13 Attachment(s)
Bishop over the holiday weekend 7/1-7/3 w/ PICS!
hey everyone, decided to plan a last minute trip, and our first of the year, early in the week. With a last minute planning, it was hard to find anything open up in the canyon, so we settled for a motel down in bishop. (which worked fine, other than the 160 miles spend driving up and down the hill in 2 days). so to the report......
7/1 evening - left Palmdale at about 1:45 on friday, and made it to bishop at 4:35, our PB time :P. Checked into the la Quinta and headed up the 168 for the evening bite. Hit up intake 2 after after hearing about the big Alpers stocking that had gone in that day supposedly. I was shocked when we got there, that our spot was open(beach by the inlet), it usually taken by that time in the afternoon. Although we didn't end up with any alpers, we had no problem picking off 12 fish between my dad in I in a little under 2 hours of fishing. My goal for the trip was to catch as many fish on jigs as a I, and I got some good action at intake with a bronze colored one. Nothing of any size, and to be honest, they were some of the smallest fish we have ever caught out of there o_O called it a day around 7:15 and had a great meal at Amigos in bishop.
7/2 morning - got up around 6:15, ate a quick breakfast, and headed up to Sabrina to get our boat rental. we were on the water by 7:10, the second ones on the lake. As we headed to the back inlet, I was shocked at how low the water level still was. As we approached the inlet, it was evident that our usual spot was gonna be heavily altered by the water level and the current. We were able to jump out on some rocks, where the water was rushing into the lake, and this turned out to be an almost perfect spot. We were able to fish the water coming in, and the still water to the east. We immediately started getting hits in the deep pool under the feeder stream. the fish were aggressive, and it almost anything. All color jigs were working well. the bite was hot from about 7:30 to 8:30, and then it went almost dead cold. We managed to snag 15 fish in the hour span including a brook and a brown, and then just 5 in the following 2 hours. As we got back to the boat landing, the guy told us that they were still waiting on a DFG stocking, and that there hadn't been one since monday. That made us feel a whole lot better about our sub-par day :) Im sure that it being the hottest day up in the canyon so far had a lot to do with it! Although it was a bit slower than it has been in the past, it was still a productive, fun morning. All fish were C&R, and again nothing of any size.
7/2 evening- After a mid day nap, and some lunch, we hit up the south fork of the creek for some after noon fishing. We fist stopped at table mountain campground, about a half mile after the south lake turnoff. I had never been here, but saw a pipe feeding a deep pool on the side of the road, which usually have been productive for me. I threw in some salmon eggs, on a bait set up, and first cast down the stream picked off a nice stocker. now that i knew the deep pool was holding, I started tossing my jigs. Fist cast with a pink/orange one....boom. I saw a nice fish come out from the shade on the side of the pool, and take my jig. after a few runs, I had him in. He was a nice 2.5#. after fishing that spot, and my dad getting a couple more, we moved down more towards the actual campground, and food some great slow running areas. After working the area for a few more fish, we kept moving up towards south. We stopped at parchers hole, where we caught 3 little guys and provided a family with some dinner :P After losing a 5# in the hole LAST YEAR, my dad's goal was to redeem himself. Although he couldn't do it with size, he got some nice stockers. We drove up to south to see the water level, and it was crazy to see the lake looking so uneventful. Im sure with the heat, and the great staff they have, it'll be the summer hot spot again real soon. As the sun went down, we headed back down the hill, stopping at weir for a bit. As I was fishing a a fly and bubble combo, my dad had a 5 minute period of 8 fish on a bronze jig. UNBELIEVABLE. I did manage one on a mosquito behind a water bubble. On the way down from the south fork, A deer jumped out in front of the truck, and I almost hit it. CRAZY! :o Overall it was a great day of fishing, topped off by an outstanding steak dinner at Whiskey Creek in bishop.
7/3 morning- After hearing such great reviews from north lake this season, and because of its beauty, we decided to hit the dirt road on sunday morning. We got to the lake around 7:15, and the fish were feeding like crazy off the top. while my dad was a tossing a red/gold tommy B, i started casting my same mosquito patter from the night before. I couldn't get them to hit at all. I tried a caddis.. nothing. Finally, after seeing a bunch of ants, I tried a black ant pattern, and boom. The were hitting it hard. We managed 10 fish in an hour and a half or fishing, 5 each. We headed back down the road, and hit some areas on the north fork of bishop creek. The pools up by Sabrina looked completely fished out. The first one after the pump below the damn looked like it was holding some browns in a kelp bed a couple feet below the surface. I climbed out onto the huge boulder in the middle of the stream, (I've always wanted to get out on thing), and started tossing a mosquito fly towards the calm part of the stream. After a few casts, I got a nice little 12 inch brown to take it on the surface. That was a the only fish we got from that section of the creek, but on the way down, we stopped at the sabrina campground, and my dad got 2, while I managed 1. After a quick lunch at schatts, we were on the 395 headed home by 10:30.
Overall: It was a great trip, highlighted by huge crowds and hot weather however. I've never been up there when it was as hot as it was this weekend. WOW! the bit was good...but not AS hot as usual. Probably had a lot to do with the weather and big crowds for the 4th. Almost everywhere we went, we didn't see anyone pulling out more than a fish or two. kinda odd for the canyon. Overall, however, it was a great first trip of the year, and I cant wait to get up again before I start college in the fall :P
oh.. and final fish totals: DAD-23 ME-25 :D
