Trumpeting the Trout : Locals Claim Crowley Lake Fishing Has Been Better Than Most Realize

Matt Nitschke, a fishing guide based in Bishop, was recounting an experience at one of his favorite fishing holes.

“I went in about 3 o’clock to experiment with some lures,” he said. “I used a yellow and white crappie rig with a little sparkle, and by 5 o’clock I almost left because I was so tired and my arms were so sore from catching fish.

“I released 20 browns in the 14- to 16-inch range and brought home a 21-inch rainbow that took me 15 minutes to land.”

When his spinning reel jammed, Nitschke switched to a fly rod, “and I probably lost another 10 or 15 because I couldn’t hammer the hook in good,” he said.

Nitschke was float-tubing on the Crooked Creek arm at the south end of Crowley Lake.

Crowley Lake? In the good old days?

Nope. Last week.

“Fishing has been pretty good this year,” Nitschke said--an opinion echoed by those who didn’t give up on Crowley when the Eastern Sierra fishery fell on hard times in recent years.

“Trout fishing was excellent, the best in 10 or 15 years (with) consistently big fish all the way to July 31,” said Dave Griffith, who manages the concessions for the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks.

Knowledgeable locals are encouraged, with reservations.

“One of the best fishing seasons for trout we’ve had in four or five years,” said George O’Nan, who has a trailer park at Crowley and a boat business down the hill in Bishop.

Randy Witters, who runs a lodge at Crowley, said: “Fishing was good all season--probably because there weren’t many fishermen on opening weekend.”

Poor Crowley. Once it was regarded as the crown jewel of the Eastern Sierra, not for its beauty--the banks are barren--but for the quality of fishing.

But when Crowley stopped producing, many fishermen went elsewhere. Griffith said only about 5,500 came for the traditional opening day last April, down from 9,500 in 1989 and a big decrease from previous years. Traffic has been light all summer.

Although the Department of Fish and Game--whenever it finds the funding--continues to study the lake to see why the fishing diminished, some locals whose businesses depend on income from visiting anglers claimed that L.A.’s management of the lake was designed to drive folks away. They blamed the unreasonable fishing hours, high rental fees for boats, run-down facilities and surly employees, but mostly they blamed the seemingly poor fishing.

Fishermen would put up with a lot for great fishing, but the word went out: The big fish were gone.

Not so, the locals say.

“If you know what you’re doing, you’ll catch fish there,” Nitschke said.

O’Nan published a small handbook titled: “How to Catch Fish in Lake Crowley.” Inside, the pages are blank.

But, O’Nan said, even 1989 “was the best year we’ve had on this lake in 20 years, but you’ve got to be a fisherman to catch ‘em.”

There are other factors as well:

BOAT FEES

The L.A. Department of Water and Power owns the lake; Recreation and Parks runs it and sets the rates.

Boats with motors rent for $50 a day until July 1 and $40 thereafter, the highest rates recorded in a survey of several lakes but not far out of line. On opening weekend the half-day rates have been $50 mornings and $40 afternoons.

Griffith said the afternoon rates will be eliminated next season.

“We (started) that back in ’83 when tons of fish were being caught and people could catch a limit in that time,” he said.

For those with their own boats, there is a $75 inspection fee, which has caused a lot of U-turns at the entrance.

No other lake charges an inspection fee. Griffith said it is a misnomer and a misunderstanding because it is usually paid at the time a visitor has his boat inspected for safety.

It’s actually a lake-use fee, and it’s good for the 120-day season, comparing with the $55 fee Big Bear Lake charges for the full year. A boat owner has the options of paying $10 a day or fees of $35 for April and May, then decreasing monthly to $20 for August.

The real downside is that all of the revenue goes into Recreation and Parks’ general fund, where it’s used to support non-revenue programs, such as L.A. recreation centers, and not enough returns to Crowley for maintenance and capital improvements.

HOURS

From opening day until Aug. 1, Crowley’s gates open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.--well before dark. From Aug. 1 until Labor Day, the hours are 8 a.m.--well after first light--to 7 p.m., and the gates remain locked Tuesdays.

Most lakes don’t even have gates.

“Any fisherman knows the fish start (biting) at first light,” O’Nan said.

Nitschke: “And give ‘em until 9 (p.m.). Your brown fishing is early morning and late. They’ve taken trophy trout time away from us.”

Griffith has heard these complaints before.

“In late July, we worked on special evenings to keep the lifeguards an hour longer. Maybe five people came out. Next year, we’re going to try to have some special weekends in July and August when we could keep the lake open an extra hour.”

Paying lifeguards and buying lifeguard boats is expensive. Most lakes don’t even have lifeguards, except those that also have water skiing and sailing, as Crowley has.

Griffith said: “It’s a recreational lake with conditions that necessitate a lifeguard service, (especially) when winds come up on this size lake.”

Anyone who has seen high winds sweep Crowley into a North Sea froth would not question the wisdom of hiring lifeguards.

“We have not had one death on this lake since the county had it, back when those two water skiers were killed (in the mid-1970s),” Griffith said.

Although the fishing season is open until Oct. 31, boating stops on Labor Day, when the drive-in gates are locked--mainly for lack of interest, Griffith said.

“Look at us now. We’re losing money every day in August. We’re here primarily for the water skiers, the jet skiers and the sailors.”

THE PERCH

The locals love the Sacramento perch that share the lake with the trout. There is no limit, and they are good eating.

But the perch disappeared this year, a phenomenon signaled by a die-off of more than a thousand starting last fall.

Nobody is sure why the perch died.

“Most of the ones I saw were over two pounds,” Nitschke said. “I think they just died of old age.”

Curtis Milliron, a DFG fishery biologist, thinks the perch will come back, too, judging by the volume of perch fry in the lake.

With the four-year drought, Crowley is at less than half capacity, but minimal flows mandated recently have somewhat stabilized the level and restored the weeds where the perch spawn.

That’s what helped Nitschke catch all those trout last week.

“All the fry are hanging around the algae for protection,” Nitschke said. “The trout are cruising the edges of the weed beds and taking the ones that come out too far.”

So, Nitschke advises, a smart angler will toss the lure “as close to that algae as you can.”

The DFG regulations for Crowley change on Aug. 1, when the limit drops from the standard five trout to only two 18 inches or longer. The float-tubing fly fishermen don’t mind; they release their catches, anyway.

And Nitschke says it’s a good regulation because “when you start getting into the fall, you’d lose a lot of the smaller ones that are coming in to spawn.”

For the big ones, Nitschke and O’Nan advise trolling deep out in the lake, “and most people aren’t fishing really deep,” Nitschke said.

O’Nan said: “If they’d let us use live bait, we’d bring in some 30-pounders. We’d set a California record. Our electronics (fish-finder graphs) show us they’re in there. People that don’t know the lake but have electronics claim there are alligators in there. That’s how big they are.

“Next year, I think they’re going to have one of the best fishing seasons ever at Crowley Lake, regardless of what the water level is--probably a record-breaking season.”