Sierra Trout Season Opens With Cold Blast : Fishing: Decent catches made amid 60-knot winds that cause mishaps and result in temporary closures.
BISHOP — Winds gusting to 60 knots blew one family out of its boat into freezing water, capsized at least one other boat and tested the mettle of several thousand anglers who braved the start of the Eastern Sierra trout fishing season Saturday.
With whitecaps frothing like lemon meringue, Crowley Lake operators ordered boaters off the unprotected reservoir at noon for 1 1/2 hours. Mono County Sheriffs patrol boats towed several swamped boats to shore.
Boats were allowed back out about 1:30 for the best fishing of the day until the winds returned at 5 p.m. and the lake was cleared again.
The top catch at Crowley was a 4.52-pound German brown taken by Marty Steelman of Placentia, using a worm from shore.
The weather was worst in the Bridgeport area, which also produced the two largest reported catches of the day: an 8-pound 10-ounce brown by Tom Regan of Burbank and an 8-1 rainbow by Paul Dahms of Pt. Reyes Station.
Both were taken in wind and rain on Lower Twin Lake, Regan’s trolling a No. 18 rainbow trout Rapala lure and Dahms’ tossing Power Bait from shore.
Teri Levy, who operates the Gull Lake Boat Landing on the June Loop with her husband, Pete, said that “if it wasn’t for the wind, it would have been a really good opener. The wind last night was really raging.â€
At Convict Lake, managers David and Adrienne DeSurra issued rain checks on their sold-out boat rentals, although they did allow some out during a lull in the midafternoon.
Debbie Nelson of the U.S. Forest Service said winds were measured there at 60 knots.
“It not only looked like the ocean, it looked like a bad day at the ocean . . . victory at sea,†she said.
“But the (anglers) who walked to the back of the lake were ecstatic,†Adrienne DeSurra said.
Among those who took the one-mile hike around the north shore to the Convict Creek inlet was Craig Canepa of Rancho Cucamonga, who collected a 7.16-pound rainbow.
Pat Bauer of Long Beach landed a 6.31-pound brown using a nightcrawler at the head of the outlet. The fish had been hooked minutes earlier by Chad Denning, who stripped off his boots and pants to pursue it into the water around some brush, only to have it break his line. The fish still had Denning’s lure in its mouth.
Two boating incidents were reported at June Lake, where waves were reported to be 3 1/2 to 4 feet.
Joshua Schofield, 11, of Riverside was treated for hypothermia at Mammoth Lake Hospital and released in good condition after his family’s 14-foot boat took on water and flipped its four occupants into 34-degree water on June Lake at 6:43 a.m.
Another boat capsized at 5:56 a.m. The lake has been ice-free only since Friday.
Later in the day a member of Schofield’s family returned to buy tackle at Ernie’s Tackle & Ski Shop in June Lake.
Proprietor Mike Logue said, “When I asked him how his money got wet, he told me what had happened.â€
The top catches at June and Gull were 5 1/2-pound rainbows by Brian Alexander of Rialto and Branden Hadley of Minden, Nev.
Rick Rockel of Ken’s Sporting Goods in Bridgeport said, “Fishing’s been really tough.â€
Flows in the East Walker River were too high, he said, although some resourceful anglers used flies with weights and spinning gear to bag browns in the 3-to-4-pound range.
