Looks like its going to be a good opener after all..

[stphnman20]

http://thetroutfly.com/fishreport.html

[mullet]

What I want to know is,
how can stocked trout have an impact on nesting birds???????????
Its not like they climb trees and eat hatchlings.

Mike

[FadedOne]

Out of curiousity, where do most people go on the opener? I was thinking about heading up there, but not so sure the GF will want to camp in the tent this early in the season so I am checking out options that may have a Hotel/Motel near by.

[retired96]

I always tent camp in French Camp in Rock Creek, as it and Tuff are the only ones open for the opener due to snow at the higher elevation camp grounds. Last years opener was cold and windy, 17 degrees at 0730 on the Upper Owens with a howling cold wind and snow flurries.

Bishop would probable be your best bet for motels and much cheaper than Mammoth.

[Hunt4Fish]

Oh man last year was a cold, windy opener morning, we were at Leighton Springs area of Crowley for the last 3 openers, last year it was 21 degrees as we jumped in the 41 degree water in our float tubes, I was fine until I landed a fish and got my gloves wet and the hands went numb because of the wind, but both of the 2 years before were awesome, sunny warm 70 -75 and no wind in the mornings, actully it was too nice for the fish to go wfo, so you never know and you need to be prepared for both, good luck to all.

H4F

[Sierra_Smitty]

What I want to know is,
how can stocked trout have an impact on nesting birds???????????
Its not like they climb trees and eat hatchlings.

Mike

There is no impact on the birds even if they did inhabit the area (which they don't). Annoying to say the least. Environmental terrorisits have good lawyers, deep pockets, and our state is run by and presided over by a bunch of morons....hence the current situation.

[mullet]

Thanks Smitty that was pretty much my point of view.

Mike

[FadedOne]

For the best first time "Opener" experience. What are the good places to hit? Seems like Crowley and Intake 2 are good bets.

[Sierra_Smitty]

For the best first time "Opener" experience. What are the good places to hit? Seems like Crowley and Intake 2 are good bets.

Totally depends on what you like to do. The opener is one of the most crowded weekends of the season because of the limited number of waters that are accessible....Intake II, Convict, Crowley...its all a zoo. If crowds don't bother you - hit the lakes. You have a better chance of finding water without crowds hitting the various creeks.

I think the best "Sierra" experience gets a whole lot better than the best "Opener" experience.

[Marley]

...I think the best "Sierra" experience gets a whole lot better than the best "Opener" experience.

Yeah, it's not even close. I got caught up in the opening hype a long time ago and now it's a tradition. We always fish Crowley Saturday morning because of the quality of the fish and the ease of access in getting to them, even though it's almost always elbow-to-elbow. The fish are easily caught from the beach without weeds to worry about and you can build a fire to keep warm.
But as far as nice trips to the Eastern Sierra, the best times I have had up there have been in the summer and fall and probably the best trip was a Fourth of July weekend when the trout were big and hungry, the perch were thick, stupid and hungry and the weather was quite warm. Camped at Convict and watched a thunderstorm come over Mt. Morrison and then blow itself out over the upper Owens River, a sight I will never forget.

[dockboy]

What I want to know is,
how can stocked trout have an impact on nesting birds???????????
Its not like they climb trees and eat hatchlings.

Pretty much as Smitty said, they don't. The CBD, Center for Biological Diversity, puts forth that stocked trout could possibly compete with native bird species for food (aquatic insects). Its pretty much a bull argument. They can't really do anything about the issues like water shortages and habitat destruction from overpopulation, so its looks like a solution if they want to get rid of "non-native stocked trout" that are eating and "out-competing" native species. Reality is, its like putting band aid on an amputated limb, doesnt do much but make the people suing feel good.
They stopped stocking in Yosemite and lakes in the Ansel Adams and other national parks and forests almost twenty years ago to help save the populations of yellow-legged frogs. The state also enacted an eradication program for trout in these lakes that were not native (only a few species of redband rainbows, a pair of cutthroat species, and goldens are native to the Sierras). Guess what? International environmental council meetings in South America looked into the decrease in endangered frogs in the Andes and world over. Turns out that the frogs at high altitudes are really developing a parasitic fungi within their skin, due the increase in the intensity of solar rays. So, as much as the state wants you to believe eradicating the trout was the right answer, the frogs still suffer.