Lower Bear River Reservoir Facts
VOL . 42 • ISS . 9 |
MAP FEATURE |
June 23 , 2023 |
11 |
Lower Bear River Reservoir Facts
Size and Location : The 727 acre reservoir is located at an elevation of 5,850 feet in El Dorado National Forest 42 miles east of Jackson .
Directions : From Jackson go 40 miles east on Highway 88 and turn right onto Bear River Reservoir Road for 2 miles .
Camping : There are two nearby developed U . S . Forest Service campsites at South Shore Campground and Bear River Group Campground . South Shore Campground has 22 units and is first come , first served ; Bear River Group Campground has 3 sites that may accommodate 25-50 people . For reservations at the group campground call Sierra Recreation Managers at ( 209 ) 295-4512 . Fees are charged at both campgrounds . There is piped water , picnic tables , toilets , grills , and fire-rings , but no hook-ups . Open May 15 – Oct . 15 , depending on snow .
Bear River Resort features : 130 developed campsites . Amenities include power , water picnic tables , fire pits , flushable toilets in the bathrooms , showers dump station on site ( for RV ’ s to dump waste ), ice machine , Laundromat , video arcade , gas sold on site , playground , telephones , full store and a full Bar and restaurant .
Cabin Rentals : Bear River Campground has seven lodging units , each having accommodations for four occupants . Each unit has a separate bedroom . All units have a day bed in the living room . Linens and blankets for four occupants are provided . All the units have full baths – towels are provided . Kitchens contain stoves , microwave ovens , refrigerators , cooking utensils and service setting for four .
Boat Rentals & Marina Facilities : Bear River Lake Resort rents fishing boats with gas motors , canoes , paddle boats and kayaks . Marina slips are available . The boat launch fee is $ 10.00 . Marina gas hours are from 8 am to 4:30 pm . Contact the Bear River Resort at 40800 Highway 88 , Pioneer , CA . 95666 , bearrivercampground @ gmail . com , www . bearrivercampground . com , Tel . 209-295-4868 or Fax 209-295-4585 .
To Jackson & Stockton
Rattlesnake Cr .
State Game
Refuge
To Kirkwood , Carson Pass , Markleeville & Lake Tahoe
Peddler Hill
Ski Lodge
Bear River Resort
Bear River
Little Bear River
Lower Bear River Reservoir
El Dorado National Forest Amador County
Lower Bear River C . G .
Lower Bear River Res .
Penstock Tunnel
El Dorado National . Forest
LDS Camp
Bear River C . G .
Camp Winston BSA
Bear River Res .
Deer Valley
Bear River
Ham Spring
Cole Cr .
Fishing Notes
• Rainbow Trout are taken throughout the season . Bank anglers find the top action using PowerBait , Pautzke Fire Bait and nightcrawlers in the launch ramp cove . Trollers catch lots of rainbows with nightcrawlers behind flashers and dodgers . Needlefish , Cripplures , Hum Dingers , Dick Nites , Sparklefish , Wedding Rings and Kastmasters are among the most effective lures .
• German Brown Trout - are caught on the lake from ice-out in the spring to the first snows in late fall . Bank anglers find success tossing Rapalas , Rebels or mealworms under water-filled bobbers near the dam and in the coves . Trollers top-line along the shoreline with minnow imitation lures .
• Mackinaw trout - action is best in the spring and fall . Troll from 25 to 65 feet deep with Kwiktish , Flatfish , J-Plugs and other proven mackinaw enticers on the lake ' s south end . While fishing and camping at Lower Bear River Reservoir , you can make side trips to Silver , Caples , Red and other great trout lakes along the Carson Pass Highway , as well as the many productive streams in the region .
Sugarpine Cr .
The three winners of the Bear River Resort Trout Derby on June 10 and 11 : Jeremy Titsworth , 1st Place ( center ); Justin Lee Jr ., 2nd place ( left ); and Wayne Schoffler , 3rd place ( right ). There was a great turnout despite thunder , lightning and rain .
Photo courtesy of Bear River Lake Resort
Rainbow , mackinaw and brown trout are caught by anglers fishing from boats and shore at Lower Bear River Reservoir . This is the marina at the Bear River Lake Resort .
Photo by Dan Bacher
Losee and Phillips ( 2017 ) found that RT in the 14 - 15 in . length-class were , on average , 12.5 times more likely to be caught by sport anglers than those in the smallest individual length-class 8 – 9 inch ,” he stated . “ Anglers may not be catching as many hatchery RT as they could due to the presence of large , predatory BN and LT in Lower Bear . CDFW is transitioning over to a trophy-trout fishery ( 1 lb . and larger stocked RT ) in the coming years to help survivability of RT stocked in Lower Bear . The number of pounds stocked will likely stay the same ,” he noted . “ Lower Bear has a history of growing large RT , LT , and BN in the trophy-size (> 18 in .) length-classes . However , only one trophy-size BN was caught in 2019 compared to two trophy-size RT |
and nine catchable-size LT caught in 2018 . The decrease in trophy-size RT caught may be due to the absence of trophy-size RT stocked by Bear River Resort in 2018 and 2019 ,” he added .
He said gathering information on the trophy-sized component of fish populations can be challenging due to their rarity and their use of habitats unsuitable to traditional sampling techniques ( Bayley and Austen 2002 ). “ Lower Bear has a lot of boulder and bedrock structure with a steep gradient along its shoreline . This allows shore anglers access to deep water for fishing . Being able to fish this deeper water from shore means boat anglers are not the only ones able to fish greater depth ,” he said . “ Only six BN have been reported caught in seven years of surveys . Prior
|
to the 2019 stocking of BN , the most recent stocking of BN was 15,000 fingerlings in 2012 . This 2012 stocking does not appear to be successful from the data collected . It is also possible that the smaller percentage of BN in Lower Bear are trophy-size and eating many of the RT resulting in fewer RT in the larger size classes . Wiley et al . ( 1993 ) noted that larger trout are better able to avoid predators . This same hypothesis could be also happening in Lower Bear .” He made the following recommendations
• Switch to stocking trophy-size RT .
• Switch to stocking catchable-size BN .
• Keep stocking allotment weight the same for RT . The Bear River Resort is usually open from late April , depending upon
|
snow and road conditions , through October 31 . The lake freezes over for a couple of months during the winter and ice fishing is highly inadvisable because of hydroelectric power drawdowns during the winter . Immediately above — and in high water separated only by the upper dam — is the smaller Bear River Reservoir that is often referred to as Upper Bear River Reservoir . Slightly over a mile long , Upper Bear contains 166 surface acres and about 2.5 miles of shoreline surrounded by private , water management lands For more information , contact the Bear River Resort , 40800 Highway 88 , Pioneer , Cal , 95666 , bearriver @ suredial . net , www . bearrivercampground . com , phone 209-295-4868 or fax 209-295-4585 . |