Fishing Eagle Lake
El Dorado County
Only a mile from the trailhead at Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay, Eagle Lake offers great fishing for rainbow trout in a high Sierra setting. Although it attracts a lot of day hikers during the summer, early risers can be there at dawn and get in several hours of quiet fishing before the first knapsacker arrives.
It is only a short hike, but Eagle Lake is not a great place to take small children for fishing because access to the lake along the shoreline is impeded by trees and bushes. However, experienced anglers will have no problem.
Eagle Lake also serves as a great place from which to launch a longer fishing-backpacking trip into the Desolation Wilderness. A night at Eagle Lake will help to acclimate hikers to the elevation and have them ready the next do to push on up to the wonderful fishing lakes that abound in the wilderness.
Eagle Lake
Sidetrips
From Eagle Lake anglers can head on up the trail to Velma Lakes, a family of lakes at about 7,800 feet. Gentle terrain there makes moving from one lake to another easy, even where there are no established trails. More ambitious hikers continue on to Lake Fontanillis, another mile beyond the Velma Lakes. Not far beyond that is Dicks Lake. Good fishing and campsites can be found at all these lakes.
Yellow-Legged Frog Habitat Restoration in the Desolation Wilderness
In an effort to restore the habitat of the endangered yellow-legged frog in the Sierra, US Fish and Wildlife has removed all fish from the following lakes: Lucille, Margery, Tamarack, Ralston, Cagwin, LeConte, and Jabu as well as from connecting streams and a pond west of Lake Lucille.
Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe
In My Creel
- Mepps silver Plain Aglia
- Acme Fjord Jr.
- Hot Shot
- Luhr Jensen Tiger Tail
- Acme Kastmaster
- 3/8 oz. black Rooster Tail
I stuffed a number of lures and spinners into my daypack.
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Nearby Featured Trips in El Dorado County
- Dardanelles Lake - an easy 3¾-mile hike from near South Lake Tahoe leads to the lake with good fishing.
- Susie Lake - basecamp for fishing the Desolation Wilderness
- Velma Lakes - hike 4 miles from Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay to these wilderness lakes with brook and rainbow trout.
- Wrights Lake - a magnificent mountain lake in the Crystal Basin. Campgrounds on its shores. Fish practically from your doorstep.
Eagle Creek Bridge
Recommended Books, Lures, and Flies for Fishing Eagle Lake
- High Sierra Fishing, Basics to Advanced Tactics, Billy Van Loek. This is the book I go back to again and again to improve my fishing technique in the high Sierra.
- Mepps Plain Lure Assortment Trouter Kit Spinner blades are silver or gold plated, copper, or polished brass .
- Fly Fishing Trout Flies | Essential Flies for Trout | Hand-Tied Dry Flies, Nymphs, Streamers 32 of the most proven Trout flies, well-known for their timeless fish-catching effectiveness.
- California's Best Fly Fishing: Premier Streams and Rivers from Northern California to the Eastern Sierra, Chip O'Brien. An up-to-date guidebook, complete with maps, detailed descriptions of fishing locations, analysis of the seasonal differences which affect fishing, and fly patterns.
