Ask me to direct you to some good trout lakes for beginning fly or spin anglers, and I'll send you to Carson Pass. Ask for some bodies of water that provide a challenge and a chance at monster trout for experienced anglers though, and, well... I'll send you to Carson Pass. This stretch of California Highway 88 in Alpine and Amador Counties has something for everyone, and that something is a fat, feisty trout! Let's take a tour:

Blue Lakes: These lakes are accessible via Blue Lakes Road off Route 88 in Alpine County's Hope Valley at the eastern base of Carson Pass. The access road takes you twelve miles, to 8,200 feet in altitude where you'll find spectacular scenery and twin trout-fishing gems, Upper and Lower Blue Lake. The catch here is primarily rainbow trout, with a few cutthroat and brook trout to keep things interesting. The fish are generally not large, but are easy to catch with a variety of methods. Both lakes have dirt launch areas that will accommodate small trailered boats, and trolling with flashers and worms or small Rapalas can bring fast action. Lower Blue tends to kick out the greatest number of trout, while Upper Blue produces a few more fat, holdover rainbows in the fifteen to sixteen-inch class. Casting or trolling lures or flies from float tubes, canoes and kayaks can also be productive. Try a Kastmaster spoon on light spinning gear, or string your fly rod up with a full-sink line and pull a beadhead woolly bugger streamer along the bottom.

Shore anglers score on all the usual baits, including Powerbait or inflated nightcrawlers on sliding-sinker rigs. Another fun method from shore is to toss out a clear plastic casting bubble with a four-foot leader of light line and any small, black dry fly. Watching a good trout come to the surface and engulf a fly is one of the most seductive moments in fishing, and I warn all those who try this technique that there could be a fancy new fly rod in your future. Blue Lakes Road also provides access to several other lakes, including Meadow, Upper and Lower Sunset, Twin and Tamarack. The road in to these small bodies of water is unpaved and rough on passenger vehicles, and the fishing is less consistent than at Blue Lakes, but your reward is even more beautiful scenery, less people, and a shot at a large brook trout or cutthroat, up to three pounds or bigger.

Red Lake: Travel west a few more miles on Highway 88 from Blue Lakes Road and you'll come to the next stop on our Carson Pass fishing tour. While Blue Lakes are in fact blue, and also large, deep and a good distance off the main road, Red is right next to the highway, thirty-feet deep at most, and small enough for shore anglers, float tubers and kayakers to conquer in a day. Is it red? Stay until sunset on an overcast day and you'll see how it acquired the name. Your main quarry here will be fat brook trout in the 12 to 14-inch range, with a few larger Lahontan cutthroat trout as well. The same methods I described for Blue Lakes will work here; most shore anglers fish off the easily accessible earthen dam due to laziness, but those willing to hike along the steep, wooded shoreline will discover hidden treasures. A hot tip for fly anglers is to try the 'heave-it-and-leave-it' method, with a floating line and small nymph suspended under a Styrofoam strike-indicator. Prince nymphs, pheasant tails and San Juan worms are all productive sub-surface choices.

Caples Lake: Next we crest Carson Pass and head toward Kirkwood Ski Resort. But wait, we're driving over the top of the dam on another nice lake! Yes, access couldn't get much easier for Caples. Park on the highway shoulder, walk down to the water, and cast a line for brook, brown, mackinaw and rainbow trout. This lake also has a small resort and marina with a paved ramp for trailered boats (Caples Lake Resort, 209-258-8888). Shore anglers mostly catch one to three-pound rainbows, browns and brookies, but knowledgeable fly anglers can actually stalk the shoreline, casting to cruising or rising trout, and catch heavyweight browns in the five-to-seven pound class.

The true monsters of Caples though are the mackinaw, which reach sizes of over twenty pounds. Most of these hogs are caught by boaters trolling large minnow plugs; I've netted several in the fifteen to twenty pound range myself, pulling large AC and Bomber plugs along the shoreline. On my most recent trip I caught a ten-pound mack on a nine-inch rainbow trout pattern AC Minnow plug.

Silver Lake: Continue on down the western slope of Carson Pass, and you'll find Silver Lake in Amador County. This is my personal favorite, with a fishery similar to Caples Lake. Silver fishes well for both shore anglers and boaters, producing rainbows, browns, and mackinaw. The rainbows are most abundant, the browns occasionally top ten pounds in weight, and Silver is my favorite because I caught the lake record mackinaw here, a twenty-two pound fish, in the spring of 2002! I trolled a minnow plug to hook this bad boy, but the previous record was an eighteen pounder, caught on a flasher-and-worm combo, so while tiring yourself out on the plentiful rainbows, be ready for the fish of a lifetime! This lake also has a paved boat ramp and marina (Kay's Silver Lake Resort, 209-258-8598)

Until Next Time!
Mark (Never Stand In A Canoe) Wiza
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Mark Wiza is a licensed fishing guide offering a variety of highly educational fishing trips in the Tahoe area. Call Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters toll-free at 877-541-8208 or Email Mark for details.