Cape Lake Fishing near Quincy, California

• Overview

  Cape Lake is one of the Plumas County waters in California. What surrounds it is mixed woodland. It covers about 12 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Nearest town is Quincy, 14 miles off. The big place round here is Chico, 36 miles distant. Neighbouring water: Mud Lake near enough 0.7 miles, Blue Lake at about 0.7 miles, Lower Bucks Lake near enough 1.9 miles, Bald Eagle Lake at about 2.2 miles and Three Lakes near enough 3 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Cape Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Fish documented in Plumas County include rainbow trout, brook trout, Sacramento sucker and brown trout. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Cape Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 32°F to 62°F. The freeze here is occasional rather than annual. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. At Cape Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. For a change of water, Mud Lake is 0.7 miles distant. None of that is settled for Cape Lake in what we hold.