What’s Up, Fishes?: Local Fishing Report with Birch Ray – October 23
Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is the local fishing report covering bass and trout fishing in the Eastern Sierras, brought to you by local fishermen Birch Ray from Bishop Union High School and intern of Eastern Sierra Now.
Spin fishing for trout right now is great. Lots of people have been fishing at these local hot spots: Sabrina, Intake 2, South Lake, June Lake, Rock Creek, and Rock Creek Lake. A lot of talk about Sabrina is going on because they stocked double digit trout in the lake as well as a lot of smaller trout. Although no double digits have been caught so far we have heard of a lot of fish varying from the 4-6 pound range. Currently people are using mouse tails on a size 10-6 Banzai hook with a split shot anywhere from 6 to 18 inches away from the mouse tail. This setup also works great with worms and 2 inch pinch crawlers. Hot lures at these lakes are panther Martins. Colors we like are yellow red dots and black with yellow dots. Another hot lure at these lakes are Kastmasters with gold, silver, and cutthroat trout being the best working ones. Another great lure is Sierra Slammers. Any reddish color or brownish color is working great right now. Also fall is right around the corner so don’t be afraid to use bigger sizes in lures because of the big fish coming out to feed before the freeze.
Fly fishing is starting to pick up around the upper Owens area, as the big browns are staring to head up the river and spawn which makes the fish hungry and aggressive. Flies to use are midges, copper johns, and smaller bead bead flies. Also the upper Owens is an artificial Barbless fishing Zone so please be respectful of the rules and the fish. Lots of fishermen are using indicators to fish these midges. Euro nymphing is another great way to fish the upper Owens.
Bass fishing has started to get better again with the fall bite starting a little early this year, Buckley Ponds, the river, and Tinemaha being good. The bass are hungry right now but they are lazy so try fishing a Ned Rig, Jig, and Soft Plastic Craw slow which should increase your chances of catching more fish in weedy places. In not so weedy places spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are working good. Buzzbaits you have to fish at a decent speed because they stay on top of the water but a spinnerbait can be fished slower. Try putting a Rage Swimmer on the back of your spinner bait for a more fish-like look. In darker times such as morning and late afternoon use black and blue. During the day when there’s better sun try to match the hatch by trying different colors. Green colors with brown or black flakes are working great during the day but if not switch it up and try something new.
For any questions on regulations or restrictions please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/.
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(From Birch Ray)
