Fishing the Silver Fork American River
Located just off Highway 50 near Kyburz, the Silver Fork of the American River is a small river that contains a mix of stocked trout by the campgrounds and wild fish in the other stretches. It’s a nice place to stop for some fishing on the way to Tahoe.
About the Creek
For the most part, the creek alternates between slower moving meadow stretches and faster moving granite-walled channels. There are a lot of obvious deep pools here that hold a lot of fish. If you want to catch stockers, find the campgrounds and the bridges and fish the pools next to them - nightcrawlers and mice tails will do the trick, drifted through the pool. The fish aren’t huge but they can be a lot of fun for the kids.
In the other parts of the river, there are a lot of small, but beautiful wild trout. They readily attack flies, small jigs, and spoons. I’ve caught mostly rainbows and brookies, but I’m sure there are some browns out there.
For some reason most of the fish here seem to like attacking lures and bait right off the drop. So don’t keep your line in the water too long - keep casting!
On another note, this river very pretty. Much of the river is not developed and fairly isolated, so it’s a great place to disconnect from the world not far from home in the Bay Area.
Notes
The official website. There are two campgrounds here right on the river - the China Flat and Silver Fork Campgrounds. Both are first-come-first-serve.
Check out my stream trout fishing guide.
Recommended Gear
For the trout:
Panther Martin, 1/16 oz
Powerbait Micetails