Fishing Fordyce Creek
Nevada County
Fordyce Creek runs from Fordyce Lake to Lake Spaulding in Nevada County. It lies only a few miles north of Interstate 80 near Cisco Grove in California's northern Sierra Nevada.
Fordyce Creek offers good fishing for rainbow and brook trout along its 9-mile length. An Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) route, which attracts a lot of 4-wheeler enthusiasts, runs from Indian Springs to Fordyce Lake. A spur trail from the OHV route cuts over to the Eagle Lake area and then connects to Fordyce Creek, making an easy 3-mile hike.
I chose instead to approach from the lower end of Fordyce Creek by way of Lake Spaulding on a less well-known trail, thus avoiding the 4-wheeler traffic. It's only a 2½-mile hike. The trail starts at an elevation of 5,500' and drops a couple hundred feet to Lake Spaulding, making it a good early season outing.
Sidetrips
If you have someone to pick you up, you could make a one-way trip, either by starting at Eagle Lakes and exiting at Spaulding Lake or the other way around. It's about a 7½-mile hike with only a few hundred feet of elevation changes.
Nearby Featured Trips in Nevada County
- Crooked Lake - a wonderful place for carefree fishing
- Glacier Lake - a beautiful setting with golden trout in the lake
- Lower Lola Montez Lake - easy hike from I80 near Donner summit
- Milk Lake - great fly fishing close to the trailhead at Grouse Lookout
- Penner Lake - one of the best fishing lakes in Grouse Ridge
- Round Lake - a quiet, little lake in Grouse Ridge
In My Creel
- Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear
- Woolly Bugger
- #16 Olive Bead Head Bird's Nest
- #8 Zug Bug
- #16 Soft Hackle
- Panther Martin
At Fordyce Creek, I used a lot of wet flies, but I also tried some casts with my spin casting outfit (with no luck).
Recommended Books, Lures, and Flies for Fishing Fordyce Creek
- Top Trails: Sacramento: Must-do Hikes for Everyone, Steve Evans. Covers hikes from California's Sacramento Valley to the Sierra, including a section on Grouse Ridge.
- 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.
- Mepps Plain Lure Assortment Trouter Kit Spinner blades are silver or gold plated, copper, or polished brass .
- 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.