Fished from 10/18 to 10/24 stayed in the June Loop. 3 aluminums 7 people and nothing but good times in one of my favorite areas to fish.
Fished June, Virginia, Convict, Crowley lake an afternoon on Rush Creek. Been fishing up there at the end of the season for our 3rd year in a row. Great times, beautiful fall colors, but overall slower than usual fishing. Many of the lakes still had weed lines that I usually don’t see this late in the year.
El Nino weather has the ocean fishing going bonkers but it seems to have created warmer than usual conditions for the region. Going up this time of the year we usually are a week or 2 after the fall color bloom. This year we saw the colors in their prime. AWESOME!!
We still caught em but they had us scratching our heads after a few days wondering if we were a little rusty. After chatting with some of the locals and guides we were realized it wasn’t just us. Everybody was working for their fish. I should mention we didn't fish any lead core. I think it might have helped but not my regular program
Caught em on mini jigs, trolling lures (cultivas), small Kastmasters.
Big fish was a 6lb rainbow from convict caught on a mini jig. Beautiful fish!!
If your’re heading up in the next few weeks Good Luck! Temps were getting cooler and things appear to be lining up for last of the season. Dont forget to take a step back from the fishing to appreciate the surroundings. We spent a half day running around and exploring checking out the change in colors and had a blast. Convict Creek, Conway Summit and the upper areas of the loop were boosting with color.
How was the fishing at Crowley? We were up there couple of weeks ago and had plans to fish there but we didn't make it down the hill. Thanks for you report.
Looking back my first report didn’t have much detail. Have to admit first few days home sucked, So cal traffic and back in the office was an adjustment. Suffering from symptoms of Sierra Withdrawels....I want to go back!!
Crowley was fun, fished 3 of our 6 days there. 1st day our boat had 4 next day, 5 and the last day maybe 6 between the two of us. Browns and a few rainbows in the mix. Didn’t catch any giants but some nice quality. We fished lower Crowley, heard of some of the guys running 12 miles north to better waters. Too far for us to run, my seasoned 15 hsp 2 stroke merc doesnt have much power at the higher elevations, never made the long run.
The weed lines were thick at 12 ft. We caught most our fish just outside the weed lines in 14 ft water. Water clarity 6-12 inches of visability decent algea bloom. One of the boats in our group did much better targeting deeper water(trolling and casting). Later learned later that there was some sort of larva the fish were feeding on(20-30 ft). We fished cultivas, casting and trolling, along with a few on the mini jig(everything with pinched barbs). Gold and natural colors seemed to be productive. Couple of the other boats caught some on Red thomas boyants and even on some spinning lures(big panthers).
With Crowley giants lurking mini jigs were not the ideal way to target them. I fish 3 lb floroclear on the minijig and you can only hope for a perfect lip hook. Overall fair results for some long days on the water. Didn't feel so bad after swapping stories with some of the locals, sounded like most boats were averinging 5-6 fish a day. Everybody was saying not the typical fishing for this late in the season. Still had a great time!
Last edited by JT FISHJUNKY; 10-29-2015 at 11:39 AM.
Reason: added pics
I hear you man The Post Sierra Ttrip going back to work syndrome -sucks! You just want to drive back and leave everything behind. Awesome pics and great feedback. Look forward on getting my boat up there next year. Thanks for your report.
Ran into some folk at Jack's Waffle who were going out with a guide and had heard it was wide open ... I believe I heard that the morning of the 22nd ... guides from Fish Sniffers I believe
Sierra's 10.18 to 10.24
We spent a half day running around and exploring checking out the change in colors and had a blast. Convict Creek, Conway Summit and the upper areas of the loop were boosting with color.
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