If there is one thing that may bring Brown Bagger George Kirby out of his self-induced fishing retirement is the knowledge that there are still some BIG ones out there - or is he just giving others a chance to 'catch a big brown' - well, that's just what Raymond Blakeslee of Lomita did Thursday - a 7-1/2lb big hook-jaw male brown - caught on orange PowerBait no less - guess he needed to get the fish taste out of his mouth as that bad boy had a half digested rainbow in his throat.

The melting of the white stuff to begin filling the Lake started during the early part of the week, but again Mother Nature was just doing a bit of taunting - the w-i-n-d-s returned Thursday with a vengeance (59 mph gust clocked at the Café - 142 mph clocked at Chair 1 at Mammoth Mountain) then came the cold down to 10 degrees with the wind chill - and oh we mustn't forget the snow - so far it's been snowing all day Sunday.

There is good shore access - and you're still walking thru mud, so remember to bring those old shoes and jeans (and maybe an extra pair of both, just in case - that mud tends to be a bit on the slick side). The fishing this week remains good, but you're starting to have to work a smidgen for that limit. All baits are still working! Taking a bit of a walk towards the back of the Lake improves your chances quite a lot.

Considering the fact we haven't had a DFG stock yet (the Lake is too low still to get the truck down to the water), we at some point are going to run low on fish.

Camp Sabrina opened this week, the NorthLake campground is still closed as is the North Lake Road due to snow. All the other campgrounds are open and ready for your camping experience. The only campground to take reservations is Four Jeffery (www.reserveamerica.com and enter Four Jeffrey) all others are first come first serve. There is a full hook-up campground also on the South Lake road, Creekside RV Park.

It's down-right winter today - cold temps - 26 degrees and snow, but the first part of next week should be warming up with some slight breezes - WOOO-HOOO - with highs in the mid to upper 40's. You can check www.weather.gov and enter ASPENDELL, CA on the site and it will give you a fairly good hint at the weather.