On Bartosh's previous trip to the lake a week before, Bartosh, Standring and McDaniel found excellent fishing for mackinaw. The three anglers caught and released 14 mackinaw from 1-1/2 to 6 pounds while trolling with homemade spinners and broken back crawdad pattern plugs at 60 to 90 feet deep.

However, the fishing was much spottier on the day we fished. We trolled homemade spinners, tipped with nightcrawlers, at 50 to 90 feet, from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m. We landed three small mackinaw, as well as losing some others, while bouncing the lures along the bottom in a deep channel. We surmised that the warm weather had made the fish lethargic; the surface water temperature had warmed up to 70 degrees. "On my last three trips to the lake, we caught and released a total of 45 mackinaw," stated Ray Standring.

Since the mackinaw action was slow, we decided to switch gears to brook trout fishing. A small crowd of children and their parents was fishing inside the launch ramp cove for some recently-planted rainbows, but they weren't catching anything.

Bartosh, Ramirez and Nelson got out of the boat and began helping the kids catch brook trout by rigging up their leaders and sinkers, baiting their hooks and assisting them with casting. Among the happy kids who landed brook trout were Brian Dooney of Chico and Tucker Raggio of Grass Valley.

After Bartosh and the rest of the crew loaded the boat on the trailer and took off, the brookie bite picked up. The crowd of a dozen anglers left for other activities and I fished with young Matthew Mullarkey of Durham and Aaron Wayne Riggs of Silver Lakes. They each landed a brook trout while using Power Bait and nightcrawlers, while I caught four brookies while fishing Kastmasters and Power Bait. Since I had already kept a mackinaw, I ended up taking home my five trout limit. The most effective technique for fooling the brookies was to cast the lure and bait into the swirls of surfacing brook trout.

Mackinaw, the largest gamefish found in Gold Lake, have ample forage - Lahontan redsides. The DFG stocks the lake with 10,000 mackinaw fingerlings each year to supplement the naturally-spawning population. Jack Bouchet holds the lake mackinaw record with a 22 pound fish, according to Allen Bruzza at the Sportsmen's Den in Quincy. The largest mackinaw ever taken by Bruzza weighed 18 pounds.

The best time of year to fish for the mackinaw is usually in May after the lake ices out. "The jigging is best this time of year in the morning before the wind comes up, usually between 11:30 a.m. and noon," stated Bruzza. "The best jigs are the smaller Buzz Bombs. After the wind starts blowing, you should troll Tomics and J-Plugs in frog, rainbow and pearly white colors."

After a plant of trout is a also good time to target mackinaw. "When the DFG stocks the lake, it's like ringing the dinner bell for the macks. The shelves off the boat ramp can be very productive when this happens," said Bruzza.

However, Bruzza emphasized that Gold is a cold, deep lake, so the mackinaw are able to move around a lot. "If you find a concentration of active fish in one spot one day, there may not be any fish at all there the next day," said Bruzza.

For the brook and rainbow trout, Bruzza recommended trolling flies, Needlefish and Cripplures. Both recent planters and holdovers are on tap for anglers trolling and bait fishing at Gold. The DFG is stocking the lake with 5,000 pounds of brookies this year.

The dominant geologic feature of the area is the stunningly beautiful Sierra Buttes, rising to 8,587 feet above sea level. The basin lakes are located between 5,000 and 7,000 feet, with Gold Lake sitting at 6409 feet.

Other drive-to fishing lakes in Lakes Basin include Lower Sardine Lake, Upper Salmon Lake and Packer Lake. Lower Sardine is stocked with 1,000 pounds of rainbows and 7,000 pounds of brook trout every year, while Upper Sardine is planted with 25,000 Kamloops rainbow trout fingerlings. Upper Salmon Lake is stocked with 2,000 pounds of rainbows and 2,000 pounds of brooks. Packer Lake is planted with 2,650 pounds of rainbows.

Other hike-in lakes in the basin have been stocked by plane over the years, but now the plants are being reevaluated by the DFG as they conduct their study of the interaction between native frogs and fish.

Stream fishing enthusiasts can try fishing the nearby Middle Fork of the Feather River or the North Fork of the Yuba River.

The US Forest Service offers free public launching on a concrete ramp with a dock, on the northeast shore of the lake. For camping information, contact Plumas National Forest, Beckworth Ranger District, (530) 836-2575 or FAX (530) 836-2575.

Gold Lake Beach Resort, on the southwest corner of the lake, features 10 cabins: (530) 836-2491. Gold Lake Lodge, north of the lake off the Gold Lake Forest Highway, has 11 cabins: (530) 836-2350. Other lodging, groceries, gas and supplies are available in Sierra City, Bassetts and Graeagle.

For fishing and guiding information, call Scott Bartosh of Miner Moe's Guide Service, (530) 478-1986, or Allen Bruzza, Sportsmen's Den in Quincy, (530)283-2733.