Beating the Heat at Union Valley
July 2, 2006
When the lower elevations are grinding it out through August’s repressive Dog Days, I like to head for the high country. One of my favorite spots to seek refuge from the heat is Northern California’s Crystal Lakes Basin – Union Valley Reservoir in particular.
If you’ve never been to Union Valley, it’s a wonderful spot up on Ice House Road off Highway 50 just east of Pollock Pines (about 1.5 hours east of Sacramento). The lake sits atop a nearly 5,000-foot ridge and features sweeping vistas of green forests and craggy and (still snow dotted) Sierra peaks.
The weather there is awesome this time of year and the water is perfect for swimming.
And oh yea, there’s the fishing….
Union Valley has a nice mix of species to keep you interested. Mackinaw inhabit its deep shelves and drop-offs and can sometimes top 20 pounds. Kokanee salmon are extremely abundant and there are also plenty of rainbows and some nice brown trout as well. The lake also harbors a sleeper population of smallmouth bass that is virtually untapped.
I took a drive up to the lake yesterday to see what was happening and, from what I saw, I’d suggest you head up there this weekend. Kokanee were our main targets and I found a ridiculous amount of them near the dam. Trolling back and forth along the dam face, my fishfinder went black with big schools of kokes all day long – most were 55 to 80 feet deep.
In the mix were schools of big, mature kokes in the 15- to 18-inch range, along with some groups of smaller salmon that were next year’s models. If we caught too many little guys in a row, I’d switch depth or move slightly to get back on the adult fish. My best success came on Bob Sparre’s Radical Glow spinners in white behind copper/pink tire track Sep’s dodgers. I tried straight white corn and caught some fish but the stuff I soaked in a Zip-Loc the night before in Pautzke’s red Nectar was the hot ticket.
I spent some time looking around in other areas and finally found some nice schools of salmon tucked way in the back of the Jones Fork arm of the lake 86 feet down. Those fish were also a mixture of adults and 2 year-olds, so I had to wade through a dink or two for every keeper.
On my outing, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time trout fishing but did manage to find some 12-inch rainbows while trolling Rapalas 15 to 20 feet down near the mouth of the Powerhouse inlet. I didn’t mess with the macks, either, though I did see some suspended under the kokanee schools over by the dam.
After fishing, we parked the boat out in the middle of the lake and took a swim. The fishfinder reported the water temp as 72.4 degrees – absolutely perfect!
Camping
There are 6 campgrounds around the lake’s perimeter. For information on camping, contact the El Dorado National Forest, Crystal Basin Recreation Area, Pacific Ranger District at (530) 644-6048.
Launching
Union Valley features three paved and free-of charge boat ramps. I used the Peninsula Launch near the Sunset Campground yesterday.
Other Attractions
Nearby are also Ice House Reservoir and Loon Lake. Ice House pumps out lots of planter rainbows and browns and the occasional lunker brownie. Loon is primarily a rainbow fishery though there’s the occasional brown up there as well.
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