Eastern Sierra Opener Report and Photos

[carpanglerdude]

Went up to the Eastern Sierra opener this year. Camped at French Camp near Rock Creek. Weather forecast was a foreboding, but we packed plenty of clothes and stayed warm despite the drop into the 20s at night (thick sleeping bags, small tend).

Did a lot more exploring and hiking than actually fishing. We had initially planned to fish in the Little Lakes Valley, but the fresh snow and closed road put an end to that. Really neat seeing folks ice fishing at Rock Creek Lake, looked like something out of the midwest. The lake was mostly frozen over.

We also explored Hot Creek. Beautiful creek, surrounded by mouth-dropping scenery. The White Mountains to the NE looked tempting, I'm sure they have some fishing opportunities too :)

Most of our time at Hot Creek consisted of trying out a new fly rod. The portion of water below the private ranch seemed far too shallow for any trout, with very few holes or fishy spots. Several other fly fishermen were trying it out too without luck. We also hiked a ways below the hot springs, but the water seemed too warm to support any trout. I wonder if there are any fish much farther, maybe a few miles below the hot springs? Maybe near where it hits the Owens?


Convict Lake was stunning. And packed, shoulder to shoulder in many parts. Only saw a few fish landed. If we had had more time, might have hiked further to the backcountry lakes behind it. Some poor group of guys had their motor give out on the water, hope they got it started again soon.


A bear came through the French Camp on Saturday night. I read on another fishing forum that someone left several coolers out, and the bear came back two nights in a row. The individual was spoken to about putting his coolers away but kept neglecting to do so. C'mon!

I ended up with a few browns and rainbows from the creeks, including right near our campground. Some of those spots feel like they have more pressure than a few of my favorite local locations. The largest brown I got was around 14" or so, great fight on light line with challenging conditions. All fish were CPRed.




Can't wait to go back!

[JAG107]

Dude, absolutely awesome report and photos! Thanks! HOPEFULLY I'll be headed up to Bishop Creek for the upcoming holiday weekend. That is a beaut of a brown you had!

[carpanglerdude]

Dude, absolutely awesome report and photos! Thanks! HOPEFULLY I'll be headed up to Bishop Creek for the upcoming holiday weekend. That is a beaut of a brown you had!

Thanks man! Really like the panorama shots, helps capture the grandeur of the area. Good luck!

[Piss on Myspace]

oh yeah buddy, some great photos right there. I'm losing my breath just looking at them. convict just looks silly when its that busy...can't wait to get into the backcountry later this year. Thanks for the escape

[HBAR]

That guy who's motor quit on them, they took forever messing around at the launch ramp, something else was up with trailer or they didn't have truck to back it down with or they didn't know how too, once they got the trailer in water the boards started coming off the trailer. They took it out of water strapped the boards to trailer and then back in the water it went. then they had some other mishaps. At this point "Bobberboy" and I were getting even more pissed off since he had a trout that put him in first place that day. Once they finally got the boat out of the water they pulled to the top of the ramp and started checking out the boat, a few of us started yelling at them to get outta the way. So what did they do? they moved forward about 20ft and started to strap the boat down for travel, at this point I couldn't take it anymore and yelled at him, hey A--hole others need to get their boats outta the water as well and some of us have a quality fish that needs to get weighed in for the fishmas event, MOVE YOUR S IT NOW! He got the hint and moved.
Later Bobberboy weighed in a 9.9 pound trout at ricks in mammoth, unfortunately sunday morning Allen Cole weighed in a 9.97 and took first place, Bobberboy ended up in second place, he was sad but happy cuz he still won a who bunch of gear.