Turnaround Lake in Plumas County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In California, Turnaround Lake falls inside Plumas County. Height above sea level is 7,067 feet. At about 33 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. You are 14 miles from Chester. Chico sits 63 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Within a short run: 0.4 miles away is Black Lake, Twin Lakes (0.6 miles), 1.1 miles away is Triangle Lake, Eleanor Lake (1.2 miles) and 1.2 miles away is Jewel Lake. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Turnaround Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Plumas County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, brook trout and Sacramento sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Turnaround Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 28°F to 58°F. Whether it freezes depends on the year. It is not guaranteed even in a cold spell, so check yourself. March through May is the strongest run, with October and November a second stretch. The season on Turnaround Lake rarely departs from it. Weed growth peaks in late summer and changes where you can fish.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Failing this one, try Black Lake, 0.4 miles away. Treat access at Turnaround Lake as something to verify.