Bucks Lake is a high reservoir in the Plumas forest, cold and clear enough that the trout grow honest and a little cautious. Rainbows make up the bread and butter, but it's the browns that keep you coming back — they hold deep and feed on their own schedule, mostly at the edges of the light. The fishing rewards a stillwater temperament: you settle in, you watch the wave, and you let the takes come to you rather than chasing them around the lake. Snowmelt keeps it cold well into the season, so the prime windows open later here than down the hill. Chironomids and damsels do most of the feeding work, with a Callibaetis hatch on the calmer mornings. Fish the margins and the windward shore, fish slow, and don't be in a hurry to leave when the light goes soft.
- Reservoir
- Mixed