Blue Granite Lake in Siskiyou County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Blue Granite Lake in Siskiyou County, California. This is farm and woodlot country. Surface area runs to about 12 acres — small enough to read in one session. The town to know is Happy Camp, 16 miles out. It is 149 miles to Chico, the nearest city. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Blue Granite Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Fish documented in Siskiyou County include rainbow trout, brook trout, Chinook salmon, klamath smallscale sucker and brown trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Blue Granite Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 60°F in August and bottoms out near 35°F in December. In milder years the surface never sets. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. That is the shape of the year on Blue Granite Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. A campsite lies 140 yards away for anyone staying over. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. For a change of water, Gold Granite Lake is 0.8 miles distant. Check the position at Blue Granite Lake before loading the car.