RNOLD - Spicer Reservoir , located in the North Fork of

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

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 road from Highway 4 to the reservoir is now open and fishing is rated “ excellent ” for shore anglers , boat fishermen and fly fishers . “ Customers from our store went to Spicer the day it opened and caught their limits of trout in 30 minutes ,“ said Bill Reynolds from Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods . “ They were top-line trolling with small Flatfish and Sonar Minnows .” Since the opener , fishing on the full reservoir has remained superb for trollers fishing throughout the lake and for shore anglers tossing out PowerBait , Kastmasters and Panther Martins from the dam to the ramp . Fly fishers using woolly buggers , prince nymphs and gnats are finding outstanding trout action also . I have found great fishing from shore at Spicer in spring and fall when water temperatures are cool and fish can be found in shallow water close to shore . On my most recent afternoon trip to the lake last June , fishing was superb . For over an hour , the trout action from shore was great , with me hooking a fish nearly every cast . These fish were beautiful , slender rainbows in the 14- to 16-inch range . I kept a total of four rainbow trout . I hooked all of the fish while tossing

out Tequila Sunrise PowerBait near the boat ramp . Fly fishing enthusiasts in small boats find success on rainbows and browns working the waters of Hobart Creek where it enters the lake with an array of patterns . The creek is open to fishing from the Saturday preceding Memorial Day through Sept . 30 . Only artificial lures may be used . The limit on the creek is two trout , while the limit on the lake is five trout . The lake is very popular with trollers from spring when the lake becomes accessible through the late fall when the road closes . The surface water gets warm on Spicer Reservoir during the summer , so anglers have to troll deep with downriggers and leadcore lines to hook the trout on hoochies , spinners , spoons , Rapalas , flies and nighcrawlers behind flashers and dodgers , One of the most exciting aspects of Spicer is that it features both a “ put and grow ” hatchery supplemented fishery and a wild trout component that spawns in the lake ’ s tributaries , according to a report on the lake completed by Ben Ewing , CDFW district fisheries biologist , in December 2017 . The CDFW annually plants both rainbow and brown trout fingerlings in Spicer . The lake , known formally as Spicer Meadow Reservoir , is located in

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

Photo by Dan Bacher