Fishing in Plumas County

Plumas County's 1,000 miles of streams and more than 100 lakes of the Feather River watershed make for a wonderful, varied and famous fishery.

No matter what type of angler you are, you'll find plenty of places to reel them in.



Native rainbow trout are the predominant game fish, but brown trout and brook trout also have been established in many waterways. A special strain of rainbow, known as Eagle Lake trout, are found in many of the major lakes.

Other game fish include Mackinaw (lake trout), kokanee and king salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill and catfish.

Fishing season: Lakes are open to fishing year-round. The stream season usually opens on the last Saturday of April and closes in the middle of November.

Some streams, such as tributaries to Lake Almanor and Bucks Lake, are not open until the end of May and close at the end of September.

Some waters like Yellow Creek have special barbless catch-and-release provisions.

Check the current Department of Fish and Game regulations pamphlet for specific dates and limits.

Lakes
All of the larger lakes and some of the smaller ones have boating facilities.



Most of the lakes are subject to strong afternoon winds, so use caution with small boats or float tubes.

Most of Plumas County's lakes have rainbow trout and may be fished with either bait, lures or flies.

Deep trolling with lead core line or downriggers is usually an effective way to take large browns, rainbows, salmon and Mackinaws.

A key to deep trolling success is to use very long leaders.

Most types of bait, lure and fly-fishing work well from shore or from boats.

Check with local sport shops to find out what is happening at the moment. Explore and experiment!

Lake Almanor is the largest lake in Plumas County.

Fishing is generally good year-round, but fall and winter (if it is not frozen over) can be outstanding.

Pond smelt, a tiny, silvery bait fish, abound in Almanor, and also in Butt Valley Reservoir to the southwest.

Small white jigs or iridescent pond smelt fly patterns can be very effective.

Most years, from the end of June to the first part of July, there is a hatch of hexaginia (a giant mayfly) which can put the larger fish into a feeding frenzy just before dark.

Smallmouth bass fishing is another feature attraction at Almanor.

The focus always seems to be on popular game fish; however, Lake Almanor also has a substantial carp population and the annual spring carp shoot is a famous event.

A public boat launch that is open year-round is located at the southwestern end of the lake just north of the dam.

Butt Valley Reservoir is noted for huge rainbows and browns of trophy trout status.

Butt Valley is at its best with flies, jigs and small lures in the inlet when the powerhouse is running.

Round Valley Lake near Greenville is a small lake with big bass. Ideal for serious bass anglers, this is a great place for children to fish from shore for bluegills too. An annual bluegill derby is held here in June.

Bucks Lake is a good all-around lake that is especially noted for trophy size (over 16 pound) Mackinaw trout, although the current lake record is over 30 pounds!

Fall fly-fishing for rainbow, brown and brook trout is often spectacular in middle to late afternoon - look for hatches of a small, sooty-black caddis fly.

Little Grass Valley Reservoir is good for rainbow and brown trout, and has a universally accessible fishing trail, as does Antelope Lake, which is popular for trout and bass fishing.

Lake Davis and Frenchman Lake are excellent trophy rainbow waters.

Fly-fishing from the west shorelines, either wading or using float tubes, is good both spring and fall.

Damselfly nymphs or dry flies are usually a good bet. Trolling woollybuggers often works well.

Both of these lakes are popular for ice fishing during the wintertime.

Streams and Fly-fishing
Whether you're a fly fisherman or prefer to use lures and bait, you'll find plenty of good action and surprisingly large trout in some very small creeks.

The most common natural aquatic insects of the Feather River are several species of mayflies, caddis flies and stone flies. There are others, of course, as well as terrestrials (ants, grasshoppers).

Exploring a stream, you may see an active hatch of insects and trout rising to them.

Try to capture or at least get a good look at one for size and color.

Mayfly and mosquito patterns, humpies and Adams and caddis patterns in appropriate sizes and body colors can be good choices.

If nothing is hatching, nymphs worked along the bottom are probably your best bet. Small nymphs such as the birds nest or PT patterns work well.

Larger Montana, stone fly and hellgrammite nymphs are often effective.

Two-nymph rigs, one large and one small, are useful for searching especially early in the season.

Work nymphs slowly, deep and on a fairly short line with a strike indicator near where your leader attaches to your floating fly-line.

Ants and dark-bodied fly patterns like the renegade, Rio-Grande King, or Corkendale work pretty well in the middle of the day if nothing obvious is happening.

Fish these either dry (floating on the surface) or let them sink just under the surface film.

A good trick is to cast at an angle upstream and at the end of the downstream drift tuck the fly under water and swim it back upstream.

The main parts of the Feather River are the North Fork and Middle Fork.

The North Fork and Hamilton Branch flow into Lake Almanor. These and their smaller tributaries are good trout waters.

Downstream of Almanor, the first dam in PG&E's "Stairway of Power," the fishing depends on seasonal restocking.

By contrast, the Middle Fork has not been altered by dam building and is a federally listed Wild and Scenic River from the outflow of Sierra Valley most of the way to Lake Oroville.

The wild river section downstream from the Quincy-La Porte Road bridge is accessible by steep foot trails and provides excellent fishing for strong hikers. Fishing improves as the water level recedes from spring runoff.

Fall fishing, when there are fewer vacationers, is particularly good.

Upstream, in the more easily reached scenic and recreation portion that is near Highway 70 east of Quincy, the Middle Fork holds some nice, if sometimes angler-shy, rainbows and browns.

Yellow Creek. This is a stream restoration success involving fishing groups, PG&E and the Department of Fish and Game.

Barbless hooks and a restricted limit apply to Yellow Creek in Humbug Valley in order to keep it a trophy fishery. (Check Department of Fish and Game regulations for current rules.)

The rugged Yellow Creek canyon that flows on to Belden is also an excellent trout stream.

Do some exploring to discover what may turn out to be your own favorite spots (or take a look at the fishing chart).

The U.S. Forest Service map of the Plumas National Forest is the most useful starting point in searching for locations and road access to the many streams within the Feather River system.

Solid blue lines on topo and forest service maps indicate perennial streams and nearly all of these are fishable.

Difficult places to reach can be worth some rough roading or tough hiking, but there is also some fine fishing close to major highways and paved roads.

~ Harry Reeves, avid fisherman

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