12 June 26, 2020 MAP FEATURE
VOL.39 • ISS. 14
Scenic Lower Bear River Reservoir features an array of mackinaw, brown and rainbow trout for shore anglers and boaters to catch.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Lower Bear River Reservoir: From
Trophy Macks to Pansize Trout
Beautiful Lower Bear River
Reservoir, situated in Eldorado
National Forest in the Central Sierra
Nevada at an elevation of 5850 feet, is
the first reservoir to open every spring
along the Highway 88 Corridor coming
west from Stockton because it located
at a lower elevation than Silver and
Caples Lakes.
While the majority of fish that anglers
catch are rainbows, mackinaws and
brown trout also swim in the lake’s clear
waters. Mackinaw trout grow big and fat
at the reservoir.
Every spring the lake produces huge
mackinaw for savvy trollers– and this
year was no exception. Dave Eirstedt of
Big rainbows like this beauty are planted in the lake by the Bear
River Lake Resort prior to the annual June trout derby.
Photo courtesy of the BEAR RIVER LAKE RESORT, Pioneer.
Sacramento landed a 16 lb. mackinaw
while trolling a Rapala. Jeremy Titsworth
also bagged an 18 lb. mackinaw while
downrigging at 65 feet with a large
Rebel., according to Rich Spears,
manager of the Bear River Lake resorts.
Chris Quimby set the lake mackinaw
record of 30.4 pounds on June 17, 2005.
His huge fish measured 40 inches long.
Lower Bear River Reservoir offers an
array of fishing options, ranging from
trolling for big mackinaw and brown
trout with plugs, spoons and nightcrawlers
to shore fishing for planted and
holdover rainbows.
The reservoir features 727 surface acres
and a shoreline of about 9 miles when
full. It is located
along the Bear
River, a tributary
of the North Fork
of the Mokelumne
River, south of
Highway 88.
The big event at
the lake every year
is the Bear River
Lake Resort Trout
Derby, held on the
second weekend
of June every year.
This year it took
place on June 13
and 14. The resort
stocked 1,000
pounds of trophy
trout in the 2 to 7
lb. range in the lake
prior to the popular
event.
Justin Lee won
first place in the
derby with a 7.53
lb. rainbow trout.
Gerald Wiley placed
second with a 6.87
lb. rainbow. Finally,
Jeremy Silva
placed third with
a 6.73 lb.
rainbow, reported
Janette Frazier,
owner of the Bear
River Lake Resort.
After the winners received their cash
prizes, every angler ended up going
home with a raffle prize.
I have both fished both from shore
and boat at Bear River, but I’ve experienced
my best action while trolling
from a boat. My most memorable
trip to the reservoir was in May
2007 when Fred Solari of Lodi and
I hooked and released 20 rainbows
while trolling threaded nightcrawlers
on lead core line along the face of the
dam for a couple of hours in the late
afternoon.
While most anglers use big minnow
and trout imitation plugs on downriggers
to target big mackinaw, Rich Spears,
manager of the resort, also slow trolls
with nightcrawlers behind big Ford
Fenders on 17 colors of lead core line
for his fish.
The best time to fish for the trophy
macks is in the spring right after ice out
or in the late fall just before the lake
ices over, but huge macks are caught
throughout the season.
Spears’ trolling technique definitely
works. Spears caught a 25 lb.
mackinaw in his boat before the lake
opened in 2014. His next biggest was a
23.4 lb. mack that he landed in January
Jason Norton
shows off a
beautifully colored
brown caught
while trolling at
Lower Bear River
Reservoir.
Photo courtesy
of BEAR RIVER
LAKE RESORT,
Pioneer.
2012.
However, the biggest mack ever put
in his boat was the 26.4 lb. monster that
Aiden McKinney of Pioneer caught and
released while trolling with Spears on
September 13, 2012.
The lake also hosts a healthy brown
trout population, a combination of wild
fish and holdovers from CDFW plants.
Donna Schlageter set the lake German
brown record of 15-1/2 pounds while
trolling on June 30,1991.
CDFW, PG&E, and the Bear River
Lake Resort all stock rainbow trout
at Lower The sizes of fish stocked
included fingerling, sub-catchable,
catchable, and trophy-size fish. Fingerling
and sub-catchable trout are stocked
under a put and grow management
strategy, while catchable and trophy-size
trout are stocked under a put and take
management strategy, according to Ben
Ewing, District Fisheries Biologist for
Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, and Lake
Counties, in his report on the lake in
May 2020.
The CDFW planted 10,100 trout for
5,000 lbs. in 2018, 40,860 trout for
5,950 lbs. in 2019, and 73,168 trout for
4,135 lbs. in 2020 to date.