Mammoth Lakes has long been a choice fly-fishing destination, because located there are some of California’s most notable angling waters. With its numerous lakes and streams, an angler can cast a fly on a different water every week of the fishing season without driving more than 10 miles.
Most of the fish in the easily accessible waters are hatchery-reared trout. Such a largely put-and-take fishery attracts tens of thousands of anglers each year. For the fly fisher pursuing wild trout, the waters are less accessible. Some may require a modest hike, others a more strenuous effort. Or if they are in a highly regulated waterway such as Hot Creek, a fly fisher will need to be skillful to fool a trout with an artificial fly.
As with my prior article on the June Lake Loop region, this article presents an overview of waters in the Mammoth Lakes region where a fly fisher can target wild trout.
The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin
The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River is a quintessential wild-trout waterway. It offers miles and miles of fine fly-fishing water, from its headwaters at Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the rugged canyon far below Devils Postpile National Monument west of Mammoth Lakes.
Usually referred to simply as “the San Joaquin,” this freestone stream, although not large, holds profuse numbers of wild trout that include rainbows, browns, brookies, and golden-rainbow hybrids (“golden-bows”), most in the 8-to-12-inch range. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has designated this river a “Wild Trout” water. No special regulations are in place.
Most persons experience the San Joaquin along the road to Devils Postpile National Monument. Several campgrounds are situated here, including one near the Visitors Center at the end of the road. The river here is stocked with hatchery rainbows. To partake of the wildness of the San Joaquin and its fishery requires striking out for the less-visited stretches of river. (Note: day visitors to the Devils Postpile area either must take a shuttle bus in or be at the entrance before 7:15
a.m. Overnighters can drive down at any time.)
Agnew Meadows is the launching point for the upper part of the river. A trail begins there to Thousand Islands Lake, seven miles in all. (I’ve done this up and back in a day, mainly to snap some photos and make a few casts.) You can fish the nearby river at any point along it. I once hiked about half a mile up the trail from Agnew Meadows and then cut off to a beautiful forested stretch of stream. Standing at the tailout of one run, I made long casts and hooked trout after trout of differing species, all on a Royal Coachman dry fly. None exceeded nine inches in length, but their beauty and eagerness to slash a floating fly were enthralling.
At Devils Postpile Visitors Center, the trail to the featured geologic structure begins. Continue on the trail, and you’ll reach spectacular Rainbow Falls, two miles from the center. Leave the trail at any point for the close-by river, and you’ll encounter long runs and deep pools that hold bigger fish, mainly browns up to 13 inches.
And there are miles of river in the rugged canyon below Rainbow Falls, although access is extremely difficult. I once hiked to the San Joaquin’s juncture with Fish Creek, about eight miles from the Visitors Center. Because I got off the trail, my trek included a harrowing drop down a ravine and two crossings of Fish Creek. To make it all worthwhile, in an idyllic stretch above the San Joaquin’s confluence with Fish Creek, I hooked about fifteen rainbows and browns from 10 to 14 inches in a magical afternoon of fly fishing.
During drought years, the San Joaquin can run very low. During one such period, I took the trail downriver from Rainbow Falls, at the time barely a trickle, and after half a mile or so, I dropped down to the boulder-strewn river. There I had many hookups with strong, feisty rainbows in the chutes and small pools tucked among giant boulders.
A 50-fish day can be had on this waterway, with always a chance to hook a large wild trout holding in a deep pool. For the hardy and adventurous fly fisher, it’s hard to beat.
Before leaving the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin, another body of water here is worth a fly fisher’s time. It is Sotcher Lake, readily accessible from the road and easy to fish in a float tube. It holds browns, brookies, and (mainly planted) rainbows.
The Upper Owens
The upper Owens River flows between Big Springs — the river’s primary source of water — and Lake Crowley, a distance of 15 miles. To reach this river, you take a road marked “To Owens River” approximately halfway between June Lake and Mammoth Lakes on Highway 395. It follows the course of the river, most of which runs through private land.
One public section is accessed by a dirt road that takes you down to an unlocked gated entrance to a parking area. (“Long Ears” on many maps.) Here, within easy walking distance, is a mile of the meandering river.
The upper Owens is an easy place to cast a fly. No trees or bushes are there to limit casting, and little, if any wading is needed. The river is narrow, so casting to the opposite bank is easy. Regulations allow two fish, 16 inches and above, to be kept.
What makes the upper Owens exceptional are the midsized to large browns and rainbows that migrate up from Crowley to Big Springs and back again, with rainbows primarily spawning in the spring and browns in the fall. Planted Lahontan cutthroats from Crowley also migrate in the Owens during the spring. I have mostly fished this river in the summer. One time, there seemed to be enough decent-sized fish for a good outing, another time, only fingerling-sized trout. Less often, I have hooked fish above 15 inches, but the potential to do so definitely exists.
The migrating browns most probably are wild fish. The rainbows most probably are carryover hatchery stock, sometimes brutes, if one is to believe photos from fishing guides. Yet if they (or the cutthroats) spawn, their offspring are wild fish.
An assortment of fly-fishing tactics work on this river, including fishing nymphs deep in the pools and runs, running streamer patterns in the deeper runs, particularly below the banks, casting grasshopper or other terrestrial patterns, especially on windy days when insects are blown onto the water, and fishing dry flies when there is a hatch. Another tactic is to crawl up to the bank, lower a hopper pattern onto a deep run near the bank, and let it sit there, twitching it every so often. It has worked stupendously, as reported by one fly fisher.
My preferred technique, which is just productive enough to put me into a fish every now and then, is to cast a fly (typically a Ted Fay weighted Yellow Jacket) as close to the opposite bank as possible and let the current carry it from there. For an evening rise, a size 16 or 18 Prince Nymph fished on the surface works well, or a dry that matches the hatch at the time.
My one hookup with a big fish on this river ended when my leader broke at a knot. In fact, it happened again that day, with the same fish, it seemed, since it was in the same pool. Other than that fish, most of my catches have been in the 9-to-13-inch range, with an occasional 16-to-17-incher to keep things interesting. I’ve had a big brown or two make a faux take of a hopper pattern — always an adrenaline rush.
The lunkers you can catch in the upper Owens seem to be there mainly during the cold months — from the early to middle spring and mid-to-late fall, when the big fish are migrating, times I have not fished this river.
Hot Creek
The most prolific wild-trout water in the eastern Sierra is the famed Hot Creek, a stream I have fished only a few times. A few factors have deterred me. One is that I am unenthusiastic about fishing a one-mile stretch of a small creek with tens and tens of anglers. Plus, a trout here may be hooked and released multiple times in a season, and it thus takes exceptional skill to fool one yet another time.
Nonetheless, Hot Creek is a marvelously waterway in a strikingly beautiful canyon, with one of the most prolific wild-trout fisheries anywhere. It is a designated “Wild Trout,” with zero take and barbless flies only.
To reach Hot Creek, you take the Hot Creek Hatchery Road just past Mammoth Yosemite Airport south of Mammoth Lakes on Highway 395. Right before the hatchery, you turn right and travel on a dirt road to parking areas and trails leading down to the creek. For those who are willing to pay for a less-crowded fly-fishing experience, there is a private ranch nearby with cabins to rent and two miles of Hot Creek.
Ironically, on my first visit to Hot Creek, during a snowstorm on a Memorial Day weekend, I enjoyed good action, ending the outing with eight or nine hookups of healthy rainbows and browns. Like so many streams in the drought years, Hot Creek suffered a decline in water quality and fish numbers. Consequently, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife planted thousands of diploid fish, which are capable of spawning, to boost the population back to its historical average of six thousand fish per mile.
Many fly fishers thrive on the challenge presented by Hot Creek trout. Executing a long natural drift of a small dry fly or tiny nymph and having a highly selective trout take the fly represents the apex of our sport. The chance to hook a big trout is also present there. All things considered, Hot Creek should be on every fly fisher’s list of waters to visit in the eastern Sierra.
The Owens River Gorge
The Owens River Gorge is another truly wild place. Sometimes referred to as the Middle Owens, it runs for 20 miles from Lake Crowley to Pleasant Valley Reservoir. Adventurous fly fishers usually visit the section from Crowley to the Upper Gorge Power Plant, a run of 8.5 miles. (For the nearest access from Mammoth, look for “Gorge Road” just below Crowley.) It once held a renowned brown trout fishery, before Crowley Lake Dam’s releases were diverted to Los Angeles.
Today, the river’s minimal flows maintain a surprisingly hearty fish population, mostly 8-to-10-inch browns. The upper part of the canyon has thick vegetation lining the creek, and also rattlesnakes. Wading is a must, best done without waders. The lower part is mainly rocky, with decent pools. A number of trails (check a map) lead down into this modest canyon — its sides are 300 to 700 feet steep.
Lakes
Any discussion of eastern Sierra lakes begins with Lake Crowley. While mostly a hatchery-supported fishery that attracts thousands of anglers annually, it does hold wild brown trout, including large ones. These are also the trophies that migrate up the upper Owens to spawn. The other wild fish here are Sacramento perch, which provide both good sport as well as being very tasty.
Planted rainbows in the lake include the Eagle Lake strain. Holdover trout grow big quickly in Crowley and lead to hookups with vigorous fish. Lahontan cutthroats are also planted and show up in spawning runs.
Special regulations on the lake focused toward fly fishers run from August 1 to November 15, as follows: artificial, barbless lures only and a daily bag limit of two fish, minimum size of 18 inches.
A strikingly beautiful lake close to Crowley that also holds big browns is Convict Lake. (See the painting in “The Art of Angling” in this issue.) But these wily fish occupy the depths, except during the coldest months, and are difficult to bring to a fly.
There are five roadside lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin: Lake Mary, Lake Mamie, Lake George, the Twin Lakes, and Horseshoe Lake (now fishless due to CO2 gases that seeped out of the ground and killed trees in the vicinity). All but Horseshoe are amply stocked throughout the season with rainbows. A few wild brown trout occupy Lake Mamie, Lake Mary, and Twin Lakes, which also hold brookies. (The Twin Lakes are two lakes connected by a narrow channel).
Note that it wasn’t too long ago that an 11-year-old boy caught a six-pound brown on a chunk of hot dog from a lake in the Mammoth Lakes Basin, suggesting that someone could catch a giant brown at any time in almost any lake in the region.
One area where a hiker can readily access any one of five small lakes with only a modest hike is the Upper Lakes Basin, which includes McLeod Lake, Crystal Lake, Skeleton Lake, Barrett Lake, and TJ Lake. Each of these lakes (with the exception of McLeod) holds one or more species of wild trout, whether brookies, browns, rainbows, or in the case of Crystal, goldens.
McLeod Lake (also called McCloud Lake) is managed as a catch-and-release water for Lahontan cutthroats, but these cutthroats are not technically “wild,” since there is no natural reproduction, and therefore planted fingerlings sustain the fishery. The best way to fish McLeod, which involves an easy half-mile hike, is with a float tube. One can also cast from shore, especially the far, deeper side. The cutthroats here run small, with a 14-incher being a trophy. The exquisitely beautiful surroundings provide added incentive.
As for Crystal Lake, a DFW official described it as “the easiest accessible golden trout lake in the eastern Sierra.” So in the five lakes of Upper Lakes Basin, which is a single drainage, an angler can catch the Sierra Slam, consisting of five species of trout: rainbow, brown, golden, brookie, and cutthroat.
The other waters in this region that hold golden trout are the Laurel Lakes. These two connected lakes are reached via a torturous nine-mile dirt road that starts at Highway 395 near Mammoth Lakes. The lakes (and the stream connecting them) are designated “ Wild Trout” waters. They, too, don’t consistently support strong natural production, and must receive supplemental plantings of fingerlings most years, thus losing the luster of fully being wild-trout waters. Two fish from these lakes can be kept, which seems surprising if the CDFW wants to sustain wild-trout populations.
There are still more lakes and streams in this region that a fly fisher can investigate. There is an excellent source for identifying the fishable waters in the eastern Sierra, including those cited above, that presents detailed mapping and trails to the lakes and streams and the fish species in each one. Any angler who wants to fish off the beaten path for wild trout should definitely consult this CDFW, Region 6, publication, prepared by James Erdman. It can be found online by going to the department’s Web page at https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/6 and downloading the Eastern Sierra Backcountry Fishing Guide.
