Martis Creek Lake

Martis Creek Lake is a small Army Corps flood-control lake in the meadows between Truckee and Northstar, at about 5,800 feet. Most of the year it holds only some 70 acres of water behind a dam built for much more, and it is shallow, weedy and open to the wind. For years it was a catch-and-release Lahontan cutthroat lake. California moved it to the statewide lake rules in its recent rule simplification, and the creek below the dam and the streams that feed it stayed catch and release.

It is float tube water: chironomids under an indicator and small leeches and damsels stripped slowly along the weed edges, in spring after the snow melts and again in fall. Summer afternoons bring wind and warm water, so mornings are best. There is no boat ramp, and the Corps campground on the west side gives the easiest access.