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TROUT OPENER, PLANTS, DERBIES, AND MORE -- Jim Matthews column-ons 23apr03
Trout season opens Saturday throughout the Sierra Nevada
There is already a ribbon of cars, bristling with fishing rods, sleeping bags, and ice chests, winding their way up Highway 395 from Southern California, and by Friday evening when the sun sets, it will be a nearly bumper-to-bumper procession as the fishing loyal head up through the Owens Valley for the annual opening of trout season in the Eastern Sierra.
All systems are go for this event, but it would probably take some sort of global catastrophe before anglers wouldn't make the trip, something on the magnitude of an asteroid strike that eliminated the dinosaurs. Anglers have come when most of the waters in the region were frozen solid. They have come when blizzard conditions were predicted and roads were impassable. They have come when howling winds made casting impossible. They have come rain or shine since before the oldest of those making the trek here was born.
Some even care about the fishing.
Trout plants: Nearly every roadside water that is not frozen solid will either be planted with rainbow trout by the Department of Fish and Game, or it already has a population of wild or holdover fish. Crowley Lake, for example, is planted with about a half-million trout late each fall, and these fish grow into marvelous pan-sized trout (if you have a big pan) by the opener.
Trophy Trout: A variety of chambers of commerce, businesses, and non-profit groups have made it their goal to improve the fishing in the Eastern Sierra, so they purchase additional fish from private growers, mostly Tim Alpers, who owns a hatchery on the upper Owens River above Crowley. These bigger-than-average trout are scattered throughout the region like Easter eggs to surprise and delight anglers who hook them.
Adopt-A-Creek: The most well-known of these enhancements is the Adopt-A-Creek program that plants plenty of Alpers' trophy rainbows in the North, South and Middle Forks of Bishop Creek along with North Lake. Rainbows from two to 10 pounds are planted throughout the season, with a big batch going in for the opener this weekend.
Rainbow Days: The 12th Annual Bishop Lion's Club Rainbow Days, held from 3 to 8 p.m. opening Saturday in the Bishop City Park, is a good place to see a collection of the big Alpers' rainbows that have been planted, with the biggest fish winning prizes and trophies -- and all of the trout on display. This event has a number of categories, and there are always a few big, wild brown trout in the competition.
Other Derbies: There are also derbies for the biggest fish caught at Lake Crowley and in the June Lake loop. The Crowley event is headquartered at the Crowley Lake Fish Camp, while the Loop derby is based out of Ernie's Tackle and Ski. At Upper Twin Lake out of Bridgeport, the Mono Village event will also feature cash and prize awards.
Big Money Events: Pure Fishing, a company you probably better know by the brand names of Berkley, Garcia, and Fenwick, will plant 40 tagged Alpers' trout in Crowley, June Lake, Convict Lake, and the Twin Lakes in Bridgeport. The tags are worth cash and prizes, and one -- if caught opening weekend -- will be worth $10,000. No one is saying which water the $10,000 fish is located.
Meanwhile, Crave Bait is offering a reward if the biggest trout in the four major fishing areas -- the Bishop Creek drainage, Mammoth Lakes-Crowley-Convict area, the June Lake loop, or the Bridgeport-Twin Lakes region -- is landed on one of their bait products. They'll pay $1,000 per region, and the angler can pick up another $1,000 if he was also using Crave Gravy, a scented liquid additive for baits and lures.
Final Words: I'll give those to my long-time friend Jim Brown, manager of the San Diego City Lakes recreation program and a guy who's attended an opener or two:
"Forget about the inconvenience of too many anglers and the cheek-to-jowl lines that form by day along the best stretches of water and by night at your favorite pubs. This is the Eastern Sierra Trout opener, the one time each year in fishing that it is okay for everyone to be in the same place at the same time and in quest of the same things. It should also serve as a reminder to all that anglers are an economic boon to be appreciated and a potential political force to be reckoned with."
Trout season opens Saturday throughout the Sierra Nevada
There is already a ribbon of cars, bristling with fishing rods, sleeping bags, and ice chests, winding their way up Highway 395 from Southern California, and by Friday evening when the sun sets, it will be a nearly bumper-to-bumper procession as the fishing loyal head up through the Owens Valley for the annual opening of trout season in the Eastern Sierra.
All systems are go for this event, but it would probably take some sort of global catastrophe before anglers wouldn't make the trip, something on the magnitude of an asteroid strike that eliminated the dinosaurs. Anglers have come when most of the waters in the region were frozen solid. They have come when blizzard conditions were predicted and roads were impassable. They have come when howling winds made casting impossible. They have come rain or shine since before the oldest of those making the trek here was born.
Some even care about the fishing.
Trout plants: Nearly every roadside water that is not frozen solid will either be planted with rainbow trout by the Department of Fish and Game, or it already has a population of wild or holdover fish. Crowley Lake, for example, is planted with about a half-million trout late each fall, and these fish grow into marvelous pan-sized trout (if you have a big pan) by the opener.
Trophy Trout: A variety of chambers of commerce, businesses, and non-profit groups have made it their goal to improve the fishing in the Eastern Sierra, so they purchase additional fish from private growers, mostly Tim Alpers, who owns a hatchery on the upper Owens River above Crowley. These bigger-than-average trout are scattered throughout the region like Easter eggs to surprise and delight anglers who hook them.
Adopt-A-Creek: The most well-known of these enhancements is the Adopt-A-Creek program that plants plenty of Alpers' trophy rainbows in the North, South and Middle Forks of Bishop Creek along with North Lake. Rainbows from two to 10 pounds are planted throughout the season, with a big batch going in for the opener this weekend.
Rainbow Days: The 12th Annual Bishop Lion's Club Rainbow Days, held from 3 to 8 p.m. opening Saturday in the Bishop City Park, is a good place to see a collection of the big Alpers' rainbows that have been planted, with the biggest fish winning prizes and trophies -- and all of the trout on display. This event has a number of categories, and there are always a few big, wild brown trout in the competition.
Other Derbies: There are also derbies for the biggest fish caught at Lake Crowley and in the June Lake loop. The Crowley event is headquartered at the Crowley Lake Fish Camp, while the Loop derby is based out of Ernie's Tackle and Ski. At Upper Twin Lake out of Bridgeport, the Mono Village event will also feature cash and prize awards.
Big Money Events: Pure Fishing, a company you probably better know by the brand names of Berkley, Garcia, and Fenwick, will plant 40 tagged Alpers' trout in Crowley, June Lake, Convict Lake, and the Twin Lakes in Bridgeport. The tags are worth cash and prizes, and one -- if caught opening weekend -- will be worth $10,000. No one is saying which water the $10,000 fish is located.
Meanwhile, Crave Bait is offering a reward if the biggest trout in the four major fishing areas -- the Bishop Creek drainage, Mammoth Lakes-Crowley-Convict area, the June Lake loop, or the Bridgeport-Twin Lakes region -- is landed on one of their bait products. They'll pay $1,000 per region, and the angler can pick up another $1,000 if he was also using Crave Gravy, a scented liquid additive for baits and lures.
Final Words: I'll give those to my long-time friend Jim Brown, manager of the San Diego City Lakes recreation program and a guy who's attended an opener or two:
"Forget about the inconvenience of too many anglers and the cheek-to-jowl lines that form by day along the best stretches of water and by night at your favorite pubs. This is the Eastern Sierra Trout opener, the one time each year in fishing that it is okay for everyone to be in the same place at the same time and in quest of the same things. It should also serve as a reminder to all that anglers are an economic boon to be appreciated and a potential political force to be reckoned with."
