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View Full Version : June Lake 8-29 thru 9-1 with Family- Suggestions?



ctrujillo45
08-27-2008, 08:25 AM
Hello there,

I will be traveling to June Lake this weekend with the family. We will be tent camping with a group of friends. We will be taking our daughter including many young kids. I really want to be sure these kids have a great experience. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to fish, besides June Lake?

I go up there at least once a year on the annual "guys trip", and we travel to different rivers or lakes very sporadically. I am afraid we will not get to do this with our kids. This makes June Lake a great place to fish, but does anyone have any other suggestions on nearby lakes or rivers we can fish, which generally do pretty well and are not too far of a drive from June Lake?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on bait or tackle they have used recently which produced great results?

I am so excited to get up there....its just beautiful....the clean air, the beautiful scenery, the peaceful tranquility, THE FISHING!!!!!

Its sounds like everyone here is very experienced so any help you have would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, one thing I forgot, I will be taking my fly fishing setup up there for the first time. Can anyone suggest what type of flies to purchase? I am a novice to fly fishing. I know I probably can't use them at June Lake, but maybe I will get a chance to stop and do some fishing at The Owens River.

Thanks.:Big Grin:

gwjones00
08-27-2008, 08:46 AM
Where will you be camping? If you are at Oh! Ridge, then the swimming beach is a great place to take the kids. The *can* be decent shore fishing off to the left of the beach, and if your kids get tired of fishing, they can always go down and splash around in the water.

Another good place to take the kids is Silver Lake. Just past the store is a little parking area on your right. Pull in and park there. You can walk down to the lake, where there is a sizeable pebble lined shore that you can set up the poles. This late in the season, the stream that would normally run there will probably be dried up - so no teling how the fishing would be.

Also, Rush Creek just past Silver Lake (where it runs through the campground) would be a decent place to take the kids as well. This time of year, the flows should be minimal. But you still want to be careful around the creeks - there are many deep holes and drop offs that can be dangerous - even when the stream is not flowing strong.

Have fun! Hopefully someone can chime in with what's been working for the catch!

RL-IN-OC
08-27-2008, 10:16 AM
Hi,

I agree with the above, I would also try Gull Lake. Next to the marina there used to be a small playground next to it. In the old days, I would take the family there, and let my young daughter play there. You can actually watch them play while you are fishing from the shore. I would call out to her when a fish was on her Barbie Pole, she would run down and reel it in, then go back to play on the playground. There is also a small library there next to it, not sure of the hours though. Good times !

Oh, as far as fly fishing, olive matukas, gnats, streamers, check with Ernies in town. I have caught many trout on flies as June and Gull Lake. Try the far end of Gull lake, just as you turn into the campground, there used to be an old boat launch ramp that is now closed off, plenty of room to practice fly fishing, lots of small trout in the cove near the 'big rock'

sky
08-27-2008, 03:11 PM
Hi,

I agree with the above, I would also try Gull Lake. Next to the marina there used to be a small playground next to it. In the old days, I would take the family there, and let my young daughter play there. You can actually watch them play while you are fishing from the shore. I would call out to her when a fish was on her Barbie Pole, she would run down and reel it in, then go back to play on the playground. There is also a small library there next to it, not sure of the hours though. Good times !

Oh, as far as fly fishing, olive matukas, gnats, streamers, check with Ernies in town. I have caught many trout on flies as June and Gull Lake. Try the far end of Gull lake, just as you turn into the campground, there used to be an old boat launch ramp that is now closed off, plenty of room to practice fly fishing, lots of small trout in the cove near the 'big rock'

Are you talking about this hand launch area on the left as the road forks to the right to enter the campground?

I could hand lauch my kayak from there, but I can't recall if there were any rocks in the way when I was there....just a frisky dog and two fishermen... It wasn't blocked last year.

ctrujillo45
08-27-2008, 03:34 PM
Anyone have suggestions on bait for the kids to rig up their lines? I generally use PB (chartreuse) and its always a winner up there......

Badfish2
08-28-2008, 12:47 AM
power bait up there is pretty much universal... try Yellow too though..

gwjones00
08-28-2008, 08:54 AM
I haven't been up there this year, so I'm not sure what's working, but in general, you can rely on Power Bait, Power Eggs and Pautzke's Green Label Salmon Eggs to generate a catch.

I have found that gold works before the sun comes up and hits the lake, reds work better once the sun is up. Also, 2 lb leaders on small treble hooks. Try leaders of different lengths until you figure out what is working.

Stop in at Ernie's in June Lake and talk to them about what is working, or stop in at a Marina and ask. They will generally give you the straight scoop.

Have fun!

RL-IN-OC
08-28-2008, 09:29 AM
Sky,

Yes, that is the spot, I also launch my kayak from the same spot. There were two large bolders there last year, so it would be hard to back a trailer into it. Plenty of room for cartoppers, tubes and Kayaks.

slief
08-29-2008, 09:38 PM
Just posted this in another thread. Will be posting a report shortly.

I just got back from there yesterday. Every year I take my dad on a fishing trip and we were there for a week. We stayed at Silverlake Resort in my RV. Had my boat. Grant is very low. Gull was slow (for us from shore). Gull is best fished from a boat and lead core right now.. Didn't fish June but Silver was wide open on small to medium stockers stockers at about 1# average. Best trolling advice I can give is a dodger with a nightcrawler 3' behind on 4# flouro. Wide open if you find the schools. We didnt bother moving the boat from Silver lake it was so good. Day before yesterday, we got on the lake at 11:30 AM and got off at 6:30PM. My dad and I caught and released more that 20 fish each. Where we metered fish it was wide open as was the case all week. The fish seemed to hang in the middle of the lake and in the deeper channel along the highway side. We must of caught and released nearly 100 fish in the week that we were there from the boat alone. That doesnt include the fish we caught from the shore at Silver Lake, Parker lake, West Walker, Tioga lake, Hot Creek. When we got tired of the troll, we switched to drifting power bait in the deeper water on unltra light tackle. I was mixing yellow and a bit of orange and rolling into a worm shape like a threaded night crawler. We also drifted threaded night crawlers with similar success. A fish finder WILL pay major dividends if you have one. I was able to predict several times that we were about to hook up 30 seconds prior from the schools of fish that I pinged on the sonar. The only thing that slowed the bite down for us was the fact that we had to troll or drift between the schools or the afternoon wind. We would box the area and get back on top the schools and it was hook up time again. Same with the drifts.
All but 4 fish were release this entire week!! Boy we donated a lot of hooks to the fish. I dont think I have EVER caught so many fish in that short a period of time. Best fishing ever and our last trip (last year) was a 500+ mile journey across Montana which in itself was off the hook.. Wish I was still in the sierras right now!

While you are up there, take a trip to Tioga lake. Well worth the effort! Wide open from the shore on PB and night crawlers as well as lours.

We did fish Grant once with a skunk but that was in the afternoon from the shore at the inlet.We used power bait and night crawlers but didnt give it a reasonable effort and were only there for an hour or so. Rumor has it that Grant has good fishing right now trolling rapal countdowns.
Also caught plenty of fish from shore throwing a red and black brass thomas bouyant. Green rooster tail worked too. Flyline night crawlers in the pools of Hot creek. Caught a nice brown and a couple nice bows there as well as a some others there.

Hope that helps and have fun!!!!!!!!

slief
08-29-2008, 09:41 PM
Are you talking about this hand launch area on the left as the road forks to the right to enter the campground?

I could hand lauch my kayak from there, but I can't recall if there were any rocks in the way when I was there....just a frisky dog and two fishermen... It wasn't blocked last year.


We tried that spot for a couple hours a few days ago with only one bite. We fished both yellow and orange power bait, night crawlers, thomas Bouyants with no succes. Nice spot though! There was even a chair stashed in the bushes.

Badfish2
08-29-2008, 11:59 PM
No hits on the bouyants?? I call BS

slief
08-30-2008, 08:58 AM
No hits on the bouyants?? I call BS

From what I gathered from talking talking to the locals as well as others, the fish were holding deep. I did hear lead core was the ticket there. I also think that they were getting ready to stock due to the tournament this weekend and not sure of when the last stock was prior to our trying it. I will also point out that we got to Gull mid afternoon and only stayed for a bit more than an hour which really wasnt a fair chance. The boyants worked pretty well on Silver though.