Lower Bear River Reservoir Features Abundant Rainbows, Big Macks   By: Dan Bacher June 15, 2007 More Articles by Dan

The U.S. Forest Service on its El Dorado National Forest website rates Lower Bear River Reservoir as an "exceptional" northern California trout fishery. After fishing the lake on a warm May evening for several hours during an unplanned trolling venture with Fred Solari of Linden, I must agree completely with the assessment of the service.

How I ended up fishing with Solari is one of those spontaneous events that happen when you travel the corridors of California's Sierra Nevada. After fishing Silver Lake two weeks before, I was up for another road trip. I decided at the last minute to check out the fishing at Bear River Reservoir, the first major lake you encounter on the beautiful and scenic Carson Pass/Highway 88 Corridor after traveling from Stockton or Sacramento.

I arrived at Bear River Lake Resort, around 4 p.m. and ran into Solari, a hardcore pony-tailed fishing fanatic, who was recounting his fishing experiences that day with several other fishermen.

"Did any of you catch any fish today," I asked?

"We caught and released over 20 fish, all rainbows, so far," said Solari. "We used nightcrawlers behind flashers near the dam."

The other two anglers, John Conn and Jared Conn of Valley Springs, also reported outstanding action. "We caught and released a bunch of trout trolling black/gold Rapalas and chartreuse Wedding Rings from our boat," said John. "However, we caught the largest fish while shore fishing at the mouth of the river."

They had kept five holdovers in the 12 to 14 inch class while fishing nightcrawlers on the bottom. I took several photos of them and then went back to my truck.

"Hey, do you want to go trolling this evening?" said Solari. "My girlfriend doesn't want to go and I need a fishing partner. Meet me at the boat on the dock around 5:00 pm, if you want to go. I got two lead core rods set up."

"Sure," I said. "I love fishing with lead core line. I'll bring my nightcrawlers worm threader, and camera with me."

Before getting out on the water, I discussed the lake's fishery and facilities with Janette Frazier, who with her husband Jon, has owned the popular resort for 14 years.

The lake, located at 5,850 feet above sea level, is stocked with 8,000 pounds of rainbows and 2,200 pounds of browns annually. In addition, Frazier said the resort plants the reservoir with trophy rainbows every season. The DFG had stocked the lake with 4,000 pounds of trout on the Monday before my trip, as well a previous 1,000 pound plant, so there were lots of fish to be caught.

"We will stock 1,000 pounds of 3 to 10 pound rainbows for our June Fishing Derby on June 9 and 10," she stated. "Then we will plant another 1,000 pounds of trophy trout for our September Fishing Derby on September 8 and 9."

The largest fish caught on the lake this season to date was a 10 pound German brown. "The angler captured the fish on his video camera and released it back into the water," she stated.

The resort manager, Dave Pingree, showed me a photo of a beautifully-colored brown over 8 pounds that he caught while fishing off the bank on December 31, 2006. "I was fishing a rainbow colored Rapala in 4 to 5 feet of water while standing in the snow when the fish hit," he explained.

After I talked with Pingree and Frazier, I met Solari at the dock and we got in his 16 foot aluminum boat. We quickly sped over to the area near the dam where he nailed the fish in the morning. His set up was a nightcrawler behind a Ford Fender.

"There's not as many fish on the graph as I saw this morning," he said. "They must have moved or are feeding on the surface. "

We began to see good numbers of fish splashing on the surface and jumping out of the water, apparently feeding on some small flies. After 10 minutes of trolling, Solari hooked and landed the first fish of the evening, a 12 inch rainbow.

I followed up his fish minutes lately with a rainbow of the same size. For the next two hours, we experienced lots of action, missing a lot of bites and hooking around 20 fish. We landed well over a dozen trout, keeping three fish that were hooked too deep.

I was experiencing a lot of success holding the rod and periodically jerking it to give the bait and flashers added action. The trout would often hit just after I jerked the line. With the lead core line, as is the case with braid, I could feel the more subtle hits on the bait before the fish decided to grab the nightcrawler.

During the last half hour of our adventure, the trout fishing slowed down dramatically. Solari could find hardly any fish on the graph and we moved to the southeast corner of the dam. Solari hooked one fish on that side of the dam and then we trolled back to the dock.

"I trolled Rapalas and Flatfish right along the shoreline with the intent of hooking a brown or holdover rainbow the first three days of my camping trip here this week," said Solari. "We didn't catch any trophy fish, although my father in law and I released 13 planter-sized rainbows. Yesterday and today I decided to concentrate on catching numbers of fish."

I had a lot of fun fishing and swapping fish tales with Solari, who loves to catch and release big wild rainbows while tossing out barbless Panther Martin spinners on the Calaveras River below New Hogan Dam.

I was surprised that I didn't see any brown trout hooked while I was there, since Bear River, like nearby Silver Lake, is a top-notch brown fishery.

The reservoir, situated on the Bear River, a tributary of the Mokelumne River below Upper Bear River Reservoir, is also a sleeper trophy mackinaw fishery. Chris Quimbly set the lake mack record on June 17, 2005 when he nailed a 30.4 fish measuring 40 inches long.

The DFG made an experimental plant of mackinaw in the reservoir in the late 1980's. "We haven't determined yet whether the fish are spawning successfully," said Stafford Lehr, DFG senior fishery biologist.

However, the possibility of nailing another fish of the size that Quimbly landed keeps trophy trout enthusiasts coming back to the reservoir. The lake produces mackinaw for both trollers and jig fishing enthusiasts. The best fishing is generally in the spring and fall, though the lake record fish came out of the lake in June.

You should find your best action while "contour trolling" with downriggers along the bottom with Flatfish, J-Plugs, big Rapalas and other mackinaw lures. Jiggers can score the char on Mega Baits, Gibbs Minnows, Horizon Pirk Minnows and other lures.

The Bear River Resort is usually open in late April, depending upon snow and road, conditions, through October 31. The lake freezes over during the winter and ice fishing is highly inadvisable because of hydroelectric power drawdowns during the winter.

For more information, contact the Bear River Resort, 40800 Highway 88, Pioneer, Cal, 95666, bearriver@suredial, net, Tel. 209-295-4868 or Fax 209-295-4585.

Lower Bear River Reservoir Facts

Size and Location: The reservoir is located at an elevation of 5,850 feet in El Dorado National Forest 42 miles east of Jackson. The lake has a surface area of 727 acres

Directions: From Jackson go 40 miles east on Highway 88 and turn right onto Bear River Reservoir Road.

Camping: There are two nearby developed campsites at South Shore Campground and Bear River Group Campgound. South Shore Campground has 22 units and is first come, first served; Bear River Group Campground has 3 sites that may accommodate 25-50 people. For reservations at the group campground call Sierra Recreation Managers at (209) 295-4512. Fees are charged at both campgrounds. There is piped water, picnic tables, toilets, grills, and fire-rings, but no hook-ups. Open May 15 - Oct. 15, depending on snow.

Cabin Rentals: Bear River Resort offers seven deluxe park model units, each having accommodations for 4 occupants. Each unit has a separated bedroom. Fees are $115.00 for a single night and $100.00 per night for two or more.

Boat Rentals & Marina Facilities: Bear River Resort rents fishing boats with gas motors, canoes, paddle boats and kayaks. Marina slips are available. The boat launch fee is $10.00. Marina gas hours are from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Contact the Bear River Resort at 40800 Highway 88, Pioneer, Cal, 95666, bearriver@suredial, net, www.bearrivercampground.com, Tel. 209-295-4868 or Fax 209-295-4585.

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