Leighton Lake Fishing Guide, Tuolumne County, California

• Overview

  You will find Leighton Lake in Tuolumne County, California. The water sits 8,307 feet up. Surface area is around 28 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Supplies mean a trip to Twain Harte, 26 miles off. Cedar Ridge lies 28 miles off, Tuolumne City another 29 miles. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Leighton Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Tuolumne County cover rainbow trout, brook trout, Sacramento sucker and bluegill. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Leighton Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give August about 59°F and January about 26°F. In milder years the surface never sets. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. March through May is the strongest run, with October and November a second stretch. The season on Leighton Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Karls Lake, 0.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Leighton Lake if anything is unclear.