A self sustaining population of brown trout lives in the lake. Fingerling McCounaghy rainbow trout were released into the North Yuba River seven miles above Bullards Bar Reservoir. 100,000 more fingerlings were released in 1986. This strain of trout has adapted to big, deep lakes in Tennessee, where they successfully spawn in rivers flowing into the lakes and survive to large sizes. These fish should now be anywhere from 16 to 22 inches in length, depending upon food sources and survival rate.
Yearlong fishing is available for a variety of warm water fish as well as cold water species.
The smallmouth bass is the leading warm water fishery. Smallmouths do well because of the rocky habitat. Other warm water species include the largemouth bass, sunfish, bluegill, white crappie and bullhead catfish. Populations vary for each species. The shoreline is very steep and the lake is often drawn down by summer.