Joshua
05-27-2008, 03:15 PM
This trip was missing some of the usual suspects. Had a new participant,my mom. She has talked about how she used to fish Mammoth lakes as a kid. I thought she was lying :LOL: because she never took me to the Eastern Sierra. I had to find it on my own. She is a recent widow and took me up on my invitation. We were going to tent it, but rented a trailer at Creekside instead. Good choice.
Took off around 1:30 AM from OC in Wednesday morning. First, stop was going to be Lone Pine for breakfast and some creek action. Got to Lone Pine at 6 AM. Wind was screaming.
Tried the Sand Trap. Nailed a couple smaller fish and one nice planter. All were released. Decided (quickly) to try the creek hoping to find some more protected areas. Tried a few spots, but couldnt find enough room for the 3 of us to fish together. Pulled out a few from the creek. I thought I would play tour guide. So we ran up the hill to Whitney Portal. We fished the pond up at the Portal and slayed them for about an hour. We could have caught 100 fish if we wanted to. As and added bonus, NO wind. Grabbed a hot beverage and headed down the hill.
Next stop was the My Whitney Fish Hatchery outside of Independence Truly one of the cooler places to stop. Great place to stretch your legs and see some fatties on the pond.
Got to Big Pine and decided to make the climb up the hill. saw the Elk in the pasture as we pulled into Big Pine. Got to Glacial Lodge and fished around the campground. Pulled a dozen or more stockers from the pond and creek. Decided it was late enough and we would head for Bishop.
Got to Bishop and thought I would try the Owens down near 5 Bridges. Now that I type this I remember someone posting that the lower owens is getting extra heavy flows. The water was screaming and the wind was worse. We jumped back into the car and headed to Creekside.
Fished around Creekside for the rest of the day and headed up the North Lake for the evening bite. The only thing biting was the cold *** wind Gave up on that stupid plan quickly and went to camp.
Thursday:
Woke up to hail (I think) Freezing rain? I dont know, it was white and was to heavy and hard to be snow. Hit up a couple of sections on the South Fork. The snow started to dump and my crew was getting cold. Decided to try some lower elevation stuff. Thought we might get some love at Convict. Stopped by Lower Rock Creek (Tuff Campground) As we parked the car, the DFG stock truck was pulling thru the campground. That is always a good site to see. My nephew asked if he could throw in a few fish. They were more than happy to let him run the fish from the truck to the creek. Fished around this campground. We all caught fish. The new planters didnt want to bite, so we walked the creek and found more eager fish.
Got up to Convict and tried some bait and wait. Threw a Thomas Bouyant and landed a few. Bait poles didnt do much. A think a fish per pole. Too slow for me. Called it an afternoon and headed for Bishop.
Finished up the day fishing around Creekside campground.
Friday: Tired of the cold wet weather, So I decided Mammoth would be the answer. Yeah, I know, Not well calculated. I was tired of waiting for the weather to break, so I said screw it. We are going higher. Maybe we can get above the bad weather. Drove to Twin Lakes I have read Greepers report and thought I would take a look. I wanted to rent a boat for a few hours, but there werent any on the water. Too much snow.
PLan B: Lake Mary
Drove up the lake and I noticed instantly that there was snow. I am sharp. Much more snow than they same time last year. Decided to make the best of it. Threw out the bait pole and waited in the snow. Not much happening. My nephews starts throwing out a lure. WHAM!!! Pulls in a fattie Alpers. :EyePop:No net, so I took a step into the water and threw the fish onto shore. I wasnt going to let that one get away. My mom ties on a THomas Bouyant and she quietly pulls in another nice Alpers. What the "F" is happening here. I cant catch a cold!:Embarrassed: I walk over and start throwing some hardware. Bingo. I finally get on the board with an nice Alpers. Snow came down hard a few times. The sun made a brief appearance and left tooooo soon. We stayed at it for about 2 hours. Ended up with 6 Alpers and several smaller stockers. my mom even mixed a brownie. I had to explain that the brown was a trophy as well. I dont think she believes me after landing her Alpers. She would have been much happier if the weather was better. I was nasty. I am too stupid to know better.
Packed the fish on snow and decided to try our luck elsewhere.
Ended up at Rock Creek Lake. Still snowing. Mom decided the car was better place for her. We went onto the rocks near the docks. threw out the bait poles and starting throwing lures. My nephew was the first to bring in a fish. Very disappointing after catching 4 Lb fish at Mary. I decided standing in snow and wind wasnt enought, so I made mis-step and ended up with both feet in the lake. My nephew waited to laugh. He wanted to make sure I wasnt mad or I might throw him in. I never get mad about this stuff. It is just funny.:ROFL: I slipped and ended up in the drink. The water was warmer than the outside temps. Took my soggy boots and socks back to the car. FYI Water proof boots dont work well if you fully submerge them. Socks will wick the water into the boots.
Packed up and headed for Camp. The snow was dumping hard at South Fork. Tried to pull a fattie from Rons pond. No luck. Pond was packed with people. Didnt want to get iced in so we decided to pack up. Eat a nice Alpers dinner in the trailer. Made one last trip up stream for 2 stockers for my dogs. Ran into a nice guy with his wife and daughter. I told him I had a trailer at Creekside that was paid up for the next 2 night and he was welcome to it. I was leaving and I figured he could use it.
KARMA. Random Acts of Kindness. I know I am an a-hole. so this will help to balance the scales.
Peace
Took off around 1:30 AM from OC in Wednesday morning. First, stop was going to be Lone Pine for breakfast and some creek action. Got to Lone Pine at 6 AM. Wind was screaming.
Tried the Sand Trap. Nailed a couple smaller fish and one nice planter. All were released. Decided (quickly) to try the creek hoping to find some more protected areas. Tried a few spots, but couldnt find enough room for the 3 of us to fish together. Pulled out a few from the creek. I thought I would play tour guide. So we ran up the hill to Whitney Portal. We fished the pond up at the Portal and slayed them for about an hour. We could have caught 100 fish if we wanted to. As and added bonus, NO wind. Grabbed a hot beverage and headed down the hill.
Next stop was the My Whitney Fish Hatchery outside of Independence Truly one of the cooler places to stop. Great place to stretch your legs and see some fatties on the pond.
Got to Big Pine and decided to make the climb up the hill. saw the Elk in the pasture as we pulled into Big Pine. Got to Glacial Lodge and fished around the campground. Pulled a dozen or more stockers from the pond and creek. Decided it was late enough and we would head for Bishop.
Got to Bishop and thought I would try the Owens down near 5 Bridges. Now that I type this I remember someone posting that the lower owens is getting extra heavy flows. The water was screaming and the wind was worse. We jumped back into the car and headed to Creekside.
Fished around Creekside for the rest of the day and headed up the North Lake for the evening bite. The only thing biting was the cold *** wind Gave up on that stupid plan quickly and went to camp.
Thursday:
Woke up to hail (I think) Freezing rain? I dont know, it was white and was to heavy and hard to be snow. Hit up a couple of sections on the South Fork. The snow started to dump and my crew was getting cold. Decided to try some lower elevation stuff. Thought we might get some love at Convict. Stopped by Lower Rock Creek (Tuff Campground) As we parked the car, the DFG stock truck was pulling thru the campground. That is always a good site to see. My nephew asked if he could throw in a few fish. They were more than happy to let him run the fish from the truck to the creek. Fished around this campground. We all caught fish. The new planters didnt want to bite, so we walked the creek and found more eager fish.
Got up to Convict and tried some bait and wait. Threw a Thomas Bouyant and landed a few. Bait poles didnt do much. A think a fish per pole. Too slow for me. Called it an afternoon and headed for Bishop.
Finished up the day fishing around Creekside campground.
Friday: Tired of the cold wet weather, So I decided Mammoth would be the answer. Yeah, I know, Not well calculated. I was tired of waiting for the weather to break, so I said screw it. We are going higher. Maybe we can get above the bad weather. Drove to Twin Lakes I have read Greepers report and thought I would take a look. I wanted to rent a boat for a few hours, but there werent any on the water. Too much snow.
PLan B: Lake Mary
Drove up the lake and I noticed instantly that there was snow. I am sharp. Much more snow than they same time last year. Decided to make the best of it. Threw out the bait pole and waited in the snow. Not much happening. My nephews starts throwing out a lure. WHAM!!! Pulls in a fattie Alpers. :EyePop:No net, so I took a step into the water and threw the fish onto shore. I wasnt going to let that one get away. My mom ties on a THomas Bouyant and she quietly pulls in another nice Alpers. What the "F" is happening here. I cant catch a cold!:Embarrassed: I walk over and start throwing some hardware. Bingo. I finally get on the board with an nice Alpers. Snow came down hard a few times. The sun made a brief appearance and left tooooo soon. We stayed at it for about 2 hours. Ended up with 6 Alpers and several smaller stockers. my mom even mixed a brownie. I had to explain that the brown was a trophy as well. I dont think she believes me after landing her Alpers. She would have been much happier if the weather was better. I was nasty. I am too stupid to know better.
Packed the fish on snow and decided to try our luck elsewhere.
Ended up at Rock Creek Lake. Still snowing. Mom decided the car was better place for her. We went onto the rocks near the docks. threw out the bait poles and starting throwing lures. My nephew was the first to bring in a fish. Very disappointing after catching 4 Lb fish at Mary. I decided standing in snow and wind wasnt enought, so I made mis-step and ended up with both feet in the lake. My nephew waited to laugh. He wanted to make sure I wasnt mad or I might throw him in. I never get mad about this stuff. It is just funny.:ROFL: I slipped and ended up in the drink. The water was warmer than the outside temps. Took my soggy boots and socks back to the car. FYI Water proof boots dont work well if you fully submerge them. Socks will wick the water into the boots.
Packed up and headed for Camp. The snow was dumping hard at South Fork. Tried to pull a fattie from Rons pond. No luck. Pond was packed with people. Didnt want to get iced in so we decided to pack up. Eat a nice Alpers dinner in the trailer. Made one last trip up stream for 2 stockers for my dogs. Ran into a nice guy with his wife and daughter. I told him I had a trailer at Creekside that was paid up for the next 2 night and he was welcome to it. I was leaving and I figured he could use it.
KARMA. Random Acts of Kindness. I know I am an a-hole. so this will help to balance the scales.
Peace