Eagle Lake Trout

Folks who don't live in California, might never have heard of Eagle Lake trout. Named for the lake in which they reside Eagle Lake - the second largest natural lake in California), these trout are Rainbows. Originally they were only found in Eagle Lake and Pine Creek (which flows into Eagle Lake). These waters have a high alkaline concentration and Eagle Lake trout are the only species that is able to survive in them.

Over the years less water has flowed into Pine Creek, thereby eliminating the natural spawning grounds. For years, Eagle Lake trout were thought to be extinct. But in the 1950's, a handful of these trout were discovered in Pine Creek. To protect the fish, the California Fish and Game Department decided to capture, spawn and raise Eagle Lake trout.

The Crystal Lake hatchery primarily handles this project for the State of California. Each year during spawning season, Eagle Lake trout are trapped in Pine Creek and their eggs are taken for development at the fish hatcheries.

Thanks to this hatchery, over 200,000 of these trout are raised each year and released into Eagle Lake and other Northern California waters.

Eagle Lake trout must weigh a half pound before they are released into the lake. So as you can imagine, those caught by anglers are quite a bit bigger (3 - 5 pounds being the average size). The largest record Eagle Lake trout caught weighed about 15 pounds.

The most successful fishing areas in the lake during the Spring months appear to be in the rocky shoal areas along the north and south shores.

Trolling is very popular and successful on Eagle Lake (especially in summer months when water temperatures rise). But anglers also have success when shore fishing with nightcrawlers. Medium weight spinning rods, using wobblers and plugs, and heavy fly rods, offering large wet flies, all do well on Eagle Lake.

Fishing at Eagle Lake opens each year on Memorial Day weekend (in May) and closes on December 31st. For more information about Eagle Lake, click here.