Trying to warm trout-fishing expectations

The Eastern Sierra general trout-fishing season begins a month from Saturday, and Crowley Lake looks more suitable for skating than fishing.

Warm weather over the weekend helped widen small pockets of open water near creek and river inlets, but ice covering the reservoir remains thick and vast.

And perhaps etched in the lake concessionaire’s mind, as well as those of thousands of anglers who fish at Crowley every opening weekend, is the harsh winter of 1983. Back then the concessionaire was the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, which postponed opening day for a week, citing potential safety hazards caused by melting snow and ice.

Opening-weekend anglers went elsewhere, and the parks department missed out on what is generally the most lucrative weekend of the year.

It should be noted, though, that the 1982-83 winter was of the El Niño variety, with storms swirling through the region well into spring. All of the top mid-elevation fishing spots had at least some ice, and turnouts were meager.

This year, spring brought spring-like weather and a pre-opener thaw appears inevitable at nearby Convict Lake, where there is already thinning ice, and perhaps on the June Lake Loop, though all four of its lakes remain ice-covered.

At Crowley, which is by far the region’s most popular fishing hole, the thickness of ice is disconcerting and the countdown to April 26 is, for Lane Garrett, one made with doubly-crossed fingers. “I am a little concerned,” Garrett, who runs Crowley Lake Fish Camp, acknowledged late last week.

As he spoke it was 48 degrees, which felt like the tropics after one of the coldest Long Valley winters in recent history.

Garrett, who resides on lake property, registered temperature readings of 25 below-zero on 20 nights at Crowley, which sprawls mirage-like alongside U.S. 395 at about 7,000 feet. Garrett logged readings of at least 10-below on an additional 20 nights.

Cold weather has spilled like invisible fog from the slopes into the valley, where inversion has locked in the cold.

But Garrett remains optimistic and points out that successive days of strong wind could break up the ice and resolve the problem with weeks to spare.

Meanwhile, he’ll get to work clearing the marina, using a tractor to poke a hole, then a running boat motor to stir water and create a watery pathway. He’ll then drive a boat the length of the pathway, back and forth several hours each day, generating a wake that will widen the clearing.

Then Garrett can put the docks and rental boats in. The rest, he said, is up to Mother Nature.

People, places and things

* Brown bagging: Anglers might be interested to know that it was one week into the 1983 Eastern Sierra season that a 26-pound 5-ounce brown trout was caught at Lower Twin Lake near Bridgeport.

Joe Minami of Carson caught the 34 1/2 -inch behemoth on an eight-inch Rapala, and his catch was a state record until Danny Stearman of Bakersfield broke it four years later by reeling in a 26-pound 8-ounce brown at Upper Twin just a few hundred yards away.

* Orca-speak: Jessica Crance, who studied killer whale vocalization for five years at Sea World in San Diego, will share what she knows about the mammals’ vocal development during a free lecture tonight at 7:30 in Cabrillo Marine Aquarium at San Pedro. Details: (310) 833-9765 or acs-la.org.

* Halibut Derby: The 34th annual Marina del Rey Halibut Derby is April 5-6 in Santa Monica Bay, and the winner could be taking an extended vacation. First place for heaviest halibut is worth a trip for two to Hotel Punta Colorada in Baja California’s East Cape region.

If that fish weighs 40 pounds or more, it’s worth another trip for two to Sitka Point Lodge in Alaska.

If it weighs 50 pounds or more – not likely, but possible – it’s worth a Toyota Tundra truck.

Gaudy incentives aside, proceeds from entry fees do help fund worthy causes: the Marina del Rey Anglers’ youth fishing program and the White Seabass Ocean Enhancement Program.

For details: www.halibutderby.com.

* Top angler: Lake Forest’s Vince McGlade reeled in a 13.2-pound hook-jaw rainbow last week while fishing with an inflated nightcrawler at Laguna Niguel Lake.

The small regional park reservoir receives these beautiful trout from a mountain hatchery in Utah. The season’s final plant of 9,000 pounds is Thursday.

* Closing commentary: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is deserving of our occasional bonehead-of-the-week award for his canning of actor-director Clint Eastwood and brother-in-law Bobby Shriver from the parks commission.

The governor’s action apparently stemmed from their strong opposition to the construction of a toll road through San Onofre State Park, an effort that for now seems thwarted.

This is the same leader who’s advocating the closure of 48 state parks to offset his inability to balance the state’s checkbook.

It is hoped that attempt also will be thwarted, or shall we say terminated. Expect more on this issue soon.

pete.thomas@latimes.com