Located near Spooner Summit where Highway 50 and 28 intersect, 80-acre Spooner Lake is unlike nearby Lake Tahoe in that it’s not very deep and is made up largely of snowmelt.
Spooner, located at an elevation of 7,100 feet, is also one of the few catch-and-release-only fisheries in the state, which makes its population of rainbows, browns and cutthroat trout pretty solid, just be sure to release these fish unharmed.
Spooner fishes like many backcountry lakes in the High Sierra, in that most types of small dry flies should work in the early morning and evening hours when the fish are starting to come to the surface.
If fish aren't rising, try damsels, pheasant tails, hare’s ears or midge larvas.
Midges and dries such as the elks hair caddis are go-to flies in the mornings and evenings.
This is part of a series on fly fishing near Lake Tahoe and the Nevada-California state line.
