Recently in Highway 4: Ebbetts Pass to junction with Highway 89 Category

East Fork of the Carson River and Wolf Creek (headwaters) / Highway 4

Road condition:    Paved to gravel     

Region: Alpine County / Markleeville           Drainage: Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

Description: Coursing out of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, the East Fork plunges down through a steep canyon to enter Wolf Creek Meadows.  This is the furthermost section of the river accessed by vehicle.  Good fishing can be experienced all along Wolf Creek Road, as well as along Wolf Creek.  From Wolf Creek to Carson Falls, which is approximately fourteen miles, the river is classified as a Wild Trout stream.  Above the falls the stream and its tributaries are closed to protect Lahontan cutthroats.

Species: Stocked rainbows along the access road from Highway 4 to Wolf Meadows, which is approximately six miles from the Highway 4 turn-off.  Wolf Creek beyond the meadows has wild trout populations.

Closest town or supplies: Markleeville

Contacts: Alpine Fly Fishing, 14841 Highway 89, Markleeville, CA 96120, (530) 542-0759 0r (530) 694-2562.

Nearest campground: Primitive camping spots are available in the area, or you may camp at Silver Creek Campground on Highway 4.

Fishing season: General season

Tips: Bring mosquito repellant as well as mosquito head netting tucked in your vest if the fishing is good but the vector attacks are in full force.

Favorite lures or bait:

Favorite fly patterns:

Stocking information: 20,000+ trout in the 10-12-inch range

Nearby fishing: Silver Creek (small, heavy willow thickets)

Additional information: At Wolf Meadows the dirt road forks.  The left fork is a 4x4 ranch road that leads to Dixon Mine.  This rough road only goes about a mile and dead-ends on a bluff over-looking the East Fork. Follow the right fork through the meadow section to a primitive campground.  Anglers willing to hike up Wolf Creek will be rewarded with small, but wild rainbows.

Directions: From Highway 395, turn left at the junction with Highway 89 and proceed over Monitor Pass to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn left on Highway 4 and drive ___ miles to the Wolf Creek Road.  Turn left on Wolf Creek Road to Wolf Creek Meadows.  The road is paved for ___ miles and changes to a dirt and gravel road.

Maps courtesy of mytopo.com

Silver Creek / Highway 4

Map courtesy of mytopo.com

Road condition:   Paved      

Region: Between Ebbetts Pass and the Junction with Highway 89

Drainage: East Fork Carson River

Description: This tiny, five-mile creek is shrouded in brush, willow brambles and granite rocks and boulders, which provide small pocket water.  Casting is most difficult along the creek for its entire course.  Just penetrating the thicket to poke and probe makes this a challenging little creek.  For that reason most anglers pass by heading for larger water.  It is, however, generously stocked particularly above or below bridge crossings.  Scratches, hats knocked off, fly line snags and the difficulty of bringing in a fish are certainly worthwhile when you stick a dark and wild rainbow over ten inches.

Species: Stocked rainbows

Closest town or supplies: Markleeville

Contacts: Alpine Fly Fishing, 14841 Highway 89, Markleeville, CA 96120, (530) 542-0759 0r (530) 694-2562.

Nearest campground: Silver Creek Campground

Fishing season: General season

Tips:

Favorite lures or bait:

Favorite fly patterns:

Stocking information: 3,000 10-12-inch rainbows

Nearby fishing: East Fork Carson River, Wolf Creek

Additional information:

Directions: : From Highway 395, turn left at the junction with Highway 89 and proceed over Monitor Pass to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn left on Highway 4 and drive *** ___ *** miles to***

Kinney Reservoir and Kinney Lakes / Highway 4

Elevation:

Road condition:   Paved     

Day hikes to fishing: Lower and Upper Kinney Lakes

Region: Just east of Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4

Description of Kinney Reservoir: Kinney Reservoir sits right along Highway 4 and offers good bank fishing for stocked rainbows averaging ten inches.  The reservoir is also home to some small brook trout. Kinney Lakes are a short distance away.

Lake size:  

Closest town or supplies: Markleeville

Contacts:

Facilities: None

Nearest campground: Bloomfield Campground, Highland Lakes

Boating:

Fishing season: General season

Tips:

Favorite lures or bait:

Favorite fly patterns:

Stocking information: Kinney Reservoir is stocked annually with 3,000 rainbows and 2,000 fingerling brook trout.  Upper and Lower Kinney Lakes, a short hike away, are planted with fingerlings each year.

Additional information:

Nearby fishing: North Fork Mokelumne River

Directions: From Highway 395, turn left at the junction with Highway 89 and proceed to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn west on Highway 4 and drive ***

Bloomfield Campground / Highway 4

Area: Yes, I slipped over the pass, and it is no longer the “Eastern Slopes”, but how could I not squeeze this one in when it is so close to Ebbetts Pass!

Stanislaus National Forest

Administered by: Calaveras Ranger District, (209) 795-1381

Elevation: 7,800

Setting: The campsites are located in a timbered setting along the banks of the North Fork of the Mokelumne River near Highlands Lake.

Season Length: Subject to weather conditions, 

Number of sites: 20

Fee: $8.

RV sites:  Yes   RV’s up to:  16-feet  Trailers are not recommended   No Hook-ups   Garbage: Pack-it-out!

Toilets: Vault    Water: Yes, hand-pump well     Picnic tables and fire rings    

Nearest town: West to Arnold or East to Markleeville

Nearby facilities: West to Arnold or East to Markleeville

Nearby fishing: North Fork Mokelumne River or Highlands Lake

Reservations:  No

Additional information:  Pets must be kept on a leash.  Please note that the dates and prices below are subject to change and reflect 2007 data.  If listed, the campground opening dates are approximate due to weather conditions.

Directions: From Highway 395, turn north on Highway 89.  Drive ____ miles to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn left (west) and drive ______miles to Ebbetts Pass.  Continue 1.5 miles west over the pass and turn left on Highland Lakes Road.  Drive two miles to the campground entrance on the right.

Map courtesy of mytopo.com

Upper and Lower Highlands Lakes / Highway 4

Elevation: 8,600

Road condition:   Paved     Note: Highway 4 opening across Ebbetts Pass typically happens in late April or early May; however, after a heavy snow-pack year, the road may not be cleared until late May.  During heavy snow years, Highland Lakes Road will not be open until late May or June.  Call ahead for early season arrival.  Trailers are not recommended.

Day hikes to fishing: Highland Creek is the outlet to Upper Highland Lake, which eventually works its way down the mountain five miles to Spicer Reservoir.  It can be tough hiking, but fishing is good for pan-sized rainbows.

Region: Ebbetts Pass area          Area/description: Situated in a high altitude alpine setting, Highland Lakes offer fishing in headwater lakes, as well as in the small tributary creek, Highland Creek.  Heading to the lakes from Highway 4, the road passes by the North Fork Mokelumne River, which good fishing for those willing to prowl and work a lot of water. 

Lake size:     Depth:      Species: Stocked fingerling brook trout and carry-over populations.

Closest town or supplies: Markleeville

Contacts: Calaveras Ranger District, (209) 795-1381

Facilities: None

Nearest campground: Highland Lakes Campground

Boating: These two small lakes are best suited for tubers, but keep in mind that the area is frequently wind swept. 

Fishing season: General        Best times:

Tips:

Favorite lures or bait:

Favorite fly patterns:

Stocking information: 500 fingerlings in the upper lake and 1500 fingerlings in the lower lake.

Additional information:  The fishing in these lakes can best be described as “fair” fishing for dinks.

Nearby fishing: The meadow section of the North Fork Mokelumne River that parallels Highland Lakes Road offers good fishing for fly anglers who keep probing and moving.

Directions: From Highway 395, turn north on Highway 89.  Drive ____ miles to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn left (west) and drive ______miles to Ebbetts Pass.  Continue 1.5 miles west over the pass and turn left on Highland Lakes Road.  Drive 7.5 miles to the campground.

Highland Lakes Campground / Highway 4

Area: Ebbetts Pass area

Stanislaus National Forest

Administered by: Calaveras Ranger District, (209) 795-1381

Setting: An alpine forest setting, the campground is surrounded by high peaks and adjacent to the lakes.

Road conditions: The roads are rough and not recommended for camping trailers.

Elevation: 8,600

Season Length: Subject to weather conditions, 

Number of sites: 35

Fee: $8.

RV sites:  Yes   RV’s up to: 16-feet   No Hook-ups:   Garbage:  Pack-it-out!

Toilets: Vault    Water: Yes, hand-pump well      Picnic tables and fire rings   

Nearest town: Markleeville

Nearby facilities: Markleeville

Nearby fishing: Highland Lakes, North Fork Mokelumne River

Reservations:  No

Additional information:  Limited camping is available for equestrians with horse trailers in the lower campground.  Pets must be kept on a leash.  Please note that the dates and prices below are subject to change and reflect 2008 data.  If listed, the campground opening dates are approximate due to weather conditions. 

Directions: From Highway 395, turn north on Highway 89.  Drive ____ miles to the junction with Highway 4.  Turn left (west) and drive ______miles to Ebbetts Pass.  Continue 1.5 miles west over the pass and turn left on Highland Lakes Road.  Drive 7.5 miles to the campground entrance on the right.

 Map courtesy of mytopo.com

Map courtesy of mytopo.com

Highway 89  Side-Trip  West of Topaz Lake on Highway 395

Elevation: 7200

Road condition:   Paved    

Region: Alpine County / Carson River Drainage         

Area/description:

Lake size: 129 acres     Depth:     

Species: Large Lahontan cutthroats reaching 20+ inches

Closest town or supplies:

Contacts: Alpine Fly Fishing, 14841 Highway 89, Markleeville, CA 96120, (530) 542-0759 0r (530) 694-2562.

Facilities: Portable toilets

RV campground:

Nearest campground: Silver Creek (See Highway 4), Markleeville Campground

Boating: Gasoline motors are prohibited, but car top prams with electric motors are allowed.  Most anglers use float tubes and pontoon kick-boats.  Launching is primitive from the parking lot down an access road to the water.

Fishing season: General fishing season: Opens last Saturday in April and closes on the last Sunday in October.

Tips: A quiet float tube and a black Woolly Bugger is the best way to start.  But don’t look for solitude.  This little lake can become mighty crowded with tubers until the blustery conditions of fall arrive.

Fishing restrictions: (Review recent regulations.) Artificial lures and flies, barbless hooks and catch-and-release.  The lake is only open Friday through Sunday. 

Favorite fly patterns: Standard stillwater patterns such as Woolly Buggers, Green Matukas, Denny Rickard’s Seal Buggers and tried-and-true nymphs that work on Bridgeport Reservoir and Crowley Lake work just as well here.

Additional information: The DFG uses the lake as a rearing lake for the endangered Lahontan Cutthroat trout, which have been hybridized in many lakes in the region.  Eggs are gathered and sent to hatcheries at Hot Creek and Mount Shasta.  Many of these hatched fingerlings return to the East Fork Carson River.

Nearby fishing: East Fork Carson River, Silver Creek

Directions: From Highway 395, turn left at the junction with Highway 89 and proceed over Monitor Pass eight miles to an un-marked dirt access road to the lake parking lot.  The lake is approximately four miles from the junction with Highway 4.