Caples Lake
Carson Pass, Hwy 88 (Kirkwood) · near Kirkwood · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Ice-off (late May–June) through October; iced much of winter. Prime right after ice-off. ~7,802 ft
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+). Hwy 88 over Carson Pass closes with winter snow — Caples sits at the pass, so it's a late-spring-through-fall proposition (or a snow-travel ice-fishing spot).
What is here
- Features
- True high-alpine lake at 7,800 ft · Big holdover browns · Brookies & cutthroat · Resort with boat rentals; winter ice fishing
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Trolling · Bait · Fly · Spin
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Rainbow trout · Brown trout · Brook trout · Cutthroat trout
- Intl tip
- Time your trip to ice-off — the first weeks after the lake opens, trout cruise the shallows and shoreline bait/casting is deadly. Weather turns fast at this elevation; carry warm gear even in July.
The guide
Sitting just below Carson Pass at nearly 7,800 feet, Caples is a genuine alpine trout lake that rewards anglers right after ice…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Caples Lake — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.699, -120.046