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Scenic North
Lake is a favorite
destination for float tubers”
So, you may be asking yourself what’s so great about the
fall. Well, there are lots of reasons that September and October are
exceptional but the biggest reason is pretty simple really…just as
many fish, a fraction of the people. You see the California
Department of Fish and Game continues to stock South Lake, Lake Sabrina,
North Lake, Intake II, Weir Pond and both forks
of Bishop Creek all the way through October. With the light fall
crowds, there are just more fish per rod out there to catch and a
lot less anglers to compete with.
“Parchers Resort owner Judy Smith
displaying a healthy 6lb rainbow
caught
at South Lake
using a mini-jig”
Wild Trout Time
The top picks for wild trout in the
fall are South Lake and
Lake
Sabrina. In addition to
the stocked Rainbows, both of these waters have solid populations of
wild Brown and Brook Trout. While these wild species of trout are
occasionally caught during the summer months, both Browns and
Brookies are fall spawners which makes them far easier to find and
catch during this time.
“I like fall fishing because the
Browns start to come up” said Rick Apted of Lake Sabrina Boat
Landing. When asked where anglers should go to find these pre-spawn
Browns, Rick suggested finding areas of the lake that have a sandy
bottom, especially sandy areas near the inlets. The Browns at
Sabrina tend to stage in these areas just prior to spawning. Natural
baits like crickets, nightcrawlers and mealworms are especially
effective during the pre-spawn period. The other favorite tactic in
the fall is slow trolling lures that imitate small trout such as
Rapalas or large Kastmasters.
When trolling, especially when targeting Browns, it’s a good
idea to use a technique referred to as “ripping”. Instead of just
sitting back with your rod in the holder and slowly trolling your
lure, hold your rod in your hand and every few seconds give your
lure a big jerk and then let the lure drift back. The sporadic
action this puts on the lure makes it look a lot more like an
injured fish, the favorite meal of the trophy Brown Trout.
At South Lake
the Long, Treasure and Gilbert Glacier inlets are the places to find
the Browns in the early fall. As October approaches, especially
during low water years, the water level drops and can expose the
lake bottom of the back part of the lake. When this happens the
three main inlets to the lake actually meander through this flat
area and form one inlet that dumps into the main body of the lake
near the front of the island. It is during this time that the Browns
and Brookies have absolutely perfect spawning habitat. I’ve been
back there in the fall and seen pools that literally have hundreds
of fish in them, and every single fish is a Brown or Brookie. As the
fish move into the inlet streams during the spawn, the trout are not
actively feeding so the idea is more to cause a reaction strike than
it is to present something that a hungry fish would want to eat.
Spinners like Panther Martins and Mepps are perfect for this
situation and the flashing spinning blades really annoy a spawning
trout.
Backcountry fishing in the fall is
also worth a try with over fifty lakes within day hike range in the
Bishop Creek Drainage. “Folks sometimes forget about Long Lake in
the fall but its one of the best backcountry lakes to fish during
the autumn months as the Browns get ready to spawn” said Gary Olsen
of Bishop Creek Lodge. He suggests fishing nightcrawlers or Brook
Trout pattern CD7 rapalas near the inlets at Long
Lake.
The majority of the Browns found in
the Bishop Creek area are in the 10" to 14" range, but there are
some monsters lurking in the depths. The lake record fish at Lake Sabrina
is a whopping 15lbs 12oz and the
South
Lake record is 17lbs 1oz,
both incredible catches.
Lake Sabrina Boat Landing and South Lake Landing offer boat
and kayak rentals as well as a selection of tackle, bait, clothing,
snacks, drinks, souvenirs and Sabrina even has a café.
“Majestic
South Lake
produces lots of trophy rainbows every fall”
Prime Creek
Fishing
Although the still water fishing in
the canyon is certainly epic, the creek fishing is not to be passed
up. Some folks don’t
realize it but there are nearly 20 miles of fishable stream in the Bishop Creek
Canyon. It is also true
that most area visitors fish the creek during the summer months when
snow runoff is at its highest and creek flows are really ripping.
Fishing is great in the summer but in the fall, after the snow has
mostly melted, creek flows are reduced leaving more fishable pools
for anglers to enjoy. During the summer, fast water can make certain
stretches of stream difficult or even impossible to fish, even if
those stretches are loaded with trout. Once the creek slows down a
bit though, those fish are a whole lot easier to get at and it shows
in the fish counts.
“The fact that there are hardly any people fishing the streams in
the fall makes it a great time of year to be hitting Bishop Creek”
said Ron Scira of Creekside RV Park.
He went on to say that “I’ve noticed that natural baits like
nightcrawlers are better than powerbait during the fall”.
While natural baits seem to win out in the fall for bait
anglers, the artificial baits that are effective during the summer
work just as well in the fall. Mini-jigs, trout worms and Panther
Martins are very dependable lures.
South
Lake
regular Tim Carnahan displaying a beautiful fall rainbow
“Quality Brown Trout like this
3-1/4lb beauty caught by
“Fish Story Lori” Carnahan at Lake
Sabrina
can be found throughout the Bishop Drainage.”
Trophy Time
The fall is hands down the best time
to catch one of the trophy rainbows that the Bishop Creek
Canyon is famous for. All
summer long, Alpers are planted in area lakes and streams and while
some of those fish are caught, several out of every stocking aren’t
caught. This means that the number of big fish gets larger and
larger as the season goes on. When the crisp autumn nights bring the
water temps down, the fish know that winter will be here before long
and not surprisingly, they get very aggressive trying to score as
many meals as they can before the snow flies. So there are more big
fish and they’re more active…sounds like a recipe for trophy time
doesn’t it?
How to fool the big one varies to
some degree depending on what kind of fishing you prefer and where
you want to go. In the streams, it’s all about timing and a little
luck. The creek fish, even the big ones, eat the same stuff as the
small ones so being in the right place at the right time is the key
factor. Something to consider is that the majority of the large
trout in the streams are stocked fish, most of them courtesy of
Adopt-A-Creek, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the
fisheries of Bishop Creek, Intake II and North Lake.
The fish are typically put into the streams near campgrounds and
where the creek crosses or comes near to the road. In my experience,
these fish tend to stay relatively close to where they are stocked
so that is something to consider. One might think that the big one
is in a hard to reach hole way up or down stream from the
campgrounds but that doesn’t seem to hold true.
In the lakes, what you’re using is
crucial as certain techniques tend to select big fish. At the top of
this list are plastics, namely mini-jigs like Trout Traps or Trout
Teasers and trout worms like Lip Ripperz, Berkley Powerworms or
Gulp! Trout worms. During our four years operating South Lake
Landing, the number of trout weighing 3lbs or better
that have been caught on plastics is far more than the number
of fish caught on all other lures and baits combined, even though
the folks using plastics are in the minority. Plastics are simply
the best way to catch big fish in the fall. The hot colors change
somewhat from year to year but with mini-jigs you’re almost always
safe with are pearl white and dark brown colors like pumpkinseed.
For plastic trout worms the best colors are bright colors
like orange, pink and yellow. Aside from plastics, streamers like
Olive Wooly Buggers are an excellent choice for fooling a big ‘bow,
especially in mid September. For
South
Lake and Sabrina, fishing
from a boat and being able to move from spot to spot is a huge
advantage over fishing from shore.
Float tubers also have the advantage of mobility but it’s
somewhat of a long kick to the best areas on the bigger lakes so
most of the tubers prefer to chase the trophy trout of a lifetime at
North
Lake and Intake II, two
smaller lakes with excellent shore access.
My Favorite
Time….
While the fishing alone makes a late season visit to the Bishop Creek
Canyon worth the trip,
there is so much more to it than that. It’s the friendly faces of
the other folks lucky enough to have chosen the fall as their time
to visit the canyon. It’s the scenery, the serenity, the sound of an
autumn breeze shaking the aspens as it blows through the canyon…it’s
perfect. It’s my favorite time to be here. It’s the time of year
that reminds me just how outrageously lucky we all are to be able to
visit this place, for an afternoon, for a day, for a week. It’s the
time of year when there is literally a postcard quality view in
every direction and you simply can’t be here without being humbled
by the grandeur of it all. Fall is the time….high time in the High
Sierra.
For more information on visiting the
Bishop
Creek Canyon,
please contact these fine local businesses.
Parchers
Resort & South
Lake
Landing
(760)873-4177
www.ParchersResort.net
Bishop Creek Lodge
(760) 873-4484
www.BishopCreekResort.com
Cardinal
Village
(760) 873-4789
www.CardinalVillageResort.com
Creekside RV Park
(760) 873-4483
www.BishopCreeksideRVPark.com
Lake Sabrina Boat Landing
(760) 873-7425
www.LakeSabrinaBoatLanding.com
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