Bear Valley Area/RT4 fishing reports?

[tcorfey]

Heading up RT4 towards Bear Valley for the weekend to take my son and a friend skiing. I don't ski anymore though, so I thought I could wet a fly while I am up there. The regs seem to indicate that the NF Stanislaus is closed in winter but what about Lake Alpine, Utica, Union or New Spicer Meadows?

Any body been up there and is it open now? I assume they are not iced over yet.

[loose_shoes]

The road into Utica, Union and Spicer is likely to be gated closed at this point. If it is still open then it's probably a slippery ride out there. Assuming you could get out there then Spicer would be your only option as it is paved all the way.

I seem to recall that the gate that blocks Hwy. 4 for the winter is fairly close Alpine. If you have Sorels or snowshoes you can probably walk out to Alpine. Whether or not it is iced over I have no clue.

[tcorfey]

Yep, no access to the lakes too much snow. The lady at the sporting goods store in Arnold warned me that Alpine Lake water levels fluctuate and that you can't trust the ice even if I did hike down to it. For kicks I did take a ride down Boards Crossing to the NF Stanislaus and was treated to watching a largish trout cruising the edges of the big pool near the bridge. He must have been getting emergers because just his dorsal fin and back would appear from time to time. It was nice to sit and watch but, you can bet I had a little twitch going on wishing I could fish.