Thread: Fish report by TMAC

Im going to try and give a fish report all summer long for those that love to fish up here in the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra's.

The trout bite throughout the Eastern Sierra region remains excellent and most high elevation waters are open and have good action. Top picks in a region filled with good fishing would be Bridgeport Reservoir, Crowley Lake, the entire June Lake loop, and the Twin Lakes at Bridgeport. The entire Bishop Creek drainage is also a very good bet, especially South Lake Per OUTDOORS: Weekly fishing report, July 12 of the North County Times.

With that being said just a few personel observations as to what I have seen while Im out and about in the valley casting a line.
People are still doing very good catching plants on most of the Valley Creeks. I have found that not one bait or lure is dominated over another for people are catching on worms, powerbait, eggs mellows and small spinners all over the creeks.
Was up at Lake Crowley a few days back and had limits within 1 hour. Using Orange Powerbait and a mellow seem to do the trick. This time of the year crowley has turned up and the moss flow is very heavy so unless there is a wind to push it out to the middle of the lake you will be fishing in pea green soup if on the shore.
Cat fishing on the Owens River have been off the hook. Been using crawdad tails I catch as bait and it seems to be working very well. The bass is active as well as a few buddys have been hitting the river and Billy Ponds outside of Independance and have pulled in alot of 5 plus pound Bass and one very very nice 14 pounder. (We release the Bass and never keep)

I will be out and about again soon fishing unless another fire call comes, until then get out there and enjoy the back country!!!!

That's fantastic! I haven't been fishing in a long time.

How are the Virginias' ?

Just got back from Sitka, AK. The fish didn't bite great but we had a great time. In four days of fishing we hit 3 halibut (from 25 to 50 lbs.), 7 King Salmon, 28 Coho Salmon and 3 Black Sea Bass. We also got some Dungeness Crab (bought wholesale). All in all I came home with about 65 lbs.

The real issue is that the water temp is a bit low (should be about 55 but was 53), which didn't allow for plankton bloom, which didn't bring the bait fish, which in turn have kept the salmon away.

We had to fight the dog fish/sand sharks when halibut fishing. They kept stealing our bait.

Originally Posted by x-wingcamewest

How are the Virginias' ?

Not to sure on the Virginias but Im hearing the Bridgeport Rez. is producing awesome browns. June Lake loop seems to be a good spot these days as well and Grant Lake is becoming real active if u have a boat.

Thanks man, we used to camp at Gull Lake every summer for like 10 years in a row, right on the lake. I love Gull and June lake. My pops would wake me up away too early to go claim our spot on the rocks, but boy was it worth it! I miss it alot!!! We also had a few pools along Rush Creek that we loved to fish as well.

Just came back on Friday after spending a week there with the family. I fished all of the places with my toddler son, so it was by no means hardcore fishing at any of the spots.

In saying that, the fishing was good, despite the fact we fished Monday through Thursday AFTER the July 4 weekend.

We spent about 90 minutes at Convict Creek on Monday late morning and came out with just 2. The water level was pretty low. I had heard the creek was doing well, but my son was craving some ice cream and it was hard to get around with him at the creek, so we called it a day. Later that afternoon we went to Lee Vining Creek for some "pre-Mobil station Whoa Nellie Deli" fishing, and we caught 5 more. All of the fish caught this day were on nightcrawlers.

On Tuesday we spent the day hiking at Toulomne Meadows, but we did have time to do some catch and release with some small brook and brown trout.

On Wednesday, again in the late morning, we went to Benton's Crossing/Owens River and got our limit using nightcrawlers and salmon eggs within 2 hours. Outside of a couple of people, we were the only ones on the river at that time. Very nice.

On Thursday we went up to Rock Creek lake and caught 6 using a Thomas Bouyant, a Kastmaster, and a Rooster Tail. Again, we wrapped it up in two hours, which is just about the stamina limit for my son. Since we were doing so well and since we were using lures, I asked him if he wanted to catch some more, but he gathered his stuff and said "nah." I think he wanted to get some Apple pie from the Rock Creek Lake Cafe.

Whoa Nellie Deli best gas station food on earth!!!!!

Originally Posted by TMAC

Whoa Nellie Deli best gas station food on earth!!!!!

For fans of the Whoa Nellie Deli, the head chef has left and opened his own eatery in Mammoth in the Village. It is called Toomey's. It has almost the same exact menu as the Mobil station.

I ate at both places. I thought the food at the Mobil station was still good, at least for the regular items. However, I ordered a Lamb Shank special, and I thought it was very ordinary. This is when I found out that chef Matt Toomey was no longer there, and I said "no wonder."

At Toomey's in the village, the seating is very limited. It really was meant to be a take out place, as even the Filet mignon plate says that it is cooked rare and then you can finish it up at your condo's stove later.

Hopefully both places will remain. It's a little strange that both places have basically the same menu with the same recipes: Fish tacos, lobster taquitos, strip steak caesar salad, etc. Having two locations give a nice option if you are fishing on the June Lake loop or Saddlebag lake to go to the Mobil station, and if you are in town in Mammoth, to go to the new place.