Scotts Flat Reservoir

Scotts Flat Smallmouth On The Fly

Scotts Flat Reservoir is a medium size lake that can be found just outside of Nevada City. It is well-known for its smallmouth bass population and is a popular place to beat the heat in the summer. I’ve been wanting to check out Scotts Flat for a while now and with a free day off during the three Memorial Day weekend I packed my tube and rod and set out for the lake.

What got me excited about fly fishing Scotts Lake was an article that I read on targeting the smallmouth there. To reiterate a saying common saying, “Smallmouth are pound for pound the most hardest fighting fish on the end of a line”. Not only do they pull hard but they also jump at least once during the fight.

After driving up from Yuba City and paying my $10 day-use fee, I rigged my rod with two different colored buggers, inflated my tube, and began searching for my target. The water was very warm and the Memorial Day crowd was naturally there. A few casts in and I get my first of the day. I was hoping that this momentum would continue but I didn’t get a single take for the next four hours.

First Scotts Flat Smallmouth

I covered a lot of water from the bushes that were sticking out to the trees that I could see. No one was home. I felt defeated and confused. Could it be that there were a bunch of people on the lake? Could it be the wind? Could it be where I was fishing? I took a break and napped on the shore for a few minutes. When I awoke most of the crowds were gone. It was time to try again.

I figured out the crowds weren’t a factor because the same areas that I fished were still fishless. I moved to another cove that was much more rocky rather than muddy and hooked a big largemouth that immediately threw the hook when it jumped. Now I knew that I was doing something right and in the right place. As I continued fishing the surface of the lake turned to glass and the sky darkened from the sunset. I finally hooked into my next smallie. The fish were closer to the shore than I expected and were only hitting the olive bugger. I doubled up on the olive and worked my way along the banks. A few more fish hooked and I was done for the day. Two landed out of five hooked. Not too shabby…

Smooth Surface On Scotts Flat

Overall my experience was decent. I’d like to return to Scotts Flat sometime and explore the different coves along the lake. The only thing keeping me away is the day-use fee. The day-use area is not very big and can get crowded really fast. There are also no bouys separating how far the boats can come to the bank; I watched as a big boat came all the way to bank while navigating through a crowded coved of swimmers and kayaks. All-in-all Scotts Flat is nice but not that nice.

Martis Lake

Martis Lake And Broken Memories Of The Good Ole Days

Martis Lake is a small 70 acre lake that resides just outside of Truckee. It was known as California’s first reservoir to be designated as wild trout water and is one of the few lakes that is only open to fishing during general trout season from the last Saturday of April until the 15th of November. Like many of California’s famous fly fishing destinations, Martis Lake was in its prime during the 80’s. The lake was well-known for it’s trophy brown trout along with its famous blood midge hatch. Since the lake’s decline due to over-development, invasive species, milfoil, algae blooms, failed Lahontan cutthroat introduction, and drought damage, Martis is now just a memory of the good ole days.

I have a thing about fishing famous California fly fishing locales; it gives me a lesson in fly fishing history and broken memories that the generation before me experienced while fishing those waters. Martis Lake was one of those places I had to check out.

Pelicans At Martis

My first experience fishing Martis was a few days after it opened. The weather was relatively warm but the lake was running cold. Much of the vegetation was still dormant and the insects were just barely hatching. I was able to hook a nice bow while stripping a bugger on a 200g sink tip line but lost it before I could get it into the net. It wasn’t me it was the lake.

After waiting a few weeks I decided to test my stillwater skills again on Martis. I came prepared with a new intermediate sink-tip line and fresh new flies that were ready to be eaten. I started out at the south end of Martis towards the creek inlet. My 6WT was rigged with an intermediate sink line, a long leader, and two buggers. As I made my way around I felt a good take but I couldn’t set the hook in time. No fish on but at least I was doing something right.

Nice Mountain View

At about 11am I started seeing huge boils in the calmer areas of the lake. As I observed the surface of the water I saw tons of big carpenter ants struggling to get out of the water. This was my first time experiencing the ant “hatch”; needless to say I was unprepared. I waddled back to my car as quickly as I could to grab my rod that had the floating line. The one time I didn’t rig my 5WT and strap it onto my tube…

The risers were cruising but too unpredictable to target. I didn’t have a good target to cast to and soon after they stopped rising. At least now I know how important ants are in stillwater. I’ll definitely be tying up a few in preparation for my next outing.

I switched back to my buggers and began working my way around the lake again. I had several takes throughout the morning but I couldn’t get a good hook set. It was very frustrating to feel your line get pulled and you pull back to nothing. By mid-afternoon the lake had slowed down or at least that’s what I thought.

With my wrists being tired from hours of casting and retrieving I took a break. As I stopped to think I made a guess that the fish were further down now due to the high sun. I switched to my super fast sink-tip line and started working my buggers on a very fast retrieve. Fish on!
I figured it out. I hooked and lost several fish including a huge brown but was fortunate enough to land two fish. A beautiful brown and a fat Eagle Lake bow.

Martis Brown
Martis Bow

Both of the fish I landed were very healthy and clean. Martis may look like a shallow weedy green lake but it produces some quality fish. The lake has a ton of food for those fish to eat: midges, scuds, mayflies, baitfish, snails, damsels, you name it they are in there.

I wish I could have fished Martis when it was in it’s prime but it is what it is. Martis Lake is now a sleeper lake with plenty of tough-to-catch big wild fish that no one really cares about. I think I prefer it that way.

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