Lake Sterling Fishing in Placer County, California

• Overview

  The Placer County end of California holds Lake Sterling. The surface lies 6,991 feet up. With some 104 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Shoreline comes to about 1.4 miles, small enough to learn in a day. It ranks high for size among our Placer County listings. For supplies, Truckee is 16 miles out. Beyond it, Sunnyside-Tahoe City at 23 miles and Dollar Point at 24 miles. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Lake Sterling

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Survey and observation records for Placer County include sockeye salmon, rainbow trout, tahoe sucker and brook trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Lake Sterling responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 60°F for August and 28°F for January. Neither winter nor summer shuts things down for long. It should never be assumed safe, whatever the month says. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. That is the shape of the year on Lake Sterling. Long dry spells drop the level and concentrate them.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. There is somewhere to leave the car, half a mile off. There is camping recorded roughly half a mile off. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Should this one be busy, Mossy Pond is 1.9 miles off. Confirm before you fish Lake Sterling.