Bishop Creek and South Lake area 20221007-9

[fish-ninja]

I don’t know why but I have not gone out to pay my visits to local piers but have been called to step into mountains lately. I visited a local SoCal stream to play with native rainbows and most recently managed to escape the heat into the eastern sierras. It was full of aspen foliage. So many folks were there just to admire them.

I met up with a friend from Oakland to camp there and fish the streams and some lakes. I managed to complete my goal of Sierra grand slam to catch four trout species in a single day. It’s a silly game but you do have to do good research to be able to do this since there are not too many places to do this. Here are brown,

And some rainbows above the south lake

Further into high altitude the treasure lake and its outlet holds golden and golden rainbow hybrids. I landed a few that look more like golden.


We back tracked the treasure lake trail then went back up toward the bishop pass. Within a mile, an off shoot trail took us to Marie Louise lake


There we found plenty of hungry brook trout. Usually they are stunted and very lean but this year I found them well fed!

I love their fall color so vivid. They are pretty small as you see but size really don’t matter when fishing these area to me. Next day my friend who just started fishing flies exercised his luck well and found the best 16 inch fat rainbow

This fish fed his family ver well back in Oakland. He took off early and I was going to stay another night but something moved my heart and decided to take off at whim. Right after I finish packing up my camp, it started to rain. Felt good to be together with nature so I knew when to leave.

 

[scaryfish]

That’s some good times Fish-Ninja. Congratulations! Fat rainbow, beautiful red belly on the Brook, and those golden/hybrids are always pretty fish.

 

[Makairaa]

Not sure about the slam thing being a silly game. I know several people who have tried and failed to do it. Congratulations and looked like a fun trip.

 

[fish-ninja]

That’s some good times Fish-Ninja. Congratulations! Fat rainbow, beautiful red belly on the Brook, and those golden/hybrids are always pretty fish.

Thank you scaryfish! I love them as much as those that come to us at piers!

 

[fish-ninja]

Not sure about the slam thing being a silly game. I know several people who have tried and failed to do it. Congratulations and looked like a fun trip.

You are so kind Makairaa. It is fair to say I have tried this multiple times in past but never made it. It is always one species that elude my offerings for one reason or the other. The best moment though was my friends fat rainbow. That was his PB of any fish he had ever caught!

 

[Mahigeer]

Thanks for sharing beautiful pictures.

On a side note, going on a lobster trip 11/2-3, if you are game.
I can move it to 11/3-4, you can join me on Friday. The issue on Friday is the late boat. No 7:45 PM boat from Avalon.

 

[sbbrett]

Neat trip, and nice report fish ninja. I fished up there for the first time in July(I am more experienced in the Lassen/Modoc/Northern Sierras), and had great success for golden trout in the Cottonwood lakes basin (highly recommended for a backpacking trip to find golden trout). Then we car camped at Rock Creek, Bishop Creek, and Lee Vining Creek. Rock Creek lake looked nice, as did Lake Sabrina, but we did not fish them. Fished Saddlebag Lake for some nice sized brookies, and saw a guy land a 19" rainbow, Lee Vining creek planted with 2 to 6lb trout, So unnatural, they just sit in the deep pools and occasionally will hit power bait, not my kind of fishing, though the runs and pools with movement hold some nice browns, got a 15" and 14" brown on spinners. Next time, will hike into the John Muir Wilderness out of McGee Creek trailhead, the lakes up there are supposed to be teeming with golden hybrids and brookies

 

[sbbrett]

Golden trout from South Fork lakes in Golden trout wilderness, also look for Long Lake, beautiful and lots of Golden hybrids. The pure Golden trout are in little Golden creek off kern River, quite a hike to get to...

 

[fish-ninja]

Neat trip, and nice report fish ninja. I fished up there for the first time in July(I am more experienced in the Lassen/Modoc/Northern Sierras), and had great success for golden trout in the Cottonwood lakes basin (highly recommended for a backpacking trip to find golden trout). Then we car camped at Rock Creek, Bishop Creek, and Lee Vining Creek. Rock Creek lake looked nice, as did Lake Sabrina, but we did not fish them. Fished Saddlebag Lake for some nice sized brookies, and saw a guy land a 19" rainbow, Lee Vining creek planted with 2 to 6lb trout, So unnatural, they just sit in the deep pools and occasionally will hit power bait, not my kind of fishing, though the runs and pools with movement hold some nice browns, got a 15" and 14" brown on spinners. Next time, will hike into the John Muir Wilderness out of McGee Creek trailhead, the lakes up there are supposed to be teeming with golden hybrids and brookies

Super neat!!! Though I am more versed in Southern and Central Sierras, I too have seen the beauty of Northern Sierras and Lassen/Modoc. Loved my visits to McCloud area for the beautiful redbands! In south, visits to golden trout wilderness off the cottonwood area, the kern, and the little kern are must. Let me know if you come around again and need some intel. Your trip to the south sounds so cool. 15" brown is a great one! Congrats!!!!! Finally, yes, on those lakes along McGee Creek. I did a cross country trek this June connecting Rock Creek, Hilton Lakes, Pioneer Basin, Hopkins Basin then McGee canyon. Both Hilton and Pioneer had golden. I did not get to try the lake in McGee for golden. I look forward to your report next year! Send me a DM if you like to see some old photos. This McGee trip I did not put it to PFIC but elsewhere.

 

[fish-ninja]

Golden trout from South Fork lakes in Golden trout wilderness, also look for Long Lake, beautiful and lots of Golden hybrids. The pure Golden trout are in little Golden creek off kern River, quite a hike to get to...

Haha, loved your release action in the second photo. Yep, we totally talk the same talk! Here is mine from the cottonwood area 10 years ago. http://instagr.am/p/Cb0S7FOJVHZ/ .

 

[sbbrett]

On topic of redband trout, I have caught many goose lake redband trout from lassen creek, east of Goose Lake. And the Warner Mountains are my favorite in California, have been fishing up there since I was a child.

 

[sbbrett]

thanks for Eastern Sierra info, totally new to me

 

[sbbrett]

Goose lake redband pictured, Lassen Creek, Modoc. Not pictured is the most rare Warner Mountain redband, maybe the hardest to find of the California Heritage trout list. I haven't got one of those yet

 

[sbbrett]

I misspoke: Warner Lakes Redband trout, not Warner Mountains. They are mostly in Oregon, but can be found in Dismal Creek and Twelvemile Creek on the Oregon border

 

[fish-ninja]

Goose lake redband pictured, Lassen Creek, Modoc. Not pictured is the most rare Warner Mountain redband, maybe the hardest to find of the California Heritage trout list. I haven't got one of those yet

@sbbrett, am I finding in you a fellow California Heritage Trout challenge hunter? I know exactly where you took the photo of Lassen Creek. I did not grow up fishing that watershed like you did but I did explore the area good once. Lassen, Davis, and Dismal! Boy it was a long drive from Los Angeles.....

 

[sbbrett]

I am not a challenge hunter, but by chance I am close. I grew up in Mendocino/Sonoma area, but family has property up in Modoc. Of all species that I have never caught or targeted, it is the coastal cutthroat. A species I did not grow up far from. I just never fished for them, but I will at some point,

 

[sbbrett]

My cousin is a BLM biologist and helped do the restoration work on Lassen Creek, and the subsequent fish surveys. The creek has been doing wellin past years, though Goose lake has been dry for some time. We all need a good winter

 

[fish-ninja]

Amen to that. We all need a good winter full of snows.

 

[moonshine]

Great report! It reminds me of what I've read about the stories of people who fished while interred at Manzanar. Great stories that imply the draw of fishing despite the circumstances.

 

[fish-ninja]

Great report! It reminds me of what I've read about the stories of people who fished while interred at Manzanar. Great stories that imply the draw of fishing despite the circumstances.

So true. They named themselves "Manzanar Fishing Club". There is a documentary film about it that perhaps you also saw. There is a crazy story around it. It is too long to give a justice to its full complexity here but let me give a summary here. Some remains of one of the anglers who perished up in the mountain was discovered by a mountaineering team lately. They thought the remains belonged to someone who perished that year. The thing is that the area was so remote and authority knew there are absolutely no accident reports around there for decades! Authority did DNA match with the descendants of the known perished angler from Manzanor and found it was indeed a match. This was just a few years ago.... how the bones moved up to where it was discovered is still a mystery since it was documented buried in a distanced location....