VOL . 42 • ISS . 10

Spicer Reservoir is full to the brim and both bank anglers and boaters are catching rainbow and brown trout now . Photo by Dan Bacher

I received the long-awaited news from Bill Reynolds of Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods that the road to Spicer Reservoir from Highway 4 had just opened . Spicer Reservoir , located in the North Fork of the Stanislaus River watershed , offers shore and boat anglers a chance to battle gorgeous square-tailed rainbows and brown trout grown out from fingerlings or the progeny of wild trout spawning in Hobart Creek , Highland Creek and other lake tributaries . “ The lake is full to the brim and the first anglers to fish the reservoir have catching limits of trout fast ,” said Reynolds . I headed up to the reservoir the next day on Highway 4 and stopped in the store in Arnold to pick up hooks , sinkers , bait and other items for my first fishing trip to Spicer since the COVID pandemic started in California . After buying my gear , I headed up to the reservoir , taking a right turn on Spicer Reservoir Road to the lake . When I arrived near the dam , the lake was stunningly beautiful , completely full with this year ’ s abundant snowmelt . Fly fishermen in kayaks fished back and forth near the dam , with snow-covered peaks jutting up in the distance as fluffy white cumulus clouds moved slowly across the azure blue sky .

Hunter Pierce of Murphys shows off this German brown trout that he landed at Spicer Reservoir on June 25 .

Photo by Dan Bacher

There were several groups of anglers fishing off the bank near the dam , but I didn ’ t see anybody hook anything while I was there for ten minutes , so I headed to the boat ramp area . About a half dozen boat trailers were sitting in the parking lot . Fly fishing enthusiasts fishing in small boats were working the waters of Hobart Creek where it enters the lake . The creek is open to fishing from the Saturday preceding Memorial Day through September 30 .. Only artificial lures may be used . The limit on the creek is 2 trout , while the limit on the lake is 5 trout . The first bank angler I saw fishing the lake near the boat ramp reported catching and releasing two rainbow trout around 16 inches while throwing a black and gold Panther Martin . I tossed out a ¼ oz . gold Kastmaster into the reservoir without success . So I switched over to bait fishing with the Tequila Sunrise PowerBait that Reynolds recommended . On my first cast at a different spot , I hooked and landed a 14 inch rainbow . For the next hour , the action was great , with me hooking a fish nearly very cast . These fish were beautiful , slender rainbows in the 14 to 16 inch range . I kept a total of four trout . I talked to Keith Pierce of Murphys as he and his 12-year-old son , Hunter , 11-year-old daughter , Bella , and wife , Christina , were pulling up to the dock with their boat . “ We caught a total of 11 fish , including two German browns , and kept four fish for dinner ,” Piercy stated . “ We hooked the fish while trolling Speedy Shiners behind pink / chrome dodgers at 39 feet deep .”

Three other anglers , including Dustin and Duane Newman , also reported success . They caught a total of 14 trout , all rainbows , while bait fishing from a boat . On the July Fourth weekend , Pierce and family returned to Spicer and reported catching and releasing a lot of trout while casting white plastic grubs on the lake . They ended up keeping two trout for dinner . Spicer features both a “ put and grow ” hatchery supplemented fishery and a wild trout component that spawn ’ s in the lake ’ s tributaries , according to a report on the lake completed by Ben Ewing , CDFW district fisheries biologist , in December 2017 . The reservoir received 50,000 Eagle Lake Rainbow fingerlings in June 2021 , 48,000 brown trout fingerlings in May 2022 , and 25,000 Eagle Lake Rainbow fingerlings in June 2022 . Spicer is set to receive 50,000 Eagle Lake Rainbow fingerlings and 120,000 brown fingerlings later this year . 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