Eastern Sierras 8/22-8/24/08

[dockboy]

Finished up a nice weekend trip. Didn't get to do our usual 2 or 3 July trips due to a busy work schedule, so we decided this weekend would be the makeup time. No pics, sorry, forgot the camera. Hit Lone Pine Creek up at about 7 on Friday after a later start then expected. A couple small browns and stockers, nothing to brag about. The creeks are running low. From what I've seen this trip. many of the small watersheds won't be fishable come the fall season. The water will be just too low to allow much fishing. Other than that, the news was good this trip.
The larger rivers are producing, and Crowley has finally heated up after a long slow period. Fished the June Lake Loop and Upper and Lower Owens this time. Next trip we'll get the boat up, but it was too hectic a week to load up this time. Saturday we hit up Rush below Grant first in hopes of some wild browns, got 6 in between us. Slower than usual there, suspect being the lower water levels. Continued up to Grant for a few brief moments. It was really the wrong time of day to fish Grant, but we gave it a quick shot anyways. A few follows on rip baits,no bites. Not really a good big bite there till the sun is lower in the sky. Moved on to Rush above Grant.
Found plenty of pods, but no real catching. A big ant or beetle pattern was getting hits, but nothing consistent. These fish have been hit hard at the sections of Rush between the lakes. It will take a few tricks up you sleeves and a very low profile presentation to get the pods into biting. I'd advise drab clothing and light line with small live baits. A pair of hip waders may not be a bad idea to get across the creek to fish the pods from behind instead from above.
Anyways, moved on after a bit to Silver. Nothing happening there by shore. Lots of pressure at both Mammoth and June Lake loops with the creeks down. But if you had a boat or a rental, the weed beds at Silver seemed to be producing good limits. After a bit we left the Loop and headed for the Upper Owens. Got there around 3.
The bite was very good but lots of people. Hit the section below the monument in hopes of getting some the larger fish moving out of Crowley to escape the dearth of springs there this summer. We each got about 6 on rip baits, didn't bring out the fly gear because we planned on moving up past the bridge. Nothing large here, a couple 'bows in the 14" class. Headed up past the bridge. The bite has been good here. The fish were podded up. Keep moving to find bigger and more fish. Put 5 on the rip bait and then switched to streamers for another 10 or so. Dad slammed about 15 on the rip bait. Last fish of the day ended up being about 16" on a streamer.
Once again headed the section above Benton. Nymphing and streamers both did well for the fly portion. I had about 20 by departure time. Dad once again mopped up on the fish with rip baits, with another 15. Best fish of the trip ended up between a solid 18" 'bow on a streamer. Fished till 2 and headed down to the Lower Section below PV. The weather was hot and the bite was ok. By the time we got there it was 3 and we had a ETA for home at 8, so we only had about an hour. Dad got a nice brown on the rip bait. I then proceeded to get 2 bass in a row. Anybody else caught them this far up. We were less than 3 miles below the dam at PV. I was thinking the hot weather and low water than usual on the Lower Owens pushed them up :???:
A good trip in all. Between us we had something like 70 fish or so for 2 days. Please, remember to be careful when releasing fish. Saw several dead trout in the Upper Owens on the 2 per day above the bridge. It's fine if you keep your 2. Everybody is entitled to that. But if you're not going to keep the fish, try to keep in the water during release. One of those fish was a fine 20" brown that I don't believe died of old age. A careless angler probably took too long to release him. Remember, if you want to really take care of the wild fisheries, CPR is the best way. Tight lines and good luck. :Smile:

[one_leg]

Great job on the fish and the report as well.

[Badfish2]

very detailed reports = awesome. Thanks for writing up that info..

[okiplug]

We're headed up Friday to fish the Owens using Rock Creek lake as a base camp.

You mention "rip baits". Could you clarify? Baits like TD minnows? Isn't the area above the bridge barbless hooks?

thanks in advance for your help.

Glenn

[Troutman65]

Great report. Thanks for posting

[Badfish2]

x2.. on the rip bait..what's that

[GdHkSet1]

27 days and counting, and my friends and I will be up there camping and fishin- can't wait! What a great time you had and thanks for the report.

[dockboy]

Sorry about that. "Rip baits" are just minnow baits. Its the Western term bass guys use for suspending jerk baits or minnow baits because we "rip " them through the water with the rod tip. I'm used to calling them that from my bassin' terminology because when I look at a Rapala minnow or something that floats, I consider it a "minnow bait", even though that's the correct term for all thin baits imitating small baitfish, I suppose.
I like the Owner Mira Shads. They are absolutely phenomenal up there. I actually discovered them by mistake a few trips back. Most guys use them to troll or cast with at the lakes. The orange color in the Mira Shad is actually known as a Crowley hot color. But the lip on the bait gets down deep in current and when you pause the bait its a true suspender, so it just kinda sits there in calmer currents. I've taken a couple good sized browns this year just twitching one underneath the undercuts. They are smaller though, so the average fish size will be more around 10-14".
I started "ripping" for trout years ago. An old friend turned me on to it. He's been fishing the Eastern side for decades, and almost always fishes Grant only, though he fishes the Upper O from time to time. He uses the Original F-9 Rapalas. They're very effective. So are the largest TD Minnows. If I have more time on a trip I fish a big streamer or big minnow bait like the F-9 all day long. The bigger fish usually come out to eat during the evening or at dark.
All kinds of minnow baits rip well. I like all the sizes in the Yo Zuri Pins Minnows. The Lucky Craft Pointers are excellent, if you have the gumption to readily throw a $15 bait into some nasty looking undercuts. The 65 and 75 series Pointers catch fish of all sizes, but the 100 series is a true trophy hunter. It helps using slightly heavier test and rods here. My friends and I use 8lb. I've been experimenting with the Berkley Fireline Crystal recently. You get 20lb. strength in 6lb. diameter with low visibility line (at least for braid). It also allows you to use something more along the lines of a Medium Light or lighter Medium rod, which is a little bit more fun than the stiffer Mediums we pull for the bigger stuff. With the small baits like the Mira Shad and Pins Minnow, I find a Light action to be ideal. A short 6' Medium with a lighter tip is good also. The stuff most guys use as they're bass or light catfish rods do fine here.

The area above the Benton Crossing Bridge is barbless regs with a limit of two trout between 12-16". However, with a good pair of needlenose pliers you can carefully cut the barbs off your lures. That's one thing about the Mira Shads. They come standard with the Owner STT36 trebles, which are ultra sharp black nickels. You usually can buy packs of 6 for replacing hooks at most Sport Chalets and almost all tackle shops. I almost always encourage people to change out their hooks on their treble hook lures to the Owners. They come down to size 18, which is small enough for the smallest lures. I recently changed my Super Duper and Kastmaster hooks out for them. Last trip I fished a 1/12oz Kastmaster on Mammoth Creek and went 8 for 8 on strike to hookup ratio.

[Badfish2]

Sorry about that. "Rip baits" are just minnow baits. Its the Western term bass guys use for suspending jerk baits or minnow baits because we "rip " them through the water with the rod tip. I'm used to calling them that from my bassin' terminology because when I look at a Rapala minnow or something that floats, I consider it a "minnow bait", even though that's the correct term for all thin baits imitating small baitfish, I suppose.
I like the Owner Mira Shads. They are absolutely phenomenal up there. I actually discovered them by mistake a few trips back. Most guys use them to troll or cast with at the lakes. The orange color in the Mira Shad is actually known as a Crowley hot color. But the lip on the bait gets down deep in current and when you pause the bait its a true suspender, so it just kinda sits there in calmer currents. I've taken a couple good sized browns this year just twitching one underneath the undercuts. They are smaller though, so the average fish size will be more around 10-14".
I started "ripping" for trout years ago. An old friend turned me on to it. He's been fishing the Eastern side for decades, and almost always fishes Grant only, though he fishes the Upper O from time to time. He uses the Original F-9 Rapalas. They're very effective. So are the largest TD Minnows. If I have more time on a trip I fish a big streamer or big minnow bait like the F-9 all day long. The bigger fish usually come out to eat during the evening or at dark.
All kinds of minnow baits rip well. I like all the sizes in the Yo Zuri Pins Minnows. The Lucky Craft Pointers are excellent, if you have the gumption to readily throw a $15 bait into some nasty looking undercuts. The 65 and 75 series Pointers catch fish of all sizes, but the 100 series is a true trophy hunter. It helps using slightly heavier test and rods here. My friends and I use 8lb. I've been experimenting with the Berkley Fireline Crystal recently. You get 20lb. strength in 6lb. diameter with low visibility line (at least for braid). It also allows you to use something more along the lines of a Medium Light or lighter Medium rod, which is a little bit more fun than the stiffer Mediums we pull for the bigger stuff. With the small baits like the Mira Shad and Pins Minnow, I find a Light action to be ideal. A short 6' Medium with a lighter tip is good also. The stuff most guys use as they're bass or light catfish rods do fine here.

The area above the Benton Crossing Bridge is barbless regs with a limit of two trout between 12-16". However, with a good pair of needlenose pliers you can carefully cut the barbs off your lures. That's one thing about the Mira Shads. They come standard with the Owner STT36 trebles, which are ultra sharp black nickels. You usually can buy packs of 6 for replacing hooks at most Sport Chalets and almost all tackle shops. I almost always encourage people to change out their hooks on their treble hook lures to the Owners. They come down to size 18, which is small enough for the smallest lures. I recently changed my Super Duper and Kastmaster hooks out for them. Last trip I fished a 1/12oz Kastmaster on Mammoth Creek and went 8 for 8 on strike to hookup ratio.


Thanks for the clarification.. you know you are on to something though. I've been sneaking bass tackle into my box for a while now... I've been using Storm minnows with the double treble hooks ...smaller sizes of course. At pleasant valley resevoir, they wouldn't leave those things alone. Last trip I forgot them storm lures but this next trip I'm headed to Upper and Lower Twin to give them a shot.