14 July 20- Aug 3, 2018 VOL. 37 • ISS. 16

Lower Bear River Reservoir features good populations of rainbow, mackinaw and brown trout. The Bear River Lake Resort and Campground offers boat rentals, berthing and boat launching.

Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.

Other popular lakes along the Carson Pass Corridor include Silver, Kirkwood, Caples and Red. Because of its lower elevation, Lower Bear is the first reservoir to open in the spring and the last to remain open when the other lakes become inaccessible, due to ice and snow.

Lower Bear River Reservoir is known for offering an array of fishing options, ranging from trolling for big mackinaw and brown trout with plugs, spoons and nightcrawlers to shore fishing for planted and holdover rainbows.

The reservoir features 727 surface acres and a shoreline of about 9 miles when full. It is located along the Bear River, a tributary of the North Fork of the Mokelumne River, south of Highway 88.

The Bear River Resort opened this year on May 1, with 2,000 pounds of ¾ pound rainbow trout planted into lower Bear River Reservoir by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife( CDFW). PG & E stocked 1500 pounds of half pound rainbows in May, while the CDFW planted another 2,000 pounds

Huge mackinaws, such as this 26.4 lb. monster caught by Aiden McKinney of Pioneer while trolling with Rich Spears of the resort in September 2012, prowl the waters of Lower Bear River Reservoir.

Photo courtesy of RICH SPEARS. of rainbows on June 5.

One of the lake’ s biggest events every year is the resort’ s annual trout derby, held on the second weekend of June every year. This year it took place on June 9 and 10. The resort stocked 1,000 pounds of trophy trout in the 2 to 7 lb. range in the lake prior to the popular event.

Jeremy Silvas won first place in the Bear River Lake Resort Trout Derby with a 4.89 lb. rainbow trout, winning $ 700. Wyatt Broom placed second with a 4.4 lb. rainbow, winning $ 200. Justin Lee placed third with a 3.72 lb. rainbow, winning $ 100, reported Janette Frazier, owner of the Bear River Lake Resort.

After the winners received their cash prizes, every angler ended up going home with a raffle prize.

I have both fished both from shore and boat at Bear River, but I’ ve experienced my best action while trolling from a boat. My most memorable trip to the reservoir was in May 2007 when Fred Solari of Lodi

and I hooked and released 20 rainbows while trolling threaded nightcrawlers on lead core line along the face of the dam for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.

While the majority of fish that anglers catch are rainbows, mackinaws and brown trout also swim in the lake’ s clear waters. Mackinaw trout grow big and fat at the reservoir.

Chris

Richard Spears Jr. landed this quality 6 lb rainbow while kayaking on Lower Bear River last June.

Photo courotesy of BEAR RIVER LAKE RESORT CAMPGROUND, Pioneer.

Quimby set the lake mackinaw record of 30.4 pounds on June 17, 2005. His huge fish measured 40 inches long.

While most anglers use big minnow and trout imitation plugs on downriggers to target big mackinaw, Rich Spears, manager of the resort, also slow trolls with nightcrawlers behind big Ford Fenders on 17 colors of lead core line for his fish. The best time to fish for the trophy macks is in the spring right after ice out or in the late fall just before the lake ices over, but huge macks are caught throughout the season. Spears’ trolling technique definitely works. Spears caught a 25 lb. mackinaw in his boat before the lake opened in 2014. His next biggest was a 23.4 lb. mack that he landed in January 2012.

However, the biggest mack ever put in his boat was the 26.4 lb. monster that Aiden McKinney of Pioneer caught and released while trolling with Spears on September 13, 2012.

The fish measured 38 inches in length and 16 inches in girth. McKinney hooked the fish while trolling a Trophy Stick on 12 lb. test Maxima line on a downrigger at 85 feet deep at 4 p. m. that day.

The lake also hosts a healthy brown trout population, a combination of wild fish and holdovers from CDFW plants.

Much bigger browns swim the waters of the lake. Donna Schlageter set the lake German brown record of 15-1 / 2 pounds while trolling on June 30,1991.

CDFW, PG & E, and the Bear River Lake Resort stock rainbow trout at Lower Bear. The sizes of fish stocked included fingerling, sub-catchable, catchable, and