2 weeks and Counting-Tips/Suggestions

[peterl]

In less than 2 weeks I leave for a week long vacation to the Eastern Sierras.

I used to fish the sierras 2-3 times a year, but I have not been there for 12 years.

We will be staying at June Lake (Lake Front Cabins)

Looking for any tips, locations, bait, etc.

I have a tube and will be using it when I can. I will be fishing with my two kids (8 & 10) so will be doing alot of shore fishing.

Is the normal power bait on 2lb, 18" leaders still the ticket?

Any "secret" spots on the June Lake Loop you can help out a fellow FNN so I can impress my kids :o

Thanks

Pete

[gwjones00]

I posted this earlier, but, I'll cut and paste since I don't remember the thread.....

Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 8:01 am Post subject: June Lakes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have fished June, Silver, Grant Lakes and Rush Creek in my 40 plus years of going to the loop.

My suggestion for you is when you get into the town of June Lake, stop at Ernie's tackle and talk to the folks there. Make sure you ask what bait or lures are working best. They will have the best information for you.

As far a some ideas of where to fish from shore....

June Lake: The best area that is relatively easy to get to is the shore right along the road. You can eiher park in one of the turnouts along the road, or park down by the swimming beach and walk along the shore and find a spot. Alternatively, if you are staying at the Boulder Lodge, you can use their fishing dock. I've had decent luck there.

Silver Lake: *If* the stream is flowing, one good spot is where Alger Creek enters the lake. There is a parking area on the right side of the road just past the Silver Lake store. You can park there and walk to the lake. Alternatively, you can fish along the shore along the loop road. While driving toward the Silver Lake Store, you will pass a large parking area on your right. Park there and walk down to the shore. (Watch for bears though....Honest!)

Rush Creek: Really anywhere along the creek between Silver and Grant Lakes is good, especially after a stocking. My favs are at the second "horse crossing". After you pass the Silver Lake Campground, you will see crossing signs on the road where horses from the pack station cross on the hourly rides. When you see the second sign, go ahead, pull over and park. Look for wider, slower water on the creek. If there has been a recent stocking, you should be able to catch fish. Use gulp eggs, salmon eggs, or powerbait if you are after stockers, nightcralwers, flies, etc. if you are not after quantity.

Grant Lake: Really three places here. The first is where Rush Creek enters Grant Lake. This can be tough getting to depending on the water level. If you have a boat, watch out for the numerous stumps that might be under water this time of year. Later in the year, this is always good for Brown Trout. You need to be patient though, if you are fishing for these guys. The second is the "Narrows" where the lake narrows down to a channel. You can park at the marina and walk over. The best bait here is either nightcralwers, of if they are around, nab a couple of grasshoppers that you will find as you are walking. PB should also work. The third place, is Privy Point - so named because of the outhouse that used to sit on the point, is the large outcropping past the marina. You will see cars parked on the point. Go fish where the people are. If the wind is blowing, you can always take refuge on the leeward side of the point and at least wet your line.

There are also several options on the opposite side of the lake. But, it requires some work and a high clearance vehicle to get over there. If you have a truck or SUV, (4WD not required) go ahead and explore. Fishing is good at the "Quarry" right near the dam, and in the coves where springs feed water into the lake.

In the old days, there used to be another great spot on Grant Lake. Just as the loop road climbs a small hill toward the dam, there is a diversion tunnel that used to bring water in from Walker and Parker Lakes. This culvert used to flow just like a stream, and we would catch easy limits there. But, alas, with the attention that Mono Lake got in the 80's and 90's, water no longer flows through this culvert, and instead ends up in Rush Creek and Mono Lake. BTW - you can also fish Rush Creek below Grant lake, but I beleive it is an artificial fly with barbless hook stretch of stream. I've never fished it myself.

There are also tons of other spots to fish in nearby streams and lakes. Lee Vining Creek, Saddlebag lakes, Lundy Lake, Virginia Lakes, etc. Just stop in the Marina or local store and ask the folks there. They wil be more than willing to help. Whereever you end up - have fun!

[Mater]

Sounds like fun. Have a good time and sorry I am new to fishing June lake so I have no help to offer you.

[brando123]

hey.. when i went up there .. we had alot of luck trolling bronze thomas bouyants about 5-6 colors pretty much everywhere...

and bait fishing near the grass right when you get out of the marina to the left and infront of the big rock right across from the marina

[drivelikejoewho]

Silver kastmasters seem to work well up there. I fished Grant Lake a few years ago and was able to catch quite a bit. We entered from the Marina and went out just off to the left on the shore. It was about noon time and they just started biting like crazy. We want back last year for an hour and got impatient and left.

[ttplt]

Just got back from June Lake yesterday. Stayed in the Edgewater condos (very nice). It was pretty warm up there and was pretty windy the last two days (hopefully you have better fishing weather!). Fished from shore near the beach and only caught a couple in the evenings.

My brother and I took a side trip down the 395 to fish the Owens at Benton's Crossing (South of the Crossing. North of the Crossing has different regs...might want to check the regs first). Basically planted ourselves in one spot at a bend in the river and caught 66 trout from 6am - 2pm! Caught all of them on eggs and worms and released all unharmed.

[GopherPride23]

I just got back from june lake too! Had a great time. By the details of your post I think you might be staying at the big rock resort? Nice place, but woman who runs it is very rude. To make a long story short, we made reservations months in advance, arrived after check in time to find out our cabin wasnt ready. After going around in circles with the lady, we got our deposit back and went next door to boulder lodge. The people there were extremely nice and helpful, we were happy we made the choice to change locations... Anyway, hope you have better luck if that is where you are staying.

As for the fishing... Being on the lake in a boat or tube was extremely iritating. Wind pushing you all day, no way to anchor. We tried trolling everything for no luck. Finally just drifted some nightcrawelers and caught only one on the boat. The shore was a different story. The area right By Big Rock Resort or Boulder lodge is a great spot, especially in the evening (6-9pm). Caught a few on powerbait, but most on inflated nightcrawlers. Use a long leader (at least 18"). Didnt see many (or any) people using nightcrawlers except us, and we were killing them. Funny thing was, people were acting suprised when we told them what bait we were using. Also, gwjones post sounding great, listen to him. Good luck.

[brando123]

I just got back from june lake too! Had a great time. By the details of your post I think you might be staying at the big rock resort? Nice place, but woman who runs it is very rude. To make a long story short, we made reservations months in advance, arrived after check in time to find out our cabin wasnt ready. After going around in circles with the lady, we got our deposit back and went next door to boulder lodge. The people there were extremely nice and helpful, we were happy we made the choice to change locations... Anyway, hope you have better luck if that is where you are staying.

As for the fishing... Being on the lake in a boat or tube was extremely iritating. Wind pushing you all day, no way to anchor. We tried trolling everything for no luck. Finally just drifted some nightcrawelers and caught only one on the boat. The shore was a different story. The area right By Big Rock Resort or Boulder lodge is a great spot, especially in the evening (6-9pm). Caught a few on powerbait, but most on inflated nightcrawlers. Use a long leader (at least 18"). Didnt see many (or any) people using nightcrawlers except us, and we were killing them. Funny thing was, people were acting suprised when we told them what bait we were using. Also, gwjones post sounding great, listen to him. Good luck.


hey you try that tiger bar right near june lake?? man that place is expensive but i think the food is alright.. o and good job out there

[GopherPride23]

no didnt eat there...ate at the place next door, I can't remember the name...it said "Steaks" outside, but when you went inside they asked if you were there for the pizza? Weird anyway...we had a blast

[peterl]

Thanks for the tips on the inflated crawlers. What length leader worked best?

Size 4 or 6 hook?

Also, what seemed to be the ticket for power bait? I used to use the plain green w/glitter.

Thanks again.

1 week and counting now :D :D :D :D

[GopherPride23]

try 18" or longer. I was using small single hooks size 8 and 10 i think. i was using all kinds of different powerbait...what worked for me was a pink/orange rainbow. Also I heard about this new flavor of gulp...it is an off white cheese color with sparkles, I heard it was killin em...I caught one off of it. Anyway good luck, no doubt you will do well.

[gwjones00]

Size 8 and 10 may even be a little large. For nightcrawlers, a 10 would work. Make sure to get a worm treader. We used to use half a nightcrawler threaded on the hokk, and then inflate the crawler so that it would float off the bottom.

If you are using power bait or eggs, use a smaller hook - size 14 or 16 (maybe even an 18) treble hook for PB, or a size 14 or so single for eggs or gulp eggs.

If you want, you can stop by a shop like Turner's (I am assuming that you live in the L.A. area) prior to leaving. Talk to them in the store - they generally know what they are talking about. Then, if you need to pruchase gear at a discounted price, stop in at K-Mart in Bishop.

Once again - the best thing to do is to stop into the local tackle shops (Ernies in June Lake, Culver's or Mac's in Bishop, Bells in Lee Vining), or any of the marinas to find out what is actually going on at the time.

Have fun!

[gwjones00]

Size 8 and 10 may even be a little large. For nightcrawlers, a 10 would work. Make sure to get a worm treader. We used to use half a nightcrawler threaded on the hokk, and then inflate the crawler so that it would float off the bottom.

If you are using power bait or eggs, use a smaller hook - size 14 or 16 (maybe even an 18) treble hook for PB, or a size 14 or so single for eggs or gulp eggs.

If you want, you can stop by a shop like Turner's (I am assuming that you live in the L.A. area) prior to leaving. Talk to them in the store - they generally know what they are talking about. Then, if you need to pruchase gear at a discounted price, stop in at K-Mart in Bishop.

Once again - the best thing to do is to stop into the local tackle shops (Ernies in June Lake, Culver's or Mac's in Bishop, Bells in Lee Vining), or any of the marinas to find out what is actually going on at the time.

Have fun!

[Mase]

I stayed up at June last weekend. I had my best luck against the reeds by the marina. There were usually 2-3 schools of stockers that would swim by periodically. I had the best luck with my gold and pink panther martins. As soon as I saw a school, I would cast out about 10 feet in front of them and give it a medium-fast retrieve. They would just nail it! I caught 4 stockers in 10 mins doing that. Biggest one was 2lb 3oz.

I never had any luck with nightcrawlers or pb...unless I wanted to keep all the annoying suckerfish I caught on them.

Good luck up there. The weather was in the 80's during the day and 50's at night and the water temp was in the mid 60's.

One more thing...on my last day out there, I watched the marina owner release about 20 5lbs+ trout from the hatchery pen. My friends and I just watched in amazement as he was releasing them all.