Fish, Angler Numbers Small : Trout: Three men are rescued when their boat is swamped in 60 m.p.h. wind at Crowley Lake as the Eastern Sierra season opens.

Crowley Lake’s run of bad luck continued, and the Twin Lakes near Bridgeport again claimed big-fish honors on the opening day of the Eastern Sierra trout season Saturday.

On the East Walker River near Bridgeport, there were no reported confrontations between anglers and ranchers, who posted six miles of that designated wild trout stream with “no trespassing” signs this week.

Tom Gieser of Ken’s Sporting Goods said the fishing was “extremely good to excellent,” with fish to five pounds and 19 inches.

But at Crowley, the fish were relatively small, and three anglers fell into the water at 12:30 p.m. when their 15-foot runabout swamped and partially sank in winds up to 60 m.p.h.

They were rescued in about five minutes by Los Angeles City lifeguards assigned to the L.A. Department of Water and Power reservoir, then treated for hypothermia.

Lifeguards identified the three as Jester Nash, 78, a local resident; Jerry Webb, 48, of Los Angeles; and Del Snediger, 62, no address.

“They said they’d be back (today),” lifeguard Libert Welch said.

At the time of the incident, patrol boats were attempting to clear the lake of smaller boats, several of which beached when their motors swamped.

Crowley, once the crown jewel of Eastern Sierra fishing, has experienced low water levels, fish dying, the disappearance of trophy-size fish and bad opening-weekend weather--all coincidental with California’s drought.

Lake manager Dave Griffith estimated about 5,500 anglers attended Saturday’s opening, down about one-third from last year and far below past years that approached 17,000.

The largest fish reported at Crowley was a 3-pound, 13-ounce rainbow by Mary Odea of Fallbrook, who used a Rebel lure. She claimed the H. Werner Buck trophy for opening-day honors with what was once was a common size at Crowley.

There probably were larger catches that were not reported because anglers assumed they were too small to qualify.

“But there wasn’t a person I talked to that didn’t catch fish or wasn’t happy with the fishing,” lake manager Dave Griffith said.

But the largest ones were elsewhere.

Joe Garcia of Bridgeport used a floating rainbow Rebel to take a 10-pound, 14-ounce, 33-inch brown trout at Lower Twin Lake, followed by Bob Sherer, of Bakersfield, who caught one 10-2 and 32 inches with a floating trout Rapala.

Others:

Lake Sabrina--Al Davis, Ontario, 9-pound, 6 1/2-ounce brown caught with a nightcrawler on four-pound test line;

Convict Lake--Patrick Myers, no address, 8-pound, 8-ounce rainbow caught with Power Bait;

Gull Lake--Craig Brueckner, Yorba Linda, 7-pound, 26-inch rainbow.

June and Gull lakes in the June Lake Loop produced numerous catches from four to five pounds, reflecting heavy plants of older brood stock by the Department of Fish and Game and local efforts to upgrade the size.

Karin Kniep, 10, of San Gabriel, fishing tiny Gull Lake with her father, Ron, had a five-fish limit totaling 14 pounds well before 7 a.m. Ron Kniep’s five totaled 11 pounds, 8 ounces and came more slowly.

“She went to sleep in the boat waiting for me,” Ron Kniep said. “I’ll never hear the end of this.”

Tackle stores reported no complaints about the new five-trout limit--down from 10--and Gieser said reports from popular Robinson Creek were that the planted fish were running larger than before.

Exceptional stream catches were reported from Big Pine Creek--a three-pound rainbow by Mark Hall, of Big Pine; and a two-pounder by Tim Waters, of Newbury Park--and a 20-incher from in front of the Rock Creek Lodge by an anonymous angler.