Upcountry Lakes

Last Friday I had a chance to do some work around the house. The Amador Air District allowed a burn day, so I did some raking and burning of pine needles. The area I usually rake is about an acre in size, I raked half. Apparently I'm not smart enough to know that I can't rake half an acre without some reaction from my old body. What that reaction turned out to be, was my 35 year old brain being reminded that my 63 year old body can't do that much anymore. So I moaned and groaned around the house Saturday and Sunday.

This morning, I was still gimping some what, so I decided to take a spin up the hill and see what the lakes look like up there. When I got to Bear River Reservoir, I parked and snapped a shot.

This should have been an early indication, but who am I to let a little snow get in the way. So I moseyed around (got this from Jimmie Carter's term in the White House) to see what the lake looked like. Heard at Cook's Station (stopped for coffee) that the lake was icing out.

Bear River Reservoir (Elevation 5850')

Don't see any water, do you?

Next stop was Silver Lake. Not a chance of water here.

Silver Lake (Elevation 7261)

Then on to Caples Lake. Remember all those trout I caught there last year? No fishing today. One thing that really spooked me about this picture, is all the footprints (you can see them in the picture) from people walking around on this lake. You know me and iced over lakes.

Caples Lake (Elevation 7800')

Second to the last stop on the trip is by far, my favorite (can't wait to get my float tube in here) Red Lake. No flippering today.

Red Lake (Elevation 8200')


By the looks of the lakes, I'd say it's going to be end of April, early May before there's any flippering done at any of these lakes.

Moving on, trout season opens on Saturday April 24th for the creeks and rivers. Some are open all year if you're using artificial barbless (always check the regulations), but not the one below. The creek is called Gerle Creek. It's in a place called PIPI Valley which just happens to be up the hill from where I live. I fished it once last year before I got into fly fishing, but it was mid-Summer and there were too many people swimming in the creek to be able to catch anything. Which brings me to why I mentioned opening day. I guarantee there won't be anyone swimming there on April 24th (water temperture 0 or colder. OK, maybe 40 or so), but I believe I might be wetting a fly or two.

Gerle Creek (Elevation about 4500')

Well, that's the update on the upcountry lakes. Still plenty of white up there, but that only means the lakes will be full come Summer.

Till next time.

Mark (Shoreman)