Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3816 Jul 19- Aug 2 2019 | Page 17
To Doyle, Milford
& Highway 395
Frenchman Lake Facts
Plumas County
Drawn by Dewayne Hight
reek
t C
ou
ook
Snallygaster Point
Fishing Access
Turkey Point
Fishing Access
To
Lake
Davis
Nightcrawler Bay
Fishing Access
East Fork
of the Middle Fork
of The Feather River
Salmon Egg Shoal
Fishing Access
L
Chilcoot
To
Quincy,
Portola
& Oroville
To Reno
28 Miles
To
Sierraville
& 49/89 Junction
Crystal Fishing
Access
To
B
Lunker Point
Boat Launch
ec
kw
ou
rth
Frenc
hman
-25
Lake
mi
Creek
Big Cove Campground
les
Cottonwood Springs
Family and Group Campground
RV
Dump
Station
Spring Creek Campground
Dam
Frenchman Campground
Fishing Notes
• Rainbow Trout - Fish bait and spoons from the
bank at accesses, including Nightcrawler Bay,
Snallygaster Point, Salmon Egg Shoal and the
dam. Troll with minnow imitation lures during
the spring, summer and fall. Ice fish with
spoons and bait during the winter. German
brown Trout are occasionally caught by anglers
in pursuit of rainbows.
Cal Kellogg nets yet another feisty rainbow while trolling in his kayak at Frenchman Lake.
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
was electrofished a total of 3.97 hours in
2016. “
“Frenchman Lake was sampled by boat
electrofisher with a total of two sampling
events in 2016. Surface water temperature
was 54°F during the first sampling event
in April and an average of 69.2°F during
the second sampling event in July. A total
of 3.97 hours of electrofishing occurred
during these sampling events, resulting in
the capture of a total of 230 fish, of which
137 were measured. The effort resulted in
a CPUE of 57.93 fish per hour,” she said.
The survey caught 73 rainbow trout,
31.7 percent of the catch, 153 Lahontan
redside, 66.5 percent of the capture, and
4 brown bullhead, 1.7 percent of the
capture.”
“Boat electrofishing surveys indicate
that Lahontan redsides are the predom-
inate species at Frenchman Lake,” she
said. “However, this result is not repre-
sentative of the entire lake since electro-
fishing boats are better suited for sampling
the littoral zone where warmwater species
Frenchman Lake
Recreation Area
Last
Chance
Creek
Location and history: Located in the headwaters of the
Feather River, Frenchman Lake is only 38 miles northwest of
Reno, NV, and 26 miles northeast of Portola, CA. The Cali-
fornia Department of Water resources created the lake in 1962
by damming Little Last Chance Creek. A shoreline 21 miles
long ends at the 129-foot tall earthen dam, which rises to an
elevation of 5,607 feet.
Overview: Frenchman Campground (5,700 feet) sites along
the shores of its namesake lake, which boasts 21 miles of
shoreline. The campground is situated at the southeastern
peninsula of the lake. Situated on a pine covered hillside
overlooking the lake, this is the place for campers to get
in tune with their surroundings. The lake is at the interface
between the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and high desert.
Frenchman Lake and the surrounding Plumas National Forest
together provide ample opportunity for recreation, relaxation
and adventure.
Facilities: The campground offers single-family campsites
for tent and RV camping. Twelve of the campgrounds 38
campsites can be reserved during peak camping season. All
other campsites may be taken on a ‘First Come’ basis. The
campground remains open throughout the years. However,
most winters include enough snow to keep the road closed.
Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills.
Vault toilets and drinking water are also provided.
Natural Features: As part of California’s Plumas National
Forest, the campground is located in northern California,
between the rugged Sierra Nevada and the fringes of the
Cascade ranges. The forest is home to hundreds of high alpine
lakes and thousands of miles of clear-running streams.
Pine trees provide moderate to good shade in most sites. A
variety of wildlife make its home in the area
Recreation: During peak camping season, the campground
offers a variety of outdoor experiences including hiking,
biking, picnicking and hunting. The nearby lake provides
ample opportunities for swimming, boating, waterskiing, jet
skiing and fishing. Frenchman Lake Boat Launching Facility
and a day use area are near the campground. Winter activities
range from ice fishing to snowmobiling.
Information Center: Beckwourth Ranger District Office P.O.
Box 7, 23 Mohawk Rd., Blairsden, CA 96103 Open 8 am to 4:30
pm Monday through Friday (530) 836-2575
15
July 19 - Aug 2, 2019
MAP FEATURE
VOL.38 • ISS. 14
and species such as Lahontan redsides
(“a shoaling littoral zone species” (Moyle
2002)) are generally more prevalent.
That’s not the only survey done at
Frenchman. A recreational use survey
conducted by DWR revealed that the
angler catch rate was 0.31 fish per hour
in 2010. Since 1988, catch rates have
fluctuated between a high of 0.40 fish per
hour in 1992 to a low of 0.17 fish per hour
in 2000.
The average length of rainbow trout
caught in Frenchman Lake has progres-
sively increased from 299 mm mean
fork length in 1988 to 376 mm mean
FL in 2010, according to their creel
data. However, the CDFW electrofished
rainbow trout measurements decreased
from 370 mm mean total length (TL) in
2008 to 341 mm mean TL in 2016.
Frenchman Lake was also surveyed
in early June and late July during the
2008 sampling and in late April and late
July during the 2016 sampling. The July
sampling periods provided some consis-
Lit
tle
La
st
Restricted
Area Boundary
Fishing
Access
Ch
Launch
Ramp
Campground
an
ce
Private Ownership
(No Trespassing)
Cr
ee
k
To Chilcoot
& Highway 70
tency for the two sampling years, in
regard to time of year.
“The overall CPUE was greater in 2016
(3.97 hours of electrofishing at 57.93
fish per hour) than the previous sampling
effort in 2008 (9.4 hours of electrofishing
at 46.5 fish per hour). The most notice-
able fish capture result was the decrease
in brown bullhead. CPUE from 39.3 fish
per hour in 2008 to 1.01 fish per hour in
2016,” she said.
She also stated, “It is possible that
the result is a natural population swing,
an impact from the past couple years
of drought conditions, or the result of
variances in electrofishing conditions.
There were also significant CPUE
increases of rainbow trout and Lahontan
redsides from 2008 to 2016. This may
have been a result of the different times of
the year when sampling occurred. More
fish were congregated in the shallow water
due to cooler temperatures in April as well
as the general breeding season.”
Chilcoot Campground
“Monitoring will be continued in subse-
quent years. A repeat springtime sampling
may prove to find more consistency
in the capture results across the years.
Angling surveys, creel surveys, angler
survey boxes, or gill netting may help to
obtain more information on the salmonid
populations inhabiting the lake. A coop-
erative effort with DWR during future
Recreational Use Surveys may prove
beneficial in collecting valuable creel data.
These sampling timeframes and methods
will be applied to future evaluations of
the Frenchman Lake fishery.,” Mouser
concluded.
Unlike nearby Davis Lake, most trout
caught at Frenchman by anglers range
from 12 to 18 inches, with fish measuring
18 to 22 inches topping the catches most
years. But as many anglers, including
Cal Kellogg and I, can attest, these fish
are among the hardest-fighting and most
acrobatic rainbows that one may ever
hook in Northern California.
Not only is Frenchman a great rainbow trout fishery, but it features beautiful Northern Sierra
Scenery.
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.