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The recent heat wave has me looking for recreation at high elevations. A consistent weather correlation exists between triple digit air temps in the valley and thunder showers in the Sierra.
I had been watching the thunderheads build every afternoon and promised myself that I would drive up on Sunday and get underneath one of those clouds to cool off.
My son has been lobbying for a fishing trip, so I chose to go up to Independence Lake north of Truckee. We were joined by Rick Aeschliman from Nevada City.
Independence is at 7,000 feet elevation surrounded by ridges above 8,000 feet. In addition to being a good candidate for summer thunder showers, Independence is also a good fishery. The primary sport fish is Lahontan Cutthroat trout.
But the lake also is home to brook trout, brown trout and kokanee salmon. The cutthroats are protected, so the DF&G requires no bait and releasing all cutthroat trout.
I had been watching the thunderheads build every afternoon and promised myself that I would drive up on Sunday and get underneath one of those clouds to cool off.
My son has been lobbying for a fishing trip, so I chose to go up to Independence Lake north of Truckee. We were joined by Rick Aeschliman from Nevada City.
Independence is at 7,000 feet elevation surrounded by ridges above 8,000 feet. In addition to being a good candidate for summer thunder showers, Independence is also a good fishery. The primary sport fish is Lahontan Cutthroat trout.
But the lake also is home to brook trout, brown trout and kokanee salmon. The cutthroats are protected, so the DF&G requires no bait and releasing all cutthroat trout.
My plan was to arrive midday at the lake so that we would be fishing under cloud cover with a breeze in the afternoon. I thought that this would have the fish feeding near the surface where we could get at them with flies.
The reason Independence has so little fishing pressure is that it is at the end of a five-mile rough dirt road. Shore fishing is tough due to the trees right on the water's edge.
A boat is the ticket for access to good fishing. A small car top or trailer boat is much more practical than some of the bigger boats you see on the larger reservoirs. If you do not cover your boat, it will be dusted with a fine powder during the trip in.
But once you get there, it is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Sierra. It is the size and shape of Donner Lake but 1,000 feet higher.
My expectation of poor fishing during the sunny hours followed by excellent fishing during the extended evening conditions did not play out. Our best fishing came while the sun was on the water.
The reason Independence has so little fishing pressure is that it is at the end of a five-mile rough dirt road. Shore fishing is tough due to the trees right on the water's edge.
A boat is the ticket for access to good fishing. A small car top or trailer boat is much more practical than some of the bigger boats you see on the larger reservoirs. If you do not cover your boat, it will be dusted with a fine powder during the trip in.
But once you get there, it is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Sierra. It is the size and shape of Donner Lake but 1,000 feet higher.
My expectation of poor fishing during the sunny hours followed by excellent fishing during the extended evening conditions did not play out. Our best fishing came while the sun was on the water.
We trolled the zone where the shallows drop off into deep water. We used a variety of trolling flies and my son was casting a spoon toward shore. We did well on cutthroats with both techniques with most fish in the 16-18 inch length.
The catch and release rules have succeeded in producing a quality fishery in this lake. Last season, our best fish was 25 inches long. We did well with Arctic Fox Trolling Flies that were imitations of tui chub and redside minnow. A hot orange fly also produced. We took a brook trout and a kokanee but these were small specimens compared to the cutthroats. These are the same fish that are in Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
We took a lunch break at the creek feeding into the lake. The USGS had a fish survey team tagging spawning cutthroat. They are seeing signs of a good spawn due to the high creek levels. High water levels keep the ospreys from taking as many fish as they do in low water years.
The panfish spawn on Scotts Flat Lake in early June produced good numbers of fry. Ed Everhart fished a morning last week from the crack of dawn to mid morning.
The bass bite was good from first light until 9:30 a.m. when it shut down. The bass were feeding in water 10 feet and deeper. They came to the surface to hit top water as well as hitting soft plastics on the bottom between 10 and 15 feet.
The catch and release rules have succeeded in producing a quality fishery in this lake. Last season, our best fish was 25 inches long. We did well with Arctic Fox Trolling Flies that were imitations of tui chub and redside minnow. A hot orange fly also produced. We took a brook trout and a kokanee but these were small specimens compared to the cutthroats. These are the same fish that are in Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
We took a lunch break at the creek feeding into the lake. The USGS had a fish survey team tagging spawning cutthroat. They are seeing signs of a good spawn due to the high creek levels. High water levels keep the ospreys from taking as many fish as they do in low water years.
The panfish spawn on Scotts Flat Lake in early June produced good numbers of fry. Ed Everhart fished a morning last week from the crack of dawn to mid morning.
The bass bite was good from first light until 9:30 a.m. when it shut down. The bass were feeding in water 10 feet and deeper. They came to the surface to hit top water as well as hitting soft plastics on the bottom between 10 and 15 feet.
The juvenile panfish were in the bush close to shore and scattered on the surface out to the 40-feet water depth. There were no trout feeding on them but the bass were keyed in on these as a food source. This pattern was all the way around the lake not just in a few locations. It is strictly an early morning bite before the boat traffic gets going.
The hexagenia mayfly hatch on Lake Almanor is in its early stages. My sources tell me that bass and trout have had good numbers of the nymphs in their stomachs since late last week. My source has a house on the lake and during the peak of the hatch many of the adults land on his screen door at night. This past weekend he found the first hex on his screen door.
There continues to be good numbers of salmon at the top of the Feather River in the town of Oroville. They are not easy to hook or land but they are your best shot at a 30-plus pound fish an hour from home. You need to be on the water at first light. This zone closes to all fishing in mid-July.
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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. E-mail denisp@theunion.com to contact him.
The hexagenia mayfly hatch on Lake Almanor is in its early stages. My sources tell me that bass and trout have had good numbers of the nymphs in their stomachs since late last week. My source has a house on the lake and during the peak of the hatch many of the adults land on his screen door at night. This past weekend he found the first hex on his screen door.
There continues to be good numbers of salmon at the top of the Feather River in the town of Oroville. They are not easy to hook or land but they are your best shot at a 30-plus pound fish an hour from home. You need to be on the water at first light. This zone closes to all fishing in mid-July.
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. E-mail denisp@theunion.com to contact him.
