Expect wide open trouting at the opener
There will be lots of open water and trout for annual Eastern Sierra trout opener this Saturday, April 30 and the ice fishing should be great, too, according to Rick Flamson at Rick's Sport Center in Mammoth.

"We've had one of the heaviest snowfalls in history, with 637 inches for the season -- that's over 50 feet of snow -- and that means it will be ice fishing as usual for those who snowmobile, hike or ski back to Mary, Mamie and George lakes. Horseshoe is frozen solid, too, everything at high elevation is," said Flamson. "I was just up there on my snowmobile and it looks like 6 to 8 feet of ice on those lakes.

"On the other hand we've also had lots of wind and that means all the lower elevation roadside lakes are wide open," he added. "Convict Lake is wide open and there's no snow on the ground there, it's been ice free a good 4 to 5 weeks.

"Crowley Lake has been open for about aas long and is as high as its been in a long, long time -- there's a lot of water in there," continued the longtime proprietor of Mammoth's No. 1 all-around bait and tackle store.

"The entire June Lake Loop (June, Gull, Silver and Grant) is open and Grant is getting ready to spill."

Flamson said all the lakes in the Bridgeport area -- Bridgeport Reservoir and Upper and Lower Twin Lakes -- are ice free too, while it will be ice fishing only in the Virginia Lakes basin.

Lundy "could be touch and go" but will probably be fishable. As for the Tioga Pass lakes, Flamson noted that road crews just started to plow, so access could be limited or non-existent.

Down U.S. 395 in the Bishop Creek drainage, Donna Scira at Creekside RV Park said the DFG planted the South Fork last week and more plants are in store for the usual opening day hot spots like Intake II. She said the RV park is snow-free but husband Ron has been kept busy clearing broken limbs caused by the storms earlier in the year.

Scira said the road to North Lake is only blocked in one area by snow, so access on foot shouldn't be too bad for those looking to ice fish.

South Lake is iced over and at minimum pool due to planned Southern California Edison repairs, but an extra load of 600 large Alpers is promised for the lake later in the season. Parcher's Resort is set to open May 19.

Rick Apted at Lake Sabrina reported the water is down only about 30 feet with a solid slab of ice to support opening day ice fishermen. The Sabrina store and cafe will be open at 7 a.m. on opening day. No fishing licenses will be available at the lake.

Dave Smith at Culver's Sporting Goods said he and other Bishop tackle venues like Mac's have opted out of installing the DFG's computer licensing systems. Only Manor Market on West Line St. (great wine cellar) and the K-Mart will be selling licenses in Bishop year-round. The DFG will also have three kiosks set up in the Bishop Chamber of Commerce building (in the park across from Schat's Bakkery) for opening weekend.

The L.A. Department of Water and Power will be pre-inspecting boats for quagga mussels once again in the area between the Von's gas pumps and the Von's grocery story.

Be aware that for the last several years the California Highway Patrol in cooperation with the Inyo County Sheriff has been conducting a drug and alcohol checkpoint on northbound 395 just as you enter Bishop from the south. Stay sober and drive safely to your favorite fishing hole.

For those headed up early to the Bridgeport area with the intent to fish the East Walker River, Jim Reid at Ken's in Bridgeport said as of Saturday, April 23, the East Walker bumped up to 337cfs.

"We talked to a couple anglers that were down there yesterday and they said that in spite of the flow change they were still able to catch fish," said Reid. "I'd say it's more steady than red-hot. Still small midge patterns doing the best -- flashback emergers, wd-40's, military mayflies, silver streaks, gt emergers and san juan worms have all been producing. We've had a few good reports from the Rosachi as well though it seems not quite as good as the Cali side. Princes, pheasant tails, birds nests and san juans have been doing well, we've also had a couple decent reports on streamers down there."