OUTDOOR NOTES : Trout Season Will Open on More Upbeat Note

What a difference a month makes.

With the end of February came dire predictions for the drought-plagued Eastern Sierra. Fish and wildlife were going to suffer immeasurably from low flows and a general lack of water. The rescue of threatened and endangered species in fast-drying streams would surely be necessary. Contingency plans were drawn.

Would reservoirs hold water through the summer months? Would there be enough runoff--or any runoff--to sustain rivers and streams and the trout they contained? Would fish hatcheries suffer as wells and springs slowly disappeared?

Then came March, and with it a blanket of snow so thick that the answer to each of those questions changed dramatically.

Reservoirs will hold water through the summer, rivers and streams will flow and wildlife will not go thirsty.

And for the thousands who are wondering, water conditions will be ideal when the trout season opens Saturday and should remain adequate throughout the season.

“There’s more habitat for the fish, and of course there’s more space for the anglers, too,” said Alan Pickard, a Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist based in Bishop.

“We’re not certain how it’s going to translate this year, but things look considerably better. We’re hoping that the runoff, although it will still be below normal, will be sufficient to sustain fishing and the more critical populations of fish through the summer.”

At Mono County’s Crowley Lake, the center of attention for opening day, the water level is up about seven feet, which has improved launching conditions and afforded about 20 additional docking spaces.

“The lake has been coming up and it’s looking real good,” lake manager Dave Griffith said. “The launch ramp is in real good shape and there should be no problem with shore fishing.”

The DFG stocked 400,000 fingerlings in Crowley during the summer, to go with the county’s plant of about 400 broodstock fish weighing between three and five pounds. Brown-trout fishermen should see an improvement, as more than 15,000 fish at a half-pound apiece were stocked in August.

Gill net samplings conducted Monday and Tuesday at Crowley indicated prospects should indeed be good, barring the usual cold front that seems to mar every opener.

“The weather has so much to do with the success with this lake over opening weekend,” Griffith said.

“The last three or four years, consistently, we’ve had poor openers . . . and it doesn’t look good for this weekend, according to the weather service.”

Pickard said the entire Eastern Sierra will benefit from the March storms and some of the higher-elevation reservoirs west of Bishop are expected to fill to capacity with the spring and early summer runoff.

“I think the forecast is for (Lake) Sabrina to actually spill a little bit and South Lake not quite, but to almost fill,” Pickard said. “And that’s a tremendous improvement. Last year the launch ramp at South Lake wasn’t even usable.”

There is so much snow in the high country now that South Lake is inaccessible and will remain so on opening day. Sabrina will be open, but to ice fishermen only.

And the snow spreads far and thick across the Eastern Sierra.

“Things look great,” said Rick Rockel of Ken’s Sporting Goods in Bridgeport. “We started the month of March with about 7% of our normal amount of snowpack and now we’re at about 85% and we’re just tickled pink. I mean, I was sweating bullets before.”

Rockel, an area representative for California Trout, said the March snows will assure the survival of many of the smaller streams--and their trout populations--that might have gone dry and added: “It’s going to give us very good fishing in most of our waters for the entire season.”

Rockel’s best bet for opening day: Bridgeport Reservoir.

“It probably wouldn’t have been very good if we hadn’t gotten all of this water,” he said. “But we’re expecting that to be the hot spot. Three- to six-pounders--that’s what we’re expecting. I can’t wait.”

Briefly

TOURNAMENT--The 17th annual Marina del Rey Halibut Derby--for individuals and two-man teams--will be held this weekend in the Santa Monica Bay. Proceeds will go to the Boy Scouts of America and for distribution by Western Los Angeles City Council. Grand prize is a trip for two to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Team prizes include a trip to Costa Rica. Entries must be received by Thursday night. Details: (213) 822-7090.

FLY FISHING--Five-week casting clinic, sponsored by Long Beach Casting Club, on Tuesday nights beginning April 30 at 7 p.m., at Recreation Park in Long Beach. On-hand demonstrations and instruction. Details: (213) 493-2196.