It’s Another Opening, Another Show
JUNE LAKE, Calif. — On the surface, you could look at what transpired Saturday throughout the Eastern Sierra and conclude that it was nothing more than an all-out assault on poor, unsuspecting rainbow trout.
It was that, of course. But for many, opening day of the general trout fishing season was much more than the pursuit of trophy-sized fish.
It was about family togetherness, reunions of old friends, a time when children look to adults for guidance, and when adults often act like children.
Perhaps nowhere was this more apparent than at Gull Lake, the smallest of four bodies of water nestled beneath snowy peaks on the famous June Lake Loop.
“We started coming to Gull because it is a small lake and we can get our large group together in a large huddle and just razz each other and joke around within shouting distance,†says David Lozano, 42, an attorney from Arcadia.
The large group he speaks of is the Bill Beckitt’s Crowley Crew, which has been visiting the Eastern Sierra on opening day every season since 1968.
The late Bill Beckitt started this tradition while a teacher at San Gabriel High, bringing students to Crowley Lake in an attempt to enable them to enjoy the great outdoors and learn the fine art of fishing.
Beckitt was killed in a car accident a day before one of the openers in 1983, and a memorial trophy--a three-foot bronze cup with a gold-colored fisherman atop a wooden base--was created in his honor and awarded to the person catching the biggest trout each year.
Also inscribed on the trophy is the saying, “Great men strive for the best, and then achieve it.â€
“We either do that, or we just drink a lot of beer,†jokes Lozano, a former student of Beckitt’s who hasn’t missed an opener in 27 years, and who had his name inscribed last year after catching a 4 1/2-pound rainbow.
“It was a real privilege to be included in the group,†he says. “He started with two kids and each year they could invite two friends, and the group just grew. I came for the first time while a sophomore at San Gabriel High.â€
He says the group switched from Crowley to Gull years ago merely for the sake of convenience, what with so many accommodations practically on Gull’s shores.
No longer are students brought along, but the sons and daughters of members are still a large part of the annual gathering and receive special attention--and they often act more grown-up than their parents.
Shawn Arnold, a Huntington Beach resident, recalls the story of one adult member who wagered that he could cast a lure the farthest.
He opened the bail of the reel and whipped the lure with all his might. Arnold gazed across the water and watched for a splash, but none came. The lure had become embedded in the fisherman’s ear. He stood on the shore in shock, blood dripping down his neck.
“The next year 25 of us showed up [for opening day] wearing lures in our ears. He didn’t like that one bit and hasn’t been back since.â€
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By late afternoon, none of the Opening Day Gang had caught anything to brag about, but they were among a few hundred anglers who enjoyed not only exceptional fishing but some of the finest weather in recent opener history.
In fact, five-fish limits and breathtaking scenery were pretty much the order of the day throughout the Eastern Sierra.
At Crowley Lake, after the bone-chilling wind subsided by mid-morning, anglers were reeling in fish at an average of more than one per hour, the top catch by late afternoon a 5-pound 2-ounce rainbow caught by Bishop’s Rick Cassel on a brown Rapala in Hilton Bay.
Aerial surveys counted 470 boats on the water at 9 a.m., 324 at 11:15 and 221 at 1:20. A few thousand shore anglers probably boosted Crowley attendance to about 6,000. Most caught their limit of fish.
Several thousand other anglers were scattered throughout the Eastern Sierra, mostly from Big Pine to Bishop.
The top reported catch by late afternoon was a 9-pound 3-ounce rainbow caught at Bridgeport Reservoir by 8-year-old Phillip Shoemaker of Gardnerville, Nev., on a gold Kastmaster.
In the June Lake area, a 9-pound rainbow was pulled from Ruch Creek by Nick Trigueiro of Lancaster.
Gull and nearby June Lake yielded 8 1/4 pounders and Convict produced a few topping seven pounds. Upper Twin Lake in Bridgeport yielded a 6-pound 10-ounce brown, Bishop Creek a 5-pound 12-ounce brown and it seemed fish in similar weight class were coming out of all the popular waters.
“I would rate this one of the top three to four openers in my 20 years,†said Bob Hallum of Bakersfield, as he was weighing in a 3 1/2-pound rainbow. “We had our limits by 7:30 in the morning.â€
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The first five-fish limit of the year 2000? That honor probably goes to Marlon Meade of Anaheim. For the third year in a row he was on the water at Bishop Creek at 12:01 a.m.
“I caught a five-pounder at 10 minutes after 12,†he says. “I probably caught 30 fish before 2 a.m. and caught about 100 for the day.â€
Meade, 42, is one of only a few people aware that night fishing is legal in Inyo County, and also one of only a few willing to brave freezing temperatures merely to be first in on the action.
“Two years ago it was only eight degrees outside; it was so cold we were breaking fishing rods merely by tapping them against the rocks,†he says.
“Last year I had 32 fish by 2 a.m., all released. Then at about 3:30 my friends found me asleep in my chair, wearing my waders, in water up to my knees.â€
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