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View Full Version : Edison Lake - Western Sierra Fishing/Drinking Trip



MustHuntAndFish
06-29-2011, 03:48 PM
Made the long trip up to Lake Thomas A. Edison this past weekend to meet my Dad, brother and a bunch of my uncles and cousins for some camping and fishing. It has always been a summer tradition for us to hit a Western Sierra Lake and I try to go at least once a year as the others go a few times since they all live in the Fresno area.

I left Simi Valley at 10:00 pm Thursday nite... Met a couple of buddies I invited in Castaic and we headed North. After a Slow Speed Car Chase (about 15 Police cars) and a blown tire on my boat trailer all in Bakersfield I finally made it to where my parents live (Dinuba) at 2 am. I left my kids there so they could spend the weekend with Grandma and then headed to Fresno to pick up my brother.

We then push on up the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Here's a few pics my buddy took of our drive. He's driving behind me.

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So we finally arrive at Edison Lake at about 7 am where my Dad and uncle were making breakfast. So we set up our tents, eat and then finally get on the water at about 8 am.

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I started the morning trolling a Nite Crawler behind a Rainbow Colored Dodger. I let out 5 colors of lead core and as soon as I flipped the lever to stop letting line out....... BENDO! After a nice fight I get about a 14" Brown in the boat.

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Oh yeah....:Cool: I thought. On the water less than 5 minutes and the skunk is off. We are gonna SLAY!

Well.... It didnt happen that way. :Sad: We stayed out on the water until about 1 pm for 4 Browns caught by 3 anglers on my boat.

Back to camp to trade fish stories and eat lunch. Was sooooo tired that I didnt even go back out for the afternoon bite. Took a nap and woke up in time for the party! We stayed up until 3 am playing Poker that nite :LOL:

So instead of getting up brite and early... We didnt get on the water until after 7 am on Saturday morning. It was pretty much the same as far the fishing went all weekend. It was a slow pick for all.

We had 13 anglers on 5 boats ..... plus 2 others who fished from shore. Nobody was skunked on either day but only 1 kid got his limit on Friday and there were no limits on Saturday. I think the rapid rise in water level had an efffect. The lake went from 62% to 90% full in less than two weeks with all the snow melt.

On my boat... I caught 5, my brother 3, and his buddy 2 in a day and a half of fishing. All were Browns while the guys on the other boats got about a 50/50 mix between Bows and Browns. Most were caught on Needlefish and Rapalas..... A few on nitecrawlers behind flashers or dodgers.

One of the Rainbows my buddy caught

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Here are a few other pics that I took with my phone.

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All in all.... It was a GREAT Weekend!

IncredibleHuck
06-29-2011, 03:50 PM
Let's try that again

MustHuntAndFish
06-29-2011, 04:36 PM
Let's try that again

LOL !!!!

Well... The reports up now... Trying to the pics up.

etaggart
06-29-2011, 06:19 PM
Great report - Awesome to hear action from Edison lake. I assume this is the lake above Huntington Lake in that chain? We've hit Huntington Lake before and had a great time. May do it again this August for a week with a boat. The water from Edison GUSHES down a 15' diameter granite tunnel a couple of miles (?) to power a generator. The output is insane!!! Lots of nice trout used to pool at the opening of the inlet.

Thanks again!

Eric

MustHuntAndFish
06-29-2011, 07:06 PM
Great report - Awesome to hear action from Edison lake. I assume this is the lake above Huntington Lake in that chain? We've hit Huntington Lake before and had a great time. May do it again this August for a week with a boat. The water from Edison GUSHES down a 15' diameter granite tunnel a couple of miles (?) to power a generator. The output is insane!!! Lots of nice trout used to pool at the opening of the inlet.

Thanks etaggart...... Yes, there are actually 2 lakes above Huntington, over Kaiser Pass... Edison and Florence Lakes. Edison is actually only 19 miles from Mammoth Lakes but there are no roads that connect the two.

The fishing could have been better but we had a lot of short strikes and I actually had the wire on an old set of flashers break when I had a nice fish about 20 yards behind the boat.

I plan on taking the wife and kids to Courtwright Lake (East of Shaver) for Labor Day. It's my favorite of all those lakes but they are all beautiful.

GdHkSet1
06-29-2011, 09:23 PM
Very nice, sounds and looks like alot of fun. Ah the Dodger/Flasher NC combo my favorite, may I ask how long was the leader from the dodger/flasher?

TheAsianGuy
06-29-2011, 09:25 PM
That is one freaking awesome trip! Dude, look at the water. Perfect to hunt for pretty much anything in there. Water temp is still perfect for trouts!

MustHuntAndFish
06-29-2011, 11:04 PM
GdHkSet1
Very nice, sounds and looks like alot of fun. Ah the Dodger/Flasher NC combo my favorite, may I ask how long was the leader from the dodger/flasher?

I put the crawler 14" to 18" behind flashers. This was my first time using a dodger but they are trout killers according to most reports I read from lakes in that area. I saw a Youtube post that said to run a spoon (has it's own action) 14" - 16" behind the dodger but only about 10" for a nitecrawler so that the dodger gives it action. So thats how I did it and it worked but I'm definitely no expert.


TheAsianGuy
That is one freaking awesome trip! Dude, look at the water. Perfect to hunt for pretty much anything in there. Water temp is still perfect for trouts!

It's a pure trout lake.... and all natives too. Rainbows, Browns, and some Brooks at the inlets. Water was COLD! It's all snow melt.

And Yes... It was an awsome trip.... Can't wait to go again.

farmacist
06-30-2011, 09:40 AM
Thanks for the post, thats some beautiful county up there. I was lucky enough to hike the area last summer, along the JMT...can't wait to get back, maybe even wet a line @ Edison

MustHuntAndFish
07-01-2011, 05:53 PM
Yessir Farmacist!

Beautiful indeed.... I've hunted deer up the John Muir Trail before. Another great spot is the Ducy Ershim Jeep trail behind Courtwright Reservior. And Courtwright is a great lake to fish also. My Favorite actually.... Hoping to go there for Labor Day.