Trout Opener Is a Breeze After Strong Winds Relent

Strong winds raged across the Eastern Sierra for two days, gaining hurricane force in some places late Friday night and early Saturday.

Expectations for a productive trout-season opener were at an ebb. Fears of boats blowing over, spelling disaster, were prevalent.

But not long after darkness gave way to dusk on a chilly Saturday morning, the winds steadily decreased and thousands of anglers were soon basking under the bluest of skies, enjoying fast and sometimes furious action on their favorite lakes and streams.

“It only put up a little bit of a fight,” Emily Jackson, 12, said as she held up a 3-pound 4-ounce rainbow trout she caught less than a mile from home at sprawling June Lake, drawing a look from her father.

“OK, it almost pulled the fishing pole from my hands, but that’s because I was wearing mittens,” she said with a smile.

From June Lake north to Bridgeport, and south and west to the upper reaches of Bishop Creek Canyon, crowds were down from last year, but fishing was good on the first day of a season that runs through Nov. 15 in Mono County and Oct. 31 in Inyo County.

There were a few dark clouds lingering over this vast and spectacular countryside, however.

A wind-driven brush fire Thursday afternoon north of Lee Vining dropped a layer of ash on the earthen raceways of a small hatchery at Conway Ranch, suffocating an estimated 30,000 trout, which were going to be used to supplement state and other private hatchery efforts to improve fisheries in Mono County.

The fish, many of which leaped from the raceways in a breathless panic, could be seen littering the banks. Many more littered the bottom of the pens.

Late Friday night and into Saturday morning, gusts of 125 mph were recorded at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.

Gradually, the winds abated, although boats were not allowed on Convict Lake until 10 a.m. By then temperatures had soared into the low to mid-50s.

As of late afternoon, Chris Costen of Placentia was holding bragging rights with an 11.1-pound rainbow caught on Crave bait from a float tube near the inlet at Convict Lake.

Next biggest was a 7-1 brown trout caught by Alfredo Kaay of Harbor City on a night crawler at Bridgeport Reservoir.

A 7-pound rainbow was caught by Don Allen of Covina on blue Turbo Dough at Gull Lake on the June Lake Loop.

A 6-12 rainbow was caught by Ryan Stewart of Yucaipa on Crave and Crave gravy at June Lake; and a 6-11 rainbow was caught by Marlon Meade of Anaheim on a mini-jig at North Lake above Bishop.

A brown trout estimated at 15 pounds was lost at the net on Bridgeport’s Lower Twin.

Not everybody, however, was caught in the big-fish parade.

At Crowley Lake, about 5,000 fishermen -- in recent openers the average has been closer to 7,000 -- caught an average of about one fish an hour weighing about one pound apiece, although there were a few in the five-pound range.

Jim Craig, 69, of Pasadena, has been coming to opening day at Crowley for nearly 60 years, most recently as part of the Eagle Rock Sports Club.

“This is not all about big fish, although we do have a [club] jackpot,” he said. “This is mostly just a time when we can all get together and do some fishing and enjoy a big dinner on Saturday night.”