fishing well.
Usually, it is hard to get fishing reports for the more remote areas like Grouse Ridge without going myself. Anglers that take the time to hike into the back country are often reluctant to tell newspaper columnists how well they have done at their favorite water. This past week three friends have reported in on their trips to this area and all experienced good fishing.
Ed Everhart and his son Cole hiked into Canyon Creek below Bowman Lake last Sunday. They hiked and fished a couple of miles of stream and reported excellent results on rainbow trout. They were fly fishing and the fly that was the most consistent producer was a black ant. Ed's largest fish of the outing was a 12-inch brown trout.
Canyon Creek drains a large area but it is dammed up behind Bowman Lake Dam, where most of the water is diverted by canal through Fuller Lake to Spaulding. The dam allows minimum fish sustaining flows to go down the original stream bed.
The further downstream below Bowman you go, the more local springs feed the creek. There are more than 10 miles of Canyon Creek between Bowman and the South Fork of the Yuba River.
Doug McDuff and his son did a multi-day camping trip that included camping at Bowman Lake and on Canyon Creek above Bowman near Faucherie Lake. They also camped at Rucker Lake near Fuller. They noted one rattlesnake at Bowman and two near Faucherie. The other unwelcome wildlife was the hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitoes at their camp on Canyon Creek.
By far the most consistent fishing they got into was for bass on Rucker Lake. Soft, plastic worms were the ticket. The largest fish they saw caught was by another angler at Linsey Lakes - it was an 18-inch rainbow.
The most thorough report I received, however, was from Rick Aeschliman. His passion is to hike in back country lakes. Last Wednesday, he walked in to a Grouse Ridge Area lake that is only a 15 minute walk from one of the trail heads.
He took his float tube because this particular lake has only one access point from shore. The rest of the lake is surrounded with willows and cattails. (Unlike other newspaper reporters, I will give up my sources in a heartbeat, but I will not give up the exact location of their hot spot.)
Rick fished with modest success through the late morning using wooly buggers and small Pheasant Tail nymphs with his fly rod. At about noon, an incredible number of winged ants began flying over and falling onto the lake. The fish reacted immediately leading Rick to surmise that this had been a daily event for some time.
The surface of this unnamed lake was alive with rising fish eating ants. Rick did have a large No. 10 ant that took fish after fish on almost every cast during the ant swarming event.
It is times like these that make for great fishing tales. But it was more than luck that Rick was there for this great day of fishing. He spends more time and effort going to back country lakes than anyone else I know - and by paying his dues he was at the right place at the right time.
Rick had a number of interesting observations. He was amazed by the number of fish in this lake. He had never seen so many fish at one time feeding on the surface. He has now more than doubled his estimation of the fish population in this spot. This lake holds both rainbows and brook trout.
The rainbows are out in the mid lake but the brookies are mostly caught tight to the shoreline cattails. This trip, he caught a 15-inch brookie that was his personal best from this lake. It was caught on a small peasant tail nymph cast close to cattails in two feet of water. The fish reacted so quickly to the first few ants hitting the water that he is convinced that the fish have been conditioned by this same event in preceding days.
The common thread of all of these trips is the zone between 6,000 and 7,000 feet in the Sierra is at its prime currently. As time passes this will rise to higher elevations. But if you don't go soon you will miss it until things cool off again in the fall.
ooo
Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com or write to him c/o The Union, 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley, 95945.
Usually, it is hard to get fishing reports for the more remote areas like Grouse Ridge without going myself. Anglers that take the time to hike into the back country are often reluctant to tell newspaper columnists how well they have done at their favorite water. This past week three friends have reported in on their trips to this area and all experienced good fishing.
Ed Everhart and his son Cole hiked into Canyon Creek below Bowman Lake last Sunday. They hiked and fished a couple of miles of stream and reported excellent results on rainbow trout. They were fly fishing and the fly that was the most consistent producer was a black ant. Ed's largest fish of the outing was a 12-inch brown trout.
Canyon Creek drains a large area but it is dammed up behind Bowman Lake Dam, where most of the water is diverted by canal through Fuller Lake to Spaulding. The dam allows minimum fish sustaining flows to go down the original stream bed.
The further downstream below Bowman you go, the more local springs feed the creek. There are more than 10 miles of Canyon Creek between Bowman and the South Fork of the Yuba River.
Doug McDuff and his son did a multi-day camping trip that included camping at Bowman Lake and on Canyon Creek above Bowman near Faucherie Lake. They also camped at Rucker Lake near Fuller. They noted one rattlesnake at Bowman and two near Faucherie. The other unwelcome wildlife was the hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitoes at their camp on Canyon Creek.
By far the most consistent fishing they got into was for bass on Rucker Lake. Soft, plastic worms were the ticket. The largest fish they saw caught was by another angler at Linsey Lakes - it was an 18-inch rainbow.
The most thorough report I received, however, was from Rick Aeschliman. His passion is to hike in back country lakes. Last Wednesday, he walked in to a Grouse Ridge Area lake that is only a 15 minute walk from one of the trail heads.
He took his float tube because this particular lake has only one access point from shore. The rest of the lake is surrounded with willows and cattails. (Unlike other newspaper reporters, I will give up my sources in a heartbeat, but I will not give up the exact location of their hot spot.)
Rick fished with modest success through the late morning using wooly buggers and small Pheasant Tail nymphs with his fly rod. At about noon, an incredible number of winged ants began flying over and falling onto the lake. The fish reacted immediately leading Rick to surmise that this had been a daily event for some time.
The surface of this unnamed lake was alive with rising fish eating ants. Rick did have a large No. 10 ant that took fish after fish on almost every cast during the ant swarming event.
It is times like these that make for great fishing tales. But it was more than luck that Rick was there for this great day of fishing. He spends more time and effort going to back country lakes than anyone else I know - and by paying his dues he was at the right place at the right time.
Rick had a number of interesting observations. He was amazed by the number of fish in this lake. He had never seen so many fish at one time feeding on the surface. He has now more than doubled his estimation of the fish population in this spot. This lake holds both rainbows and brook trout.
The rainbows are out in the mid lake but the brookies are mostly caught tight to the shoreline cattails. This trip, he caught a 15-inch brookie that was his personal best from this lake. It was caught on a small peasant tail nymph cast close to cattails in two feet of water. The fish reacted so quickly to the first few ants hitting the water that he is convinced that the fish have been conditioned by this same event in preceding days.
The common thread of all of these trips is the zone between 6,000 and 7,000 feet in the Sierra is at its prime currently. As time passes this will rise to higher elevations. But if you don't go soon you will miss it until things cool off again in the fall.
ooo
Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com or write to him c/o The Union, 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley, 95945.
