Getting There

To reach Feely Lake in Nevada County, drive to the Carr Lake trailhead by taking Highway 20 from Highway 80 at Yuba Pass. Take Highway 20 west until you can turn right on Bowman Lake Road. From Bowman Lake Road, follow the signs to the turnoff for Carr Lake Road. Carr Lake Road is an unimproved dirt road that is very rough but still manageable in a 2-wheel drive vehicle with modest clearance. The parking can be sparse due to the trailhead being very popular.

The Hike

The hike to Feely Lake is very short. From the parking areas at either Carr Lake or down the road at the overflow, the hike could not be more than 5-10 minutes with no appreciable ascents. For this reason, many hikers choose to take their children along this trail, as I did this trip, due to it's easy climbs and abundant lakes.

The Fishing

Feely Lake is a put-and-take fishery that is planted with Brook and Rainbow Trout. The fishing at Feely Lake is great for Brookies and Chunky Rainbows in the 10-14 inch range. Feely Lake fishing rivals that of nearby Penner Lake but receives less pressure due to it's close proximity to the trailhead which I think makes many hikers overlook it along their way to more popular destinations.

My four year old daughter and I started fishing Feely Lake first before heading over to Island Lake down the trail. We landed our first Brookie on some orange Powerbait and had lots of action on inflated crawlers. I hooked into a large fish that eventually got off the hook but left me wondering how big it actually was all day. After having many bites, but landing only one fish, we chose to take our Brook Trout with us and vowed to return the next day to try and get that big fella I know is still in there.

The next day we fished Feely Lake in the morning and I managed to bring in a husky Rainbow that was close to three pounds. I released him back into Feely Lake.