Crowley Lake

[Al in Whittier]

From what I saw and experienced, Crowley Lake was extremely slow this year for the opener and worse for today (Sunday). On the opener, we fished from boats and we averaged about 3 fish per per person. Today on Sunday for our group caught 1 total. The good news is that all of the fish we caught were bigger than usual.

We fished mostly around McGee Bay and Sandy Point. We saw one boat doing really well at McGee, but the rest of us were at really slow picks.

My friends who normally go back to Crowley on Memorial weekend are changing their plans.

The Sierra Drifter's pre-opener You Tube excerpt said that plants were restored back to normal last fall after being short the last few years so we were pretty excited. But this year was slower than the last two for us for sure. Pretty disappointing.

I hope you did better than us.

[sierraslam]

Bummer. At least you were in the Sierras. I'm headed up Friday and was going to shore fish Greenbanks. Maybe I'll go straight to Convict. One thing about the trout in Crowley is that great red meat they all have. All the fish seem to be at least 16 - 17 inches, most bigger, and fat. You caught a enough fish for a good trout fry. I call that a success.

[londonfish]

Thanks for the report, i am heading up there in two weeks to float the boat in Crowley. Did you get your fish on the troll or bait n wait?

[Marley]

Thanks for the report! This wsa the first tiem in 28 years that we did not make it to Crowley for the opener. What a bummer, it truly felt bad not being there. Sorry to hear that the fishing was so slow. I wonder what happened? If the plants went in as usual then the lake should be plugged full of fish. Was there any wind this year? I was thinking about scheduling a trip over Memorial Day weekend. Maybe the fish just didn't want to go and are just getting bigger. I hope so!

[Al in Whittier]

I didn't mean to come off as so negative. I guess I was dead tired last night after getting back at around 11p and feeling a little emotional. These trips to Mammoth are the best and we had a great time with friends and family as usual. I just wish the fishing was a little better.

We had three boats on the lake. Boat 1 had 3 anglers and 13 fish. Boat 2 and 3 anglers (not including the goofing around kids) and 2 fish. My boat had 2 anglers and 7 fish. We talked to just about everyone we crossed paths with, and most people were shaking their heads in negativity.

One thing I appreciate about this message board is that it seems to give a more honest assessment than what WON or the other fishing reports might show so I wanted to put in my two senses.

To reply to some questions, we were bait fishing and casting the usual lures.

The weather was great! Saturday stayed on the cool side and never really warmed up. The winds came up every now and then, but wasn't a big problem. Sunday was even nicer and did warm up by lunch time. I was up in Mammoth the week before for my kids spring break and it was a pretty windy snow storm up in Mammoth on Saturday. It was raining at Crowley but amazingly when we went down to PVR to fish, it was 75 degrees and clear.

Anyway, good luck to you all. Crowley is still Crowley. I'll be back.

[popeyoung2]

I have been going to Crowley for 28 years for the opener. Same guys, 2 lb. test, all good fisherman. I always come back in July to midge fish. The last 3 years have been terrible. They have stopped stocking the normal amount of rainbows in the fall. The fish camp web site claims they stocked 400,000 last fall. That is 100% a joke. We caught all browns again for the second year. I never saw a rainbow. Mcghee creekbed. What a great lake gone bad. Never again will I wate my time being lied to, and sucked in another year. BYE Fishcamp.

[t-bone]

i didnt have any problems.. i had my limit by 9 AM and culled fish till 4 pm.. i would say between me and my buddy we caught 25 fish saturday smallest 2 lb.. with a nice 3 lb brown

[sierratroutslaya]

I have been going to Crowley for 28 years for the opener. Same guys, 2 lb. test, all good fisherman. I always come back in July to midge fish. The last 3 years have been terrible. They have stopped stocking the normal amount of rainbows in the fall. The fish camp web site claims they stocked 400,000 last fall. That is 100% a joke. We caught all browns again for the second year. I never saw a rainbow. Mcghee creekbed. What a great lake gone bad. Never again will I wate my time being lied to, and sucked in another year. BYE Fishcamp.

You are writing off the entire lake as gone bad because you had two days of mediocre fishing? You don't have to be a statistics major to know your logic isn't right. There's a reason it's called fishing..... I have had my share of bad trips too; and for every bad trip we have had absolutely amazing trips. I used to go up there for a week at a time during the openers. I can't tell you how many times I've had a terrible start to the week and finished on fire, and vice versa. Let me guess; you only fish the opening weekend in the sierras and that's it? I'll go a step further...You're off the lake by 4pm right?....I know the type. Any successful anglers know, you need to adapt to the situations. If not, you will have poor results. What's that saying?....10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish. I'm sure it was true this year too. Fair-weather anglers fall every year; nothing personal Cheers.

i didnt have any problems.. i had my limit by 9 AM and culled fish till 4 pm.. i would say between me and my buddy we caught 25 fish saturday smallest 2 lb.. with a nice 3 lb brown

Get the point pope? Nice job t-bone!

[popeyoung2]

Sierratroutslayer wrote:?...".I know the type. Any successful anglers know, you need to adapt to the situations. If not, you will have poor results. What's that saying?....10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish. I'm sure it was true this year too. Fair-weather anglers fall every year; nothing personal Cheers."
I fish 10 different lakes every July.in the Sierras.I have seen the decline on Crowley due to the State not stocking the rainbows. "Fair weather angler?" I spend every November sitting in trees with a bow in sometimes 20 below weather for a shot at a trophy whitetail. Another friend of mine also had all browns.

T-bone, Good job. If "culling" means upgrading the size of your limit out of a livewell, that is illegal and a hefty ticket from the warden.

[phishin phool]

Thanks for the report Al, dosent sound like the fishin was too bad. Ive had both wide open and super slow up there. Thats fishin. Too bad the "sierra trout slayer" wasn't fishin with ya, he seems to know it all.