Need help around Spicer Meadow Res.

[Bob Scheidt]

I will be camping here next weekend hopefully and I figured you good people would be the ones to ask. Never been there before but I would like to do a little fishing. How's the fishing at Spicer Meadows Res? I can take my float tube. If not Spicer, can you recommend any places in that area. Not a hardcore trip, since I will be with spouse and a few friends, but I would like to wet a line and hook up of course!

Thanks in advance,
Bob Scheidt
Flytyer in Fresno

[Mike McKenzie]

Give Bill a call at Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods @ (209) 795-1686 (8:30-5:30) He'll give you an up to date report on Spicer, Alpine and the NF Stanislaus..On spicer, depending on the water temps and winds, terrestrials early and late on the surface or during the day... nymphs & wooly-buggers deeper. If the lake isn't fishing good you can fish Highland Creek below the Dam...

Mike

[koffler]

Similar to Mike - I have had luck with terrestrials. The old amy's ant (lafontaine pattern), bigger foam ants, and small chernobyls (<= #16) have proved well. I haven't had any luck on streamers or mayflies but likely due to the fact that I fish terrestrials in lakes quite a bit. And they do well :)

Koffler
aka jason

[Bob Scheidt]

I talked to Bill at Ebbetts Pass store, very good contact. I will stop in and see him. Thanks, for the info. He said there are alot of fish in Spicer.
Bob

[betty]

The left side of the lake (as you stand in the campground and look up lake) is all granite that can be walked on and fished from (these are not cliffs, but rounded shelves that go into the lake). We have had some splendid days walking up lake and fishing from these granite "shoulders" (for want of a better word). Depending on what's hatching, we've used standard nymphs (pt's and hare's ears, etc) and wolly buggers---casting out and retrieving in. have never fished from a float tube in Spicer. Alpine lake (close by) is a better lake for that and in the past has had some nice fish.
Betty

[loose_shoes]

I used to fish at Spicer a lot. It was the place to go for lots of action but not much in the way of size. 6" to 12" and skinny was a typical fish there. I haven't fished it much of late but I went there once last year. Had the place to myself on a summer weekend. Nice! The action wasn't as consistent as years past. Well, at least the day I was there. The sizes were about the same. Spicer is a really beautiful place but the lake is essentially a glass bowl. Not much food in there - hence the skinny fish - but they're hungry and eager!

A small bugger type of fly is always a good bet. Greens and reds are good colors. A really small, black AP Nymph also works well in high Sierra lakes. I usually tube back-and-forth along the dam and a few hundred yards out. At the dam end there are some rocky islands and you can tube all around those and get into some fish.

The wind can kick up fierce in the afternoon so I take that as my cue for a swim and siesta. You can find all the privacy you'd ever want over on the South/SouthWest side of the lake. The tube will give you lots of access to areas other folks can't get to.

Highland Creek below the dam looks incredibly fishy. However, I've never had any success down there. A friend of mine says he used to fish it and swears to me that it is (can be) good. I dunno. Give it a try and let us know. I'd love to hear an up-to-date report.

There are some other lakes in the area. Utica, Union and Elephant Rock. Been so long since I visited those lakes I cant remember if they were worth fishing. Would like to get some recent info about that area as well.

Lake Alpine can get you into some bigger fish so that is worth checking out.

Good luck!

[k9mark]

Well here's my experience with highland creek below the dam. If and when there are fish there it is only because them have come out the dam. If you are there at the right time you can catch fish. However, more often than not, when word gets out, the baitfishers attack and clean it out leaving nothing behind but empty worm, powerbait, etc containers along with fishing line et al.