Ice Lake, California: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Ice Lake sits within Mono County in California. The surface lies 9,970 feet up. This is a pocket water of some 5 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. The nearest town is Yosemite Valley, 27 miles away. The big place round here is Clovis, 90 miles distant. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Ice Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Mono County list brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and owens sucker. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Fish Ice Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 53°F in August and bottom out at 22°F in February. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice-out usually falls in early June, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The open-water window runs from around early June to about late November in an average year. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. On Ice Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Maltby Lake sits 0.3 miles off and takes the overflow. What applies at Ice Lake may have changed since it was mapped.