Deer Hill Reservoir, California: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  This water sits in Modoc County, California. It stands 4,984 feet above sea level. At about 109 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 1.9 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Alturas is the closest place, 25 miles off. Beyond it, Lakeview at 31 miles and Altamont at 60 miles. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Deer Hill Reservoir

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Reported across Modoc County: Sacramento sucker, modoc sucker and rainbow trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The near bank of Deer Hill Reservoir is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  August runs about 65°F on average, January about 29°F. The season stretches long at both ends here. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. March through May is the strongest run, with October and November a second stretch. On Deer Hill Reservoir the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. South Mountain Reservoir, 2.9 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Deer Hill Reservoir in what we hold.