Union Valley Reservoir (Crystal Basin)
Crystal Basin, off Hwy 50 (Pollock Pines) · near Pollock Pines · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- ~April–October; kokanee prime June–Aug, big browns spring & fall. ~4,870 ft
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+). Hwy 50 stays open year-round, but Ice House Road and the campgrounds are snow-affected — effectively a spring-through-fall destination.
What is here
- Features
- Crystal Basin's biggest reservoir · Strong kokanee troll fishery · Trophy browns & mackinaw · Extensive campgrounds
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Trolling · Bait · Spin
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Kokanee · Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Mackinaw (lake trout)
- Intl tip
- Run a two-tier trolling spread — a kokanee dodger/hoochie down 30–50 ft plus a larger plug for the chance at a trophy brown. Mornings are best before boat traffic and afternoon wind.
The guide
The centerpiece of the Crystal Basin Recreation Area, Union Valley is a large, cold reservoir that trollers prize for its kokan…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Union Valley Reservoir (Crystal Basin) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.862, -120.432