Wild-Trout Waters: The Bridgeport Region

nymphing nymphing
TIGHT-LINE NYMPHING IS A PRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUE ON THE EAST WALKER RIVER.

This is the final installment in a four-part series on wild-trout waters of the eastern Sierra, from the Mammoth Lakes region to the Bridgeport region.

Wild trout — trout naturally born in the waters they occupy — and the waters that sustain them are indeed precious, especially in an arid region such as the eastern Sierra, where drought, plus high angling pressure from those who want to keep their catch, can easily impair the viability of these fish.

To support recreational angling, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife carries out ambitious stocking regimens in just about all of the eastern Sierra’s readily accessible waters. These plantings often comingle hatchery-reared trout with wild trout, if there are any in any given water, making it hard to determine if what one catches is truly a wild fish or one spawned in a hatchery. The only stream managed exclusively for wild trout is Hot Creek, but even there, hatchery-reared fingerlings sometimes have to be added to bolster the fishery at critical times.

All of the above applies to the Bridgeport region, which is a prime angling destination. As the following review will show, fly fishers are not going to be sure if what they hook is a wild trout in many of the waters here. Chances are that a brown will be wild, including those wily big browns that lurk in many eastern Sierra lakes and streams, but this is not a certainty.

The importance of wild trout bears repeating, for their presence tells us if the water they occupy is healthy, with sufficient volume, nutrients, cleanliness, and temperature to sustain wild creatures freely living in it. Everyone has a stake in healthy waterways, and wild trout provide us with a scorecard. In the parlance of ecologists, wild trout are true indicators of the health not only of rivers and streams, but of the planet.

The East Walker River

The East Walker River begins with releases from Bridgeport Reservoir and flows for seven miles before entering Nevada, where it can be fished for several more miles. (A Nevada license is required there.) Despite numerous degradations over the decades, it remains arguably one of the best fly-fishing waterways in the West. At one time, I believed that it was also one of the best wild-trout waters in California, but annual stocking of both brown trout and Lahontan cutthroat fingerlings to maintain the fishery under intense fishing pressure compromises that conclusion. (The stocking of Lahontan cutts surprised me, because I had not heard of that species previously being caught in the East Walker.) Plus, as we will see, the rainbows in the river possess more hatchery origins than not.

Regulations for this river, which is now open to fishing all year, allow for one fish of 18 inches and above to be kept during the regular season, which is from the last Saturday in April to November 15. During the other months, there is a zero limit.

For decades, the East Walker was predominantly a brown trout fishery, with browns constituting 90 percent of the catches. Now, some anglers report catching browns and rainbows in equal numbers. Where the rainbows came from is not clear, since the Department of Fish and Wildlife does not plant them. One knowledgeable source surmises that they come mainly from Bridgeport Reservoir, where they are regularly planted, and that they have been flushed into the river in high-water years. This observation is bolstered by the fact that the majority of rainbows are caught in the very upper part of the river. In the lower part, the catches remain mostly brown trout.

Regardless of how fish got into the East Walker, they grow fast and big due to the rich sources of food for the trout to gorge on, including abundant forage fish, intense insect hatches, and rich terrestrial life in this high-desert environment. The river regularly gives up rainbows and browns weighing over three pounds, on up to double digits. Lahontan cutthroats I’m sure will join that group.

For fly-fishing approaches for this river, here are some personal findings and strategies. The first is the amount of strenuous wading one must do. As is true for most tailwater rivers, where flows are controlled by dam releases, massive flooding that would scour the river channel does not happen often enough, if at all, so foliage just keeps growing, encasing the river channel more and more each year. To fish many stretches requires aggressive wading that only a vigorous and adept fly fisher can do.

The best fly fishing on this river is definitely during the colder, shoulder seasons. Winter can also give up good catches. In the summer months, the fishing can be productive in some years, while in others it might be slow — or not done at all to avoid stressing the fish due to low flows and high water temperatures. Evenings typically are the best time to fish in the summer. As for the big browns and rainbows for which this river is famous, one way to target them is to run a streamer down the deep runs. For some reason, I never warmed up to this tactic, probably because I wasn’t successful using it. Also, it is best done with higher flows than are typical in the summer, when I usually fish this river.

I’ve found a couple of strategies to be the effective. One is to wade aggressively and drop a wet fly in a deep pocket of water near the shoreline or, even better, in a reverse eddy, where very likely a brown will be waiting for food to be brought to it. This is how I hooked most of my fish above 15 inches.

The second strategy is to target holding water near the bank by casting a grasshopper pattern or, say, a Woolly Worm or Ted Fay Yellow Jacket, as close to the bank as possible. If it sits there a second or two before the current takes it, often a fish will make a stab at it. If I learned anything about the East Walker, it’s that browns like to hold close to the bank, especially during the warmest season. Other than these approaches, the standard method for the East Walker is to run one or two nymphs through the pockets and glides, whether under an indicator or by high-sticking. In one fall outing, a companion and I hooked about twenty fish between us, up to 18 inches, exclusively browns. A Micro Golden Stone Nymph was the killer fly, sometimes as a dropper under a hopper dry.

Over the years, I’ve fished the East Walker long and hard. I’d hate to total up my lifetime hookups there against the hours spent, because the ratio would not be good. But the browns and rainbows in this swiftly flowing river are a challenge to bring to a fly and are good fighters. If all the fish are not wild, they act like they are. Just be ready for heavy-duty wading. A final recommendation: before going to the East Walker, you should check on water flows (see https://waterdata.usgs. gov/monitoring-location/10293000/). A companion and I once made a long drive, only to discover that the flows were so low that the was river unfishable. Optimum flows for wading and fishing are between 150 and 250 cubic feet per second. Above that range, angling is relegated primarily to fishing the edges. Flows under 100 cfs might make the runs and pools too shallow, although wading is much more doable.

Green Creek

Green Creek at almost eight thousand feet in elevation is reached by taking a plainly marked dirt road off of Highway 395 a few miles south of Bridgeport. It’s about six miles to the meadow and the best section of the creek for fishing. (Do not take the road that juts off to the Virginia Lakes Road, several miles away.) The small, but well-watered creek flows swiftly through wooded areas both below and above the meadow, adding miles of decent fishing.

For several years, the DFW planted hatchery rainbows in Green Creek to support a put-and-take fishery. But due to logistical constraints, this practice ended by 2008. Attention then turned to whether this stream might be designated as a state Wild Trout Water.

In July 2012, the DFW carried out research on the creek and its fishery and found that they met the multiple criteria for this designation. The average abundance of fish was estimated to be 266 rainbow trout per mile, 456 brook trout per mile, and 1,042 brown trout per mile. Despite these favorable findings, the designation of Green Creek “took a back seat to other possible waters,” according to a DFW official. And this is where the proposal still stands today — dormant.

The wild trout remain there, nonetheless. It just takes a determined fly fisher (in waders, and bathed in mosquito repellent) to locate them in the hidden runs and pools in what often resembles wetlands, with multiple channels, marshes, and deep pools tucked among the rampant grasses and willows or created by beaver dams. In fact, 720 acres here, encompassing three miles of creek, are within a state-designated Green Creek Wildlife Area.

On a recent visit this October, I hooked a couple of small browns in about twenty minutes. I also spotted a 16-inch trout of unrecognizable species feeding in the shallow current before it glided away for cover. While they are not plentiful, there are brown, rainbow, and brook trout in the 12-to-18-inch range in this stream.

Although Green is a relatively small stream, its water quantity and quality might support a much richer fishery, aided by no-kill or other restrictive regulations, as might happen through a Wild Trout Water designation. The eastern Sierra could use another waterway dedicated to and managed for wild trout.

There are other fishable waters here. At the far end of the meadow are a primitive campground and the trailhead to a network of alpine trails and several high-elevation lakes. The trail initially follows Green Creek as it flows through the forest. The first lake to be reached after a two-and-a-half-mile hike is Green Lake; nearby is East Lake. Both of these lakes can be destinations for a day or backpack trip. Both present good fishing for wild brookies and rainbows. And there are more high-alpine country and lakes beyond those to explore.

Other Creeks Holding Wild Trout

Another fine wild-trout creek to check out is the Little Walker River, which offers miles of stream into which to cast a fly, including along Highway 395, before the Little Walker’s confluence with the West Walker River. The dirt road to the more productive meadow section is clearly marked off 395 south of Highway 108. During one visit there, I met a fly fisher from Modesto who mainly fished this small creek — his “home water” — in day trips to this area. He said he always hooked better-than-average brookies and once landed a big brown in a beaver dam pool. On my visit, I hooked a couple of brookies in the lower, heavily vegetated stretch of the meadow. I wished I had more time to keep following the creek all the way to Burt Meadow.

Continue on the dirt road, and you will reach Molybdenite Creek. There is a campground in a lovely wooded area, the starting point for walking and fishing the creek for small brookies upstream.

The larger Buckeye Creek is accessed by a clearly marked dirt road off Highway 395 north of Bridgeport. Rainbows are planted near campgrounds, but there are miles of stream to explore in the broader area where a fly fisher can hook wild browns. Buckeye Creek flows in multibraided forks into Bridgeport Reservoir, so there always is the chance of hooking a bigger fish migrating to and from the impoundment.

Another stream with possibilities for encountering big browns is Robinson Creek, which f lows from Lower Twin Lake to Bridgeport Reservoir. Large browns occupy Lower Twin (see below), and Robinson Creek, which otherwise holds mainly planted rainbows in its lower reach, provides an artery for these migrating wild fish both to and from Bridgeport Reservoir. Anglers target these browns, particularly during their spawning migrations.

Lakes Holding Wild Trout

A spectacular lake that is heavily planted with rainbows and that also holds a small population of wild rainbows is Big Virginia Lake (also called Upper Virginia Lake). It is reached via Virginia Lakes Road off Conway Summit. To target the wild rainbows, a fly fisher — in a float tube or other craft — should probe the far side, where the stream enters as a small waterfall, and along the right shore. These beautiful wild rainbows are small, but choice. Anglers also fish this lake in the winter months, seeking big browns.

In addition, Virginia Creek begins as the outflow of Lower Virginia Lake and runs for many miles near the road all the way to Conway Summit, where it turns northward and continues to its juncture with Green Creek in feeding the East Walker River. Throughout this long run, a fly fisher can find brushy sections of creek that seldom see an angler and can fish for small brookies and the occasional brown trout.

The magnificent Upper Twin Lake and Lower Twin Lake on the outskirts of Bridgeport are heavily fished by recreational anglers, but these lakes also hold brown trout, including trophies, as seen in the last two state records: a 26-pound 5-ounce brown caught in Lower Twin Lake in 1985 and a 26-pound 8-ounce brown taken in Upper Twin Lake in 1987. These lakes are large and deep, so a fly fisher’s chances of catching a big brown here are slim. The current state record was caught by an angler employing a lure resembling a nine-inch kokanee salmon (they occupy this lake) fished down deep. He reported that he thought he had “hooked a big log until it started moving.”

Bridgeport Reservoir is highly touted for giving up big fish, both browns and rainbows. It is regularly stocked with rainbows, including those big rainbows that Mono County annually purchases from an Oregon trout farm (see my March/April 2018 article, “Hatchery Trout in the Eastern Sierra,” in this magazine), along with big hatchery brood stock. It also holds Sacramento perch. The browns here are probably wild fish, but not so the rainbows. Due to heavy aquatic grasses and lots of water to cover, fly fishing is not easy. The best bet is to launch a float tube or other craft along the shoreline before the dam and probe the deeper water.

A more distant lake populated strictly by Lahontan cutthroats is Heenan Lake, located off Monitor Pass on Highway 89 in Alpine County. Heenan is managed as a brood-stock Lahontan fishery, so these are not wild fish. Heenan nevertheless does provide a great opportunity to catch large native fish, many over 20 inches. The lake is open to angling only on fall weekends.

A lake that holds big brook and Lahontan trout is Kirman Lake (also called Carmen Lake), which is reached via a foot path beginning near the junction of Highways 108 and 395. The hike is about three mostly level miles. It is managed as a sport fishery, and both brook and Lahontan fingerlings are annually planted on a “put-and-grow” basis. They grow quickly in this rich water. Some wild fish are birthed there, as well. Kirman is one of the few waters in this entire region where big brook trout might be caught. Regulations allow a limit of two fish over 16 inches. Drought conditions, overfishing, and overharvesting have hurt the fishing in recent years, but it is coming back in these wetter years.


If You Go…

Bridgeport is a small, picturesque esque town that is the county seat of Mono County. It offers a few amenities and services, including lodging and restaurants, and there is a well-stocked general store. Nearby campgrounds are at Upper Twin Lake and Lower Twin Lake, and at Robinson Creek. The larger town of Lee Vining has more amenities and is only 30 minutes away. Up-to-date fishing information is available at Ken’s Sporting Goods on Main Street in Bridgeport.

Since gas prices are very high in Bridgeport and nearby towns such as Lee Vining and Mammoth Lakes, a traveler would be wise to fill up in Gardnerville or Minton coming in from the north or in Bishop from the south.

Bob Madgic