View Full Version : LADWP keeps restricting access for anglers: Haiwee Reservoir...
carpanglerdude
03-24-2016, 07:47 PM
Anyone ever fish Haiwee Reservoir off the 395 before it was closed by LADWP? I spotted it a while back while cruising up to the Bishop region. Beautiful lake(s). Got the urge to research it a bit and found quite a bit of interesting history on it, including the current battle to reopen access. Oh, and that is has smallmouth, largemouth, brown, rainbow, and plenty of other tantalizing fish to catch...
I ended up talking with the Owen's Valley Committee, found out about this letter they sent the Mayor of LA.
http://i.imgur.com/cmxPu5j.jpg
If anyone's interested, I did a little writeup on the whole debacle here:
http://huntingtheriverking.blogspot.com/2016/03/why-is-haiwee-reservoir-still-closed-to.html
Maybe one day it will be reopened, but it's going to take a lot of willpower to do so...and probably a different climate at the LADWP to see it through.
HawgZWylde
03-24-2016, 08:56 PM
I've been watching the reservoir for years wanting to put a line in it. I wouldn't hold your breath on this one dude...
Marley
03-24-2016, 11:42 PM
Used to be able to fish there, and hunt ducks. 9/11 happened...
John Harper
03-25-2016, 07:27 AM
Yes, after 9/11 they closed it due to worries about terrorists poisoning our water supply, as I recall. Can't have enough fear, now, can we?
I have been there before it closed, by the dam, and it was sad to see how much trash, used toilet paper (and turds), broken bottles, and junk was all around. I wouldn't blame LA for closing off access just due to the disrespect of the resource. I have not fished there, however, just explored the access.
John
Viejo
03-25-2016, 01:42 PM
The real story is what John Harper posted. The "sportsmen" who leave their mark and still do where ever they go. The real story is you can fish there if you are willing to put up with some harassment if you get caught. No security will cite you nor will the Inyo Sheriff write paper. You will be asked to leave. Locals have been going in for years and yes, the stories are true. Look at some of the pics on the back wall in the sporting goods store in Lone Pine. The closure was not for Homeland Security. It was in retaliation for making LADWP implement the LORP or Lower Owens Restoration project to rewater the barren Lower Owens. Once the agreement was signed, the signs and gates went up.
drifter023
03-26-2016, 08:48 PM
You just have to have somebody drop you of for five or six hours and pick you up and you are good to go. Don't ask me how I know.
Stinkbait
03-26-2016, 09:55 PM
Me and my buddy are fishing crazies and used to fish the Sierras all the time. We always drooled over that place.
My buddy got the nerve to stop by and ask about the place at that little guard house or shack once. Was told to stop on in anytime to fish it. Don't know if that still stands. It was about 7 years or more ago.
Figured it was low/high enough in elevation and had reasonable water temps to have both trout and bass. Place looks fishey as hell. Probly are Sacramento perch in there too. Mmmm tasty.
TroutOnly
03-27-2016, 10:32 AM
.I fished there for many years...the combination of 911 and a drowning at the res got it put off limits ,there is a lawsuit to make them reopen it.........they had to be sued to get them to open it the last time many years ago.........there are some of the largest rainbow and brown trout in the entire eastern sierra there.....and there are some really huge lmb's.......I always liked the mountain lion warning signs around the lake ,while I rode my mountain bike to the different areas I fished........