Eastern Sierra Towns Remain Hooked on Opening Day

A report in this week’s Mammoth Times says that the population of Crowley Lake, the Eastern Sierra community, is expected to double in the next few years, from 600 to about 1,200 as part of a new development plan.

And the townspeople, for the most part, are embracing the idea.

Meanwhile, at nearby Crowley Lake, the reservoir, they’re preparing for a population explosion of a different sort, much faster and on a much larger scale. The lake’s shores and its many coves, come Saturday morning, will have swelled from a population of near zero to about 9,000.

And the concessionaires, for the most part, are embracing the idea of another opening day of trout-fishing season. Although they’re a bit frazzled.

“Oh my God, you can’t even imagine how hectic it’s been,” says Heather Topp, who runs Crowley Lake Fish Camp with her husband, Jeff. “We’ve been going nonstop with distributors and have had product spread all over the place, but we finally have the tackle shop together and we’re ready to go.”

Ready to go is the general feeling in the region between Big Pine and Bishop today, a brief period of calm before the storm.

Thousands of hopeful anglers are still miles down the highway, spinning their wheels en route to their favorite fishing holes. It’s a pilgrimage that lasts all day and well into the night.

Strong winds are in some forecasts for today, but they’re expected to subside by Saturday morning. The sky should be as invitingly blue as the vast reservoir, located just east of U.S. 395 atop the Sherwin Grade, 25 miles north of Bishop and just south of Mammoth Lakes.

Having fun fishing is what the opener is all about, and no place serves it up quite like Crowley.

The lake late last summer and in early fall received 455,270 hatchery-raised rainbow trout, slightly more than its seasonal allotment.

Among those were 206,450 Eagle Lake-strain rainbows at about 12 to the pound; 156,420 Coleman rainbows at about seven to the pound; and 92,400 Kamloop rainbows at about 2.2 to the pound.

Eagle Lake trout are not caught in great numbers at the beginning of the first season, but they carry over well and the trophy-sized rainbows caught during this year’s opener will probably be Eagle Lake trout stocked two or even three summers ago.

The Colemans are the most likely candidates for the cleaning station during opening day, followed closely by Kamloops, which are the more acrobatic of the two. It is when the Coleman and Kamloop catch rates start declining later in the season that the Eagle Lake catch rates start increasing, so Crowley is special in this regard and always seems to provide plenty of action.

For the most part, all the fish that went into the lake last summer were “sub-catchables,” but the mild winter has enabled fast growth and the fish should average a pound or slightly more on opening day. The mild winter also means warmer water and should result in much livelier trout.

“The fish are surfacing like you can’t even imagine,” Topp reports. “I’m sitting here and can see them literally flying out of the water. I’ve been watching them do this for two weeks straight.”

On Saturday, they’ll still be flying out of the water--but many of them will be at the end of someone’s line. By opening day’s end, Crowley’s trout population will be reduced by about 30,000.

Which, given the amount of fish put in every year, is really just a drop in the bucket.

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Last year was an excellent opener, with many anglers boasting catches in the 20s and 30s, and this year should be as good or even better, according to Curtis Milliron, a DFG biologist who oversees management of the fishery.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that many of the fish being released will die.

While the bag limit is only five, it’s legal to catch and release as many trout as you want. Unfortunately, Milliron says, trout caught on bait suffer a high mortality rate upon release because they often ingest offerings such as worms, crickets and even processed baits such as Power Bait.

Lures, on the other hand, usually lip- or mouth-hook a trout, and flies typically are barbless, making for easier releases.

“One of problems with such a productive opener is that people catch their limit right away and they’re not ready to stop fishing,” Milliron says. “The most desirable situation would be to keep those first five fish and then switch gear, because make no mistake, no matter how careful you are with bait, you’re going to kill some fish.”

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Ice fishermen beware: Walking on water may be hazardous to your health.

Though many opening-day anglers will auger in a new season at high-elevation lakes, drilling holes in the ice might not be the wisest thing this season.

This week’s heat wave has reached the upper reaches, though to a lesser degree, and with it has come less-stable cover. And if the winds sweep across the region today as expected, they could serve as a literal ice breaker.

At Lake Sabrina above Bishop, usually one of the most popular ice-fishing spots on opening day, the ice is already breaking up and by Saturday there probably will be more open water than cover.

At nearby South Lake, there’ll be more ice but also spots of open water. Walking out onto the ice there is not advisable.

At nearby North Lake, and at Rock Creek Lake in the Mammoth area and Virginia Lakes in the Bridgeport area, probably the only way to get to the fish will be through holes in the ice. But anglers are being asked to check with authorities or tackle store operators beforehand.

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The famed East Walker River in the Bridgeport area should be flowing at an ideal level for waders and shore fishermen.

At midweek it was running at about 150 cubic feet per second and not expected to rise beyond 230 cfs by Saturday, and “that is just so excellent for the opener,” says Tracy Rockel, a manager at Ken’s Sporting Goods in town.

Of course, Nevada’s Walker River Irrigation District, which controls the water flowing out of Bridgeport Reservoir and into the river, has spoiled openers in the past without warning.

Rockel, meanwhile, says conditions are prime for an excellent opener throughout the area and expects some very big fish to be caught at Upper and Lower Twin, and Bridgeport Reservoir.

Those planning to hike to Kirman to fish for brook trout should be forewarned, she adds, that they’ll have to hike part way through ankle-deep snow.

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The Mammoth Lakes Sportfishing Assn. has announced its Alpers stocking schedule, which won’t really get going until things thaw out a bit. The Mammoth Lakes basin (Mary, George, Mamie and Twin) will receive its first plant of 600 pounds of fish weighing three pounds or more May 26 (for the Memorial Day weekend). The lakes will get at least two such plants per month through September.

Sotcher and Starkweather lakes will get their first stocking of trophy-sized Alpers rainbows July 1. Mammoth Creek will get 250 pounds of fish to one pound on June 29, and a second plant of fish to two pounds on July 6.

This is in addition to periodic stocking of Alpers trout by Mono County and of DFG pan-sized rainbows.

For opening weekend, the road is open to Twin Lakes, which is expected to have very little, if any, ice cover.

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One of the busiest places in Bishop this weekend will be the Erick Schat’s Bakkery on Main Street, which for the first time is serving smoked Alpers-trout sandwiches.

Third-generation owner Erick Schat said through his secretary, Patty Bryant, that eight ovens will produce more than 6,000 loaves of bread by Sunday night.

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The Rainbow Days Trout Display Festival in Bishop is a post-catch event offering prizes in several categories, among which are largest fish and best “baskets” of rainbows, browns, brooks and goldens.

Geared largely toward families and sponsored by the Bishop Lions Club, the free event will be held in a lot on Main Street across from the Twin Theater between 4 and 6 p.m. Details: (760) 873-8405.