Scenic 395 - The Official Guide 2019/2020

By Jim Matthews www.OutdoorNewsService.com A ll summer long, the popu- lar fishing spots in the Sierra Nevada are crowd- ed with anglers. Parking spots are hard to find in the Bishop and Rock Creek drainages. An- glers line the shorelines of all the Mammoth Lakes and the water is dotted with fishing boats and float tubers trying to catch trout. It almost seems like you need a reservation to get a productive stretch of fishing shoreline in the June Lake Loop. The same is true for Saddlebag Lake, Lundy Lake, the Virginia Lakes, Bridge- port’s Twin Lake, and Bridgeport Reservoir. Thanks to Department of Fish and Wildlife stocking trucks and regular private plants contracted by local fishing and county tourism groups, all of those places have intermittent good fishing in beautiful settings. But some of us like solitude and gullible trout that don’t come from a hatchery truck. Little streams throughout the Sierra provide that fishing soli- tude for trout – admittedly small – that were born and bred in the region. These small, wild trout also can be frighteningly easy to catch because the little waters where they live have limited re- sources and few will pass up an opportunity to snatch a cricket or fly drifted through the pool where they are living. HOW TO FIND LITTLE WA- TERS: The best way to find these little out-of-the-way waters is to look at detailed maps near the area you are staying and start exploring. Many waters are right along paved and dirt roads, while others might require hikes of varying lengths. But the key is that these streams are small. Most anglers avoid creeks they can straddle or jump across easi- ly. These are the waters that have the greatest surprises in the vari- ety and number of trout you can catch. U.S. Forest Service maps are the best maps for the Sierra, and these maps can be obtained at most staffed ranger stations. These maps show all of the open vehicle routes and tell you whether or not you need four- wheel drive vehicles. They also show hiking trails. Happily, those trails generally have por- tions that follow water courses and lake shores. Until you get into wilderness backcountry, virtually all of the streams in the region have been planted with trout historically and they now reproduce natural- ly. I have caught wild rainbows and brown trout standing in the meadow adjacent to Highway 395 near Fales Hot Springs north of Bridgeport. There was a weekend where my brother-and- law and I caught golden trout and brookies in Tamarack Creek. It is located just a short walk from the end of a finger of dirt track off Green Creek Road south of Bridgeport. The beaver ponds on Mill Creek above Lundy Lake are jammed with trout (and mosquitos). On our anniversary, my wife and I caught browns and brookies on dry flies above Rock Creek Lake while nearby backpackers streamed up a trial that connects to the Pacific Crest Trail. There was the time I was surprised by a 12-inch brown trout from Pine Creek, just north of Bishop. One of my favorite spots a lit- tle creek that ran through Junc- tion Campground on Highway 120 at the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. We walked above the campground to where the stream opened up into a meadow. There were small, bright-colored brook trout in every deeper pool and undercut bank. Sometimes you can be shocked by the size of the fish. In the spring, the tiny tributaries to Crowley Lake (all which have special fishing regulations) get clogged with huge rainbows and cutthroats moving up out of the lake to spawn, and my boys and I have landed and released trout weighing three and four pounds on egg pattern flies from Hilton Creek in the meadows above the lake. Amazing, when you consid- er you can straddle the braids of this little water in most places. The best part about the little stream spots is that there were never other anglers that didn’t 2019-2020 Scenic 395 48 June Lake Loop Small streams for wild trout JOSHWRAY/MONO COUNTYTOURISM An angler takes part in a little fall fishing at Grant Lake. Continued on Page 49