Silver Lake

[J.R.]

I'm trying to get my dad to go on a fishing trip up to Silver Lake and the surounding area. I plan on going late February/early March and was wondering if the fishing is any good up there this time of year, since I usually fish it mid-summer. By the way, are chains still required on 88/89 that late in the winter(guess it depends on the weather).

[Darian]

Hey JR,.... Not sure about this year, but most years Silver Lake is frozen over during the winter months (late Feb.).... :? This year has been warm but Silver Lake is fairly high. :?

You might want to consider Bear River Reservoir; downstream past another reservoir on the Mokelumne River from Silver Lake.... 8) There're a couple of other resrvoirs on the Mokelumne below those, as well. 8) 8)

[Dustin Rocksvold]

J.R.,

I live in Pioneer which is west of Silver Lake on Highway 88. I got 6" of snow here at my place (3,000') over the weekend. I can only imagine how much dropped at Silver. Kirkwood had 30".

You may have to wait for the temperatures to warm up a bunch for Silver to be fishable. It has been in the low 20's here in the morning, and it will only be colder up there.

As far as the other Reservoirs up here go you have Upper & Lower Blue Lakes, Meadow Lake and Twin Lake south of Hope Valley off Blue Lakes Rd.. They are probably inaccessible due to the weather.

Coming down the Mokelumne you have Salt Springs Reservoir which has some big trout in it, but boat launching can be a major pain. The wind can also get treacherous as well.

West of there and at a higher elevation are Upper and Lower Bear River Reservoirs. They are actually on a tributary of the Mokelumne named of all things Bear River. When I was at work last week I heard there still was a bunch of snow around Lower Bear. This storm will have made that worse.

The next reservoir down from there is Tiger Creek Regulator Reservoir, then Tiger Creek Afterbay. Fishing can be tough here, but it is open year round and at a lower elevation.

Lake Tabeaud would be the next one down the canyon. There are no gasoline motors allowed, and no body contact, so make sure you wear waders if you are tubing. You can use electric motors here, or canoes, etc... I have not had much luck fishing it, but I have only been fishing there once. :x

The Mokelumne River below the Highway 49 bridge south of Jackson is open year round also. Access is one problem, flows are another. During the storm right before New Years I heard Pardee's inflow was in excess of 20,000 CFS. :shock:

To sum up make sure you check the weather before going fishing. If we get a warm rain on top of this snow the water can come up really fast in the river. :shock:

If you have any questions send me an email.

Dustin