Summary & Trail Report
Mother Nature finally brought us a taste of summer this week as the wintery weather of last week was quickly replaced by warm sunny days with temps soaring into the low 70’s at resort levels. The hiking trails are opening up quickly, although the higher elevations still have some snow to contend with, and the warm weather has made what snow drifts that still remain quite mushy and difficult to navigate.

Trail reports came in from Sabrina Basin where Blue Lake is now ice-free but things get a bit snowy beyond that. A few folks have made it up to Piute Pass now and they report mostly clear trail up to Piute Lake with snow just near the top of the pass. No reports from anyone getting over Bishop Pass yet, just those who get as far as Saddlerock or Bishop Lake and turn back as snow drifts are still quite substantial on the pass. The Tyee Lakes trail is mostly open but the upper lakes are still frozen. The first peak-baggers of the season visited us this weekend as a group of Sierra Club folks managed set out to climb Vagabond and Cloud Ripper on Saturday. Still plenty of snow at the higher elevations but the peak of the backcountry season is quickly approaching and if the weather stays this warm, we're going to see the backcountry open up very soon.

Bishop Creek So. Fork
Creek flows continue to be hearty, especially with the warm weather, making for some great fishing conditions on the South Fork. The bite slowed down a bit following a busy holiday weekend but most of the fishin’ folks are managing to catch some fish, commonly Rainbows in the 10-13” range. Salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, spinners and mini-jigs are producing best.

Weir Pond
Still no word from Weir Pond as folks have been too busy bouncing the stream or fishing the lakes.

North Lake
It was a pretty quiet week in the canyon this week so reports from North lake were a bit hard to come by, but the few who did report in found the bite a bit on the slow side.

Intake II
Reports ranged anywhere from excellent to terrible this week so it was a bit hard to gauge how the bite actually was. Those who did best fished by the pump house or the dam, especially the corner where the intake pipe pours into the lake. Grasshopper jigs, pink & white Micetails or garlic Powerbait were reported to be productive.

Lake Sabrina
Shore fishing slowed down a bit following the holiday weekend but folks fishing from a motorboat, kayak or float tube are still doing quite well. The George Inlet and the Dingleberry inlet are holding fish and they’re cooperating for folks soaking nightcrawlers or fishing mini-jigs. Grasshopper or cricket colored Sierra Slammer jigs accounted for some good catch counts this week. A single salmon eggs drifted down one of the inlets is also producing well. For a more detailed report from our friends at Lake Sabrina Boat Landing, visit their website by clicking here.

South Lake
Thanks to the precipitation over the past few weeks the lake has come up a couple feet, but the reservoir is still extremely low and the fishing has been mediocre at best. A few Browns are being caught on Rapalas and there are a mix of smaller Brook Trout and Rainbows falling for worms at the inlet.

Backcountry Fishing

Excellent fishing is there for anyone willing and able to lace up their hiking boots and hit the trial. Treasure Lakes cranked out some great Golden Trout hybrids this week, mostly on spinners like Panther Martins. Long Lake was good for a mix of Rainbows and Brookies, mostly near the main inlet that flows down from Spearhead. Most of the lakes above 11000ft are still iced over or mostly iced over, but we’re expecting that to change quickly with the wonderful summer weather that we’re experiencing.

Out & About
Solid reports from the Upper Owens as spawning Cutthroats are up in numbers and are huge, upwards of 24”. Crowley is also producing some healthy fish for our guests, Browns, Rainbows and Cutts to 4lbs, mostly bait fishing with nightcrawlers off Sandy Point or in McGee bay. Pleasant Valley Reservoir is also producing some big fish near the launch ramp.