Silver Lake

Silver Lake is the one on the June Lake Loop that fly anglers tend to pick first. It sits at the west end of the loop under the east face of Carson Peak, about 110 acres at 7,228 feet, a natural lake with Rush Creek running into the south end and out the north end toward Grant Lake. There is no dam on it, though Southern California Edison's hydro lakes upstream (Waugh, Gem and Agnew) set how much Rush Creek brings in. The water is clear, chironomids come off from the opener to the close, and the shelf along the shore falls away close enough to the bank that the trout feed within a long cast of the tules. CDFW planted it eight times between October 2025 and late August 2026, more than any other lake on the loop, and the June Lake Loop Trophy Trout Program adds trophy rainbows on top. Browns live here year round and run toward Rush Creek in the fall.

Fish it from a float tube with a long leader. At first and last light, hang a chironomid under a dry fly or a small indicator over the shallows at the Rush Creek inlet and at the outlet, and let the breeze do the work. When the sun is up, go to the drop-off: you can see the line where the pale shelf turns dark blue, and an intermediate or Type III line counted down along that edge finds the fish that left the flats. Callibaetis nymphs in size 12 to 14 and damsels work the weed edges in June and July. From September on, strip a Hornberg, a Grey Ghost or a dark Woolly Bugger along the drop and near the inlet for the bigger browns. These fish see a lot of flies and the water is very clear, so a 12-foot leader and 4x to 5x tippet are worth the trouble.

The lake has history. Tex Haynes caught the California state record brook trout here in 1932, 9 lb 12 oz, and an 18 lb 9 oz brown came out in October 1957. Brook trout are scarce now and nobody plants them, so treat that record as a story, not a plan. The trade-offs are wind and people. The afternoon wind comes up most days, and when it blows out of the north, the north end is the place to hide. Silver Lake Resort has run cabins, a store and rental boats beside the lake since 1916, and the Forest Service ramp and campground are next to it, so the shore near the road fills up on summer weekends. A 5 mph speed limit keeps the boats slow. The season runs from the last Saturday in April to November 15 with a 5-trout limit. Rush Creek below the outlet opens later and closes earlier than the lake, so check its dates before you follow fish downstream.