Welcome Change : The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks No Longer Controls Crowley Lake, to Anglers’ Delight

On a cold and blustery day, winter drawing to a close, snow-covered mountains rising abruptly to the north and sheets of ice crackling under the sun, John Frederickson gazes out over Crowley Lake and smiles.

“This is great,” he says, referring to the wind as it whips through the canyons from the south, driving frozen sections across the surface. “This is just what we need to open this lake up.”

Frederickson, who as president of Sierra Recreation maintains and operates facilities at several Eastern Sierra reservoirs, has a special interest in Crowley this year. His company has been awarded the concession at the popular reservoir, marking the end of more than 50 years of control by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

And as far as the trout-fishing community is concerned, the changing of the guard is long overdue.

“For the most part, Recreation and Parks didn’t care if the people went there or not,” says Dan Paranick, 43, a Mono County supervisor and owner of the Crowley Lake general store.

Paranick’s sentiments are shared by just about anybody who remembers Crowley as the place to go on opening day of the general trout season, when the itch to fish is at its height and the possibility of a 10-pound German brown weighs so heavily on the mind.

The proximity of the reservoir, situated between Bishop and Mammoth just off U.S. 395, and the trout it was known to harbor, made it the ideal place for the serious fisherman to spend a weekend.

“It has always been known as the tackle-buster of the western United States,” Paranick said.

In 1984 more than 16,000 made their way through the Crowley Lake gate for opening day. In 1985 that figure came closer to 20,000. Boats registered at the three-by-six mile reservoir that Saturday: 2,153.

Then Crowley began losing some of its appeal. The Department of Recreation was being blasted for not maintaining the docks, the boats or anything else on the grounds.

Budgetary problems came into play, and because of “more pressing matters in Los Angeles” fewer dollars generated at Crowley made their way back.

“Rec and Parks had bigger fish to fry,” Paranick charged.

The common perception, according to Frederickson, was that Crowley Lake had become “a dump.”

Certainly, the view of Crowley from U.S. 395 is hardly picturesque. It’s more like a mirage on a desert floor. “A puddle,” Frederickson said.

Only 3,000 fishermen made it to Crowley for opening day last season. Many of them complained of broken-down boats, smelly restrooms and a “lack of concern” among lake personnel.

The Department of Recreation and Parks tried to recover lost revenue by raising prices for boat rentals. Last year the cost was $100 a day. The cost to have your own boat inspected: $75.

Crowley Lake was in dire straits. The drought didn’t help. Nor did the fact that fishermen were not getting the results they were used to.

Concessionaires at other lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin inherited former Crowley fishermen.

Frederickson, who operates a marina that provides 100 dock spaces and a fleet of 40 rental boats 40 miles north off U.S. 395 at the June Lake Loop, was among them.

“We noticed a spill-over,” he said. “And all they’ve been waiting for is a reason to go back to Crowley.”

Apparently, that reason has arrived.

Not only has has fishing improved in the last couple of years at Crowley, according to studies by the Department of Fish and Game, but Sierra Recreation Associates, Inc., has such ambitious plans for the lake that even if they are only partially realized, it will be an improvement.

“These guys are going to do a really good job, and they’re going to do the fishermen a really good service,” said Curtis Milliron, a DFG biologist based in Bishop.

Sierra Recreation has successfully operated dozens of marinas and campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra for more than 20 years. The public has embraced the DWP’s decision to award the company the concession and says it signals a new era for the long-ignored reservoir.

Sketches lining the walls of Sierra Recreation’s office in Mammoth indicate as much.

Barren shores and banks are to be planted with grass and trees. Crowley Lake, if Sierra Recreation has its way, is to take on the appearance of a 1940s-style Canadian fishing camp.

“The vast majority of our budget is going to be spent on landscaping,” said Bob Waggoner, Crowley’s new general manager. “We’re going to hydro-seed the banks, reclaim and salvage the cottonwood trees and go from there and expand.”

Canadian-style tent-cabins are under construction and will spring up along the Crowley coastline. The 12-by-16 wooden structures will be covered with canvas and will sleep six persons. Cost for the night will be $30-$40.

If the sketches come to life, the old cabana-type structures, currently sheltering large clumps of chaparral, or future tumbleweeds, will be the site of several recreational vehicle hookups.

Long-range plans call for a complete upgrading of facilities, which will include hot showers and a grill for hot lunches.

One thing holding Sierra Recreation back is the pending approval by the Los Angeles City Council of a 15-year lease, which Waggoner said is necessary if the company is going to make the financial commitment it wants to.

But that is expected sometime this summer. When it is, the current five-year lease will be superseded and Sierra Recreation will operate on a $500,000 budget for the first five years.

Until then, the concentration will be on getting Crowley ready for the April 25 opener. And the crew has been busy.

Boats have been painted and engines overhauled. Anchor cleats have been added and new anchor lines purchased. Docks are being repaired and resurfaced. More than 180 boats are ready now and another 40 will be soon, Frederickson said.

A full-service tackle store will be moved to a more convenient location near the launching ramp, serving both fly fishermen and traditional fishermen, according to Waggoner.

Clinics on how to fish Crowley Lake will be held regularly, Waggoner said. A schedule will be published by the middle of May.

Access with boats, restricted by Recreation and Parks after August, will be extended until the closing of the season on Oct. 31. A taxi service will be in place for float-tubers who want to get to certain parts of the lake.

The North Landing area will not be open to camping for the opener, however, because the DWP has stipulated that camping be allowed in designated areas only. However, Waggoner said he expects to have at least 10-12 campsites in place by the middle of June, “and we

will expand that as we go along.”

To satisfy the fisherman, Sierra Recreation not only dropped the price of a rental boat from $100 to $42 for a day, but it has come up with a key- card system whereby fishermen can get access to the lake before it opens. Under Recreation and Parks, boats were not allowed on the lake before 7 a.m.

“The key-card system will allow them access to the lake during those key hours before sunrise and after sunset, and I’m absolutely sure we’ll see some big fish come out of Crowley this year as a result of that policy,” Waggoner said.

The public has already learned of the changes. Frederickson said the phones at Sierra Recreation have been ringing constantly, and that the dock space has already been booked through the early part of the season.

“Some days I just sit on the telephone and answer questions,” he said. “They’ve

heard that we’re doing something and say, ‘Maybe we’ll come back and give it a try

again.’ ”