Convict/June Lake Loop Trip June 5-9 (float tube trip)

[socal114]

Pulled out early Sat. evening for a 5 day trip to Silver Lake RV resort. Was a little concerned about the weather, but have been to the Sierras enough not to place too much emphasis on a forecast. Arrived in Bishop about midnight and overnighted in the K-Mart/Vons p-lot. Got up about 6 am and hit Convict for a few hours before heading to June Lake Loop. Surprisingly, the conditions couldn't have been better with glass-like water and overcast/sunny/mid 50's weather. Managed (6) small bows on jigs before heading to Silver Lake RV to get checked in. Arrived at June Lake mid afternoon to sunny and mid 50's weather. With the forecast predicting Sun/Mon being the worst for the week, I was thinking the weather may just cooperate...:Big Grin:

Hit Gull Lake Monday and instantly fell in love with this lake. Great tubing lake with some areas on the backside providing protection from wind if it kicks up. It took me a few hours to figure out where the fish were and what they would eat, but it was outstanding fishing after that. Managed (15) bows with a few decent fish between 2-3#. Returned Tuesday for a (32) fish day, but they were all small stockers between 1-1.5#'s. Gave Silver Lake a try for half day Wed. at the mouth of Rush Creek, but it was extremely slow so we left and headed back to the "honey hole". Had to check out today, but wanted to get a few hours in before making the drive back home.

Final Tally: 72 bows over the five day trip. Didn't get any Brown's but the numbers made up for that.:LOL: Weather was FANTASTIC, with sun and mid 50's to low 60's the entire trip. Only two hours of rain late Tuesday night and Pretty much glass-like water all day, every day, until late afternoon. Had such a good time, I couldn't resist booking another trip for mid July.

http://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr67/socal114/?action=view&current=Gull6-6-11.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs470.photobuck et.com%2Falbums%2Frr67%2Fsocal114%2F%3Faction%3Dvi ew%26current%3DGullGlass.jpg

http://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr67/socal114/?action=view&current=Gull6-6-11.jpg#!oZZ2QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs470.photobuck et.com%2Falbums%2Frr67%2Fsocal114%2F%3Faction%3Dvi ew%26current%3DGull6-6-11.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo3BmTq9FgA

[TROUT MASTERS]

NICE REPORT,SOUND LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT TIME.
FOR BROWNS,TRY MOUTH OF RUSH CREEK @ GRANT.BEFOR SUN HITS THE WATER
HAVE A 10 DAY TRIP COMMING UP IN JULY,CANT WAIT
THANKS FOR THE REPORT
TROUT MASTERS:Cool:

[STOPBUGGING]

yeah i was at rush creek the same weekend didnt do as goos as i thought but managed to pull a coule of natives and stockers out of Rush creek...good report

[dockboy]

Rush can be an frustrating place to fish. Hard to approach those fish sometimes, and by July they seen every bait under the sun. The wild browns below Grant are a different game, but the trout I've fooled at Rush have always been away from the popular areas.
Thanks for the report!

[socal114]

Would really appreciate bait suggestions for the browns for my July trip. I mainly fish artificials, but I'm willing to soak bait if neccessary to get them. I've heard floating nightcrawlers can be effective...? Feel free to pm if you don't want to broadcast the info.:Secret:

[cpt_majestic]

What helmet cam are you using for that??

[RiverWalker]

Nice report SOCal. I'm jealous of the good weather you fell into. We were in the area from Early Friday morning till Sunday but it was either raining on us or the wind was howling or both. I did pretty well tubing the Grant inlet and Rush creek on Saturday but man was the weather bad! I wanted to hit up Gull and after seeing your report, I'm kicking myself in the arse for not. I love floating tubing that place! Especially by the reeds and rocky cliff area. As far as Browns are concerned, The Rush inlet is a good spot as TM mentioned but Grant Lake in general has tons of nice Browns in it. I've alway done well there. Even from the shore. Definitely bring your tube and try the inlet though. Go pretty deep into it too. All of the good spots deep in the inlet are only accessible if you're on a tube. I did really well there for 1 to 1.5 pound Bows on Saturday. I caught 14 and farmed about 4 more. Another good spot for nice sized Browns is on the cliff side of Convict Lake. You've got to hike in a little towards the inlet but it's worth it. I've caught and seen huge schools of Browns patrolling the deep drop off on the shoreline about 10 feet out. I shouldn't post this but if you go in November near the closer, the two inlets that feed Convict are filled with Browns in all sizes. It's a really small feeder creek but every pool was filled with Browns. I CPR'd a nice 19" hook jaw male. Just follow the inlets up stream towards the mountains abd you'll have it to yourself! I've caught a lot of nice browns on the dam side of the PVR too and plus the Wild trout section of the Lower Owens. Good luck in July!

[socal114]

What helmet cam are you using for that??
GoPro Hero HD on a chest harness. Plan on mounting a tripod to the tube like Sapdawg, but haven't gotten around to it.

[socal114]

Nice report SOCal. I'm jealous of the good weather you fell into. We were in the area from Early Friday morning till Sunday but it was either raining on us or the wind was howling or both. I did pretty well tubing the Grant inlet and Rush creek on Saturday but man was the weather bad! I wanted to hit up Gull and after seeing your report, I'm kicking myself in the arse for not. I love floating tubing that place! Especially by the reeds and rocky cliff area. As far as Browns are concerned, The Rush inlet is a good spot as TM mentioned but Grant Lake in general has tons of nice Browns in it. I've alway done well there. Even from the shore. Definitely bring your tube and try the inlet though. Go pretty deep into it too. All of the good spots deep in the inlet are only accessible if you're on a tube. I did really well there for 1 to 1.5 pound Bows on Saturday. I caught 14 and farmed about 4 more. Another good spot for nice sized Browns is on the cliff side of Convict Lake. You've got to hike in a little towards the inlet but it's worth it. I've caught and seen huge schools of Browns patrolling the deep drop off on the shoreline about 10 feet out. I shouldn't post this but if you go in November near the closer, the two inlets that feed Convict are filled with Browns in all sizes. It's a really small feeder creek but every pool was filled with Browns. I CPR'd a nice 19" hook jaw male. Just follow the inlets up stream towards the mountains abd you'll have it to yourself! I've caught a lot of nice browns on the dam side of the PVR too and plus the Wild trout section of the Lower Owens. Good luck in July!
Funny you mention kicking yourself for not fishing Gull. I feel the same way about Grant. I had it on my list but never got over there. Talked to a guy fly fishing Gull who had spent the morning on Grant and said it was slow. I had my father-in-law with me and we were on a lot of fish at Gull with glass-like water, so it was TOUGH to make a change. I need to put a plan together for July and stick to it. lol

[RiverWalker]

Glass like conditions and on fish...I wouldn't have left either! LOL. Especially with the weather conditions we were dealing with! I prefer tubing small intimate little scenic lakes like Gull, North Lake, Twin Lakes in Mammoth, and little Virginia. They were all on my itinerary for this last trip but all of them except for Gull was either still frozen or unaccessible due to unplowed roads. Kind of threw a wrench in our plans. Damm I wish we made it down to Gull! Nice Hero cam! A buddy of mine who came with me pick one up the day before our trip and was messing around with it the whole time. I love the under water video's it takes. Super clear! He was using the head strap mount and looked like a fool out there but it was cool though. My hands we're too frozen to be messing around with a camera. I would of dropped in into the drink forsure!



Funny you mention kicking yourself for not fishing Gull. I feel the same way about Grant. I had it on my list but never got over there. Talked to a guy fly fishing Gull who had spent the morning on Grant and said it was slow. I had my father-in-law with me and we were on a lot of fish at Gull with glass-like water, so it was TOUGH to make a change. I need to put a plan together for July and stick to it. lol

[cpt_majestic]

GoPro Hero HD on a chest harness. Plan on mounting a tripod to the tube like Sapdawg, but haven't gotten around to it.

The clarity is awesome, i got to get me one of those

[socal114]

The clarity is awesome, i got to get me one of those
I absolutely love it and the clarity is awesome. It goes with me every day on the water because you just never know what you may hook...:Cool:

[cpt_majestic]

I absolutely love it and the clarity is awesome. It goes with me every day on the water because you just never know what you may hook...:Cool:

haha yeah, sounds like a perfect fathers day gift....i'll see how that goes.... did you take down the video link? can't see it on the ipad.

[socal114]

haha yeah, sounds like a perfect fathers day gift....i'll see how that goes.... did you take down the video link? can't see it on the ipad.
No, it's still there...They retail for about $299 + $40 or so for the chest harness.

[sapdawg11]

Wow Jeff, that looks and sounds like a miserable time and I'm just so glad I missed it...Oh jeeze, who am I kidding? I'm so pissed I couldn't get up there! But really glad to see that you guys got into them. Awesome time, awesome scenery and looks like you guys got into them thick. I knew Wal-Mart allows you to park overnight but had no idea the grocery in Bishop doesn't mind either. That's pretty awesome and something I'll have to keep in mind.

I've got a new float tube adventure for you though...give me a ring and let's get out there. Turns out catfish from the float tube is the latest and greatest thing that I've gotten into in a while. Bent to the reel seat and towed through the trees...I'm completely addicted and know where these things live. We need to get out there...

And as I was just about to click submit I remembered that you sent me a text the other day! I was out on an overnighter on the big blue and forgot to get back to you. We can chat about that too!!!

NICE WORK OUT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[socal114]

Wow Jeff, that looks and sounds like a miserable time and I'm just so glad I missed it...Oh jeeze, who am I kidding? I'm so pissed I couldn't get up there! But really glad to see that you guys got into them. Awesome time, awesome scenery and looks like you guys got into them thick. I knew Wal-Mart allows you to park overnight but had no idea the grocery in Bishop doesn't mind either. That's pretty awesome and something I'll have to keep in mind.


I've got a new float tube adventure for you though...give me a ring and let's get out there. Turns out catfish from the float tube is the latest and greatest thing that I've gotten into in a while. Bent to the reel seat and towed through the trees...I'm completely addicted and know where these things live. We need to get out there...

And as I was just about to click submit I remembered that you sent me a text the other day! I was out on an overnighter on the big blue and forgot to get back to you. We can chat about that too!!!

NICE WORK OUT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey bro...Good to see your still around and didn't go MIA on us. I know your really busy right now with some great career moves, so I wasn't surprised I didn't get a response to the text. Just thought I'd throw it out there to see if you would want to make a few bucks. We can talk about it...As far as the trip goes, it was tremendous. I'm sure you have spoken to Kirk and found out that he FLAKED on the day we were to leave. Something about melting when he gets wet and wind messing up his hair...:LOL: We had such a great time, I've scheduled another trip for July 10-16. You're more than welcome to join us for all or part of the week, if your schedule permits. Plan on spending time at Crowley on the way up, and Grant/Bridgeport/Gull up top. Maybe even make it up to Little Virginia...Guaranteed to be a great trip with dawn to dusk fishing. :EyePop:

[PESCADO1970]

I just returned from a trip to Convict Lake. The weather was awesome on 6-14. We were able to pull out limits of trout using mostly garlic power bait. We had most of our luck in the far corner of the lake near inlet 1. I had the catch of the day with a 2lb 4oz trout. I was really surprised with the fight that the trout gave me. That was my first trip to the lake and I can't wait to go back.

[billy b]

Is "inlet 1" to the left as you head out ... or to the right? I believe there are 2 ... correct?

Jus tryin to get my bearings. Beautiful lake.