14 June 10 , 2022 MAP FEATURE
VOL . 41 • ISS . 9
The water level at Spicer has risen considerably since this photo was taken . The water level is now 6621 feet in elevation , 39.38 feet from full , and the reservoir is holding 129,344 acre feet of water .
Photo by Dan Bacher
Spicer Reservoir Opens With Great
Rainbow and Brown Fishing
ling rainbow trout weighing 29.2 pounds and another 40,163 Eagle Lake trout weighing 228 .. 2 pounds . In 2020 , the CDFW stocked 120,007 brown trout weighing a total of 322.6 pounds on May 21 and 50,000 Eagle Lake rainbows weighing 56.25 pounds on July 7 . The agency also stocked approximately 120,000 fingerling browns and 50,000 fingerling rainbows in 2021 , according to Ewing . Second , under new regulations , Hobart Creek , now opens on the Saturday preceding Memorial Day and closes on September 15 , so anglers don ’ t have to be worried about casting into the creek waters when fishing the creek inlet of the lake during this expanded open season . Previously , Hobart didn ’ t open until July 1 . The limit on Hobart Creek is two trout , while the limit in the lake is five trout . Spicer , formally called New Spicer Meadow Reservoir , is located in eastern Tuolumne County and western Alpine County 39 miles south of South Lake Tahoe . Spicer is formed by the New Spicer Dam on Highland , Hobart , and Wilderness Creeks , with additional water diverted from the North Fork Stanislaus River , according to Ewing . Spicer is owned by Calaveras County Water
District ( CCWD ), operated by Northern California Power Agency ( NCPA ) and permitted by the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) and United States Forest Service ( USFS ). Spicer drains into Highland Creek , which flows into the North Fork Stanislaus River watershed . “ In 1990 , CCWD replaced Pacific Gas and Electric ’ s ( PG & E ) old dam on Spicer with a new dam that increased reservoir volume . The new dam increased maximum pool in Spicer from 215 surface acres and 4,062 acre-feet to 2,000 surface acres and 189,000 acre-feet of water storage ( NCPA 2012 ). Spicer currently sits at an elevation of approximately 6,614 feet above mean sea level ,” said Ewing . The trout
Spicer Reservoir , a Central Sierra gem located in the North Fork of the Stanislaus River watershed , has for years offered anglers a chance to battle gorgeous square-tailed rainbows grown out from fingerlings or naturally spawned in Hobart Creek , Highland Creek and other lake tributaries . This year is no exception , since fishing for trout has been wide open at the lake since the Spicer Reservoir Road opened before the Memorial Day weekend . “ Right now shore anglers and boaters are both catching a lot of rainbows in the 16 to 18 inch range , along with some 12 to 14 inch browns ,” said Bill Reynolds of Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods in Arnold . “ The water level is up quite a bit from what it was last year .” Bank fishing is best near the dam or near the boat ramp for anglers tossing out PowerBait , nightcrawlers , Kastmasters and other offering . Boater are also nailing the trout while topline trolling with Wedding Rings and Speedy Shiners . There are couple of recent changes to Spicer ’ s fishery that anglers should know about . First , the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) is now planting fingerling brown trout , in addition to the fingerling rainbows that it has been planting for years ., reported Ben Ewing , CDFW district fisheries biologist . The Department in 2019 released 49,973 browns weighing a total of 107.7 pounds and 70,000 browns weighing 564.52 pounds . The CDFW also planted 9.821 Eagle Lake fingerfishery is now in good shape after recovering from a tapeworm infestation that plagued the lake ’ s fish in the late 1990s and some browns are already showing in the fishery . When the expanded reservoir first filled in 1990 , the influx of nutrients into the reservoir created a relatively rich food chain that allowed rainbows to grow to large size , including some fish in the 3 to 5 pound class . However , the lake ’ s nutrients have declined over recent years , accounting for smaller , though still healthy fish in the catches . The CDFW has stocked Spicer since 1953 for recreational fishing . Historically , Spicer was stocked with rainbow trout snd brook trout . Currently , CDFW only stocks fingerling- size rainbow and brown trout in Spicer , which is managed as a “ put and grow ” fishery , said Ewing . “ Spicer currently has a recreational fishery including brook trout , Lahontan cutthroat trout ( LCT ), brown trout ( BN ) and rainbow trout ( RT ),” Ewing stated . “ Historically , Spicer had a brown bullhead fishery . Spicer is open year-round with a five-trout bag limit with 10 in possession regulation . “ In order to assess the fishery , CDFW installed an angler survey box ( ASB ) at the public launch ramp in 2015 . Anglers were asked to complete a voluntary survey form related to their fishing experience . In a report completed by Ewing in December 2017 , he noted the catch per angler for bait anglers was higher than
This shore angler successfully battled this rainbow trout while fishing in the cove to the left of the boat ramp at Spicer . Photo by Dan Bacher