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Some people, mostly purist fly anglers, target only wild trout and would not be caught dead at one of Southern California's many paid-entry lakes that truck in large rainbows and other species of trout from hatcheries around the country.
And for that the nonpurist anglers are grateful, as you can tell by the smile adorning the face of Panos Nikolau, pictured at right, after he caught a 15-pound, 12-ounce rainbow this week at Irvine Lake.
Nikolau, 16, was actually targeting bass with a 4-inch plastic worm, but that's beside the point, which is that a handful of Southland reservoirs harbor some really nice trout.
As this photo arrived today via e-mail, I was flipping through the latest issue of Fish Taco Chronicles, which profiles the best waters in which to catch trophy-sized trout this winter.
They include Irvine Lake, Corona Lake, Diamond Valley Reservoir, Hesperia Lake, Laguna Niguel Lake and Santa Ana River Lakes.
All but Diamond Valley are privately run and do not require anglers to possess fishing licenses. All are reasonably close to most Southern California residents, and all offer a realistic chance to latch onto something truly memorable.
Irvine is probably my favorite, but I've caught fish in each of these lakes, though nothing nearly the size of Nikolau's behemoth rainbow.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Panos Nikolau of Anaheim displays 15-pound, 12-ounce trout caught at Irvine Lake on a plastic worm. Credit: Irvine Lake
The following is a list of Southern California waters, by county, to be stocked throughout the week of Dec. 1 with rainbow trout by the Department of Fish and Game:
ORANGE: Carr Park Lake, Centennial Lake, Eisenhower Park Lake, Greer Park Lake, Huntington Park Lake, Mile Square Park Lake, Ralph Clark Regional Park Lake, Tri-City Lake and Yorba Linda Regional Park Lake
RIVERSIDE: Cahuilla Park Lake, Evans Lake and Rancho Jurupa Park Pond
SAN BERNARDINO: Cucamonga Guasti Park Lake, Glen Helen Park Lake, Mojave Narrows Regional Park Lake, Prado Park Lake, Seccombe Park Lake and Yucaipa Lake.
SAN DIEGO: Chollas Park Lake, Cuyamaca Lake, Lindo Lake, Lower Otay Lake, Morena Lake and Murray Lake.
IMPERIAL: Sunbeam Lake and Weist Lake.
INYO: Owens River
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
The Department of Fish and Game, after a brief court-mandated halt to trout planting because of a pending lawsuit, is back on track, and the following is a list of Southern California waters being planted throughout this week:
LOS ANGELES: Alondra Park Lake, Cerritos Lake, Echo Park Lake, El Dorado Park Lakes, Elizabeth Lake, Hansen Dam Lake, Legg Lakes, Puddingstone Lake, Pyramid Lake, Santa Fe Reservoir.
ORANGE: Laguna Lake.
RIVERSIDE: Hemet Lake, Perris Lake and Skinner Lake.
SAN BERNARDINO: Big Bear Lake and Silverwood Lake.
SANTA BARBARA: Cachuma Lake.
VENTURA: Casitas Lake and Rancho Simi Park Lake.
--Pete Thomas
Photo: Department of Fish and Game hatchery worker Wayne Statler deposits a load of trout into Northern California's Kings River in 2006. Credit: Mark Crosse / Fresno Bee
Southern California trout anglers will not experience a shortage of Department of Fish and Game hatchery-raised trout locally or in the Eastern Sierra.
The DFG, which was sued in 2006 over stocking practices environmental groups claim jeopardize native trout and amphibians, is preparing an environmental impact report due by January 2010.
But interim measures were approved Monday afternoon by a Sacramento judge and the DFG has released a long list of waters in which it can and cannot stock hatchery-raised rainbow trout.
In Southern California, the only waters deemed off limits to the stocking trucks are Big Tujunga Creek (Upper and Lower), Little Rock Reservoir, Piru Creek (Frenchman's Flat) and the San Gabriel River (East and West forks).
In the Eastern Sierra, only Pine Creek in Inyo County and Sotcher Lake (in Madera County but accessible via Mono County) cannot be stocked.
That's clearly a relief to such towns as Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, June Lake and Bridgeport, whose economies have become largely dependent on visiting anglers seeking hatchery-reared trout.
The list, however, is subject to change.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Native trout such as this one in the San Gabriel River will no longer compete with hatchery-raised rainbow trout in many waters throughout California. Credit: Darrell Kunitomi / For The Times
California trout anglers may learn Monday whether their favorite waters will continue to receive trout raised in hatcheries by the Department of Fish and Game.
A deal reportedly has been struck between environmental groups who had sued the state over its hatchery practices and the DFG.
A Sacramento judge on Monday will either ratify or reject interim measures designed "to help save California's native fish and frogs from extinction," said Noah Greenwald, program director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
That group and the Pacific Rivers Council sued the state in Sacramento Superior Court in 2006 to force reform of stocking practices.
The DFG is preparing an environmental impact report regarding operations but asked Judge Patrick Marlette for a one-year extension, until January 2010.
The environmental groups then requested interim measures to be placed in effect until the report is completed.
Essentially, hatchery-raised trout, which have been seeded in waters throughout the state for 100 years to benefit sport angling, are said to compete with and sometimes prey upon native fish and amphibians.
Read on »
What has happened to all of our Chinook salmon? The beast pictured above looks as though he may have swallowed them all.
But seriously, the recent discovery of this dead fish in Battle Creek in Tehama County was significant enough for the Department of Fish and Game to issue a news release Wednesday afternoon, describing it as "one of the biggest Chinook salmon ever recorded in California."
Biologist Doug Killam made the find while conducting a survey of spawned-out fall-run salmon on lower Battle Creek near the Northern California town of Red Bluff. (Salmon die after they spawn.)
"I have counted tens of thousands of salmon during my career, and this is the biggest I have ever seen," Killam said. "When alive, it could have weighed more than the largest Chinook officially recorded in California, an 88-pound fish caught in the Sacramento River."
Most of the salmon found in these surveys weigh 20 to 30 pounds.
Read on »
Marlin fishing does not get better, anywhere in the world, than it has been these past few weeks along the Baja California peninsula north of Cabo San Lucas.
Pisces Sportfishing this morning reported a weekly tally of 620 marlin, of which 615 were released. The density at the Golden Gate area left "even seasoned Cabo veterans amazed at the sheer numbers of stripers," said Tracy Ehrenberg, owner of Pisces.
The numbers are ridiculous: Clint Brooks and Ross Loveland from Oregon released 14 marlin aboard La Brisa; Gary and McKenzie Smith from Destin, Fla., released 15 marlin; Joseph and Martha Angel from Chesapeake, Md., released 16 marlin and one sailfish.
Most ridiculous of all was the one-day tally of 20 marlin and 10 dorado by a group aboard Bill Collector, which had another 20-marlin day, and a 19-marlin day.
So if you'd like to try catching a marlin, you should book a flight soon because this cannot last forever.
--Pete Thomas
Photo: A striped marlin goes ballistic on the hook at the Golden Gate north of Cabo San Lucas. Credit: Chic McSherry
Here is the Department of Fish and Game's list of Southern California waters, by county, to be stocked with catchable-size rainbow trout the week beginning Nov. 10:
LOS ANGELES: Castaic Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Hansen Dam, Peck Road Park Lake, Puddingstone Lake, Pyramid Lake and Santa Fe Reservoir
RIVERSIDE: Diamond Valley Reservoir, Hemet Lake, Perris Lake and Skinner Lake
SAN BERNARDINO: Big Bear Lake and Silverwood Lake
SAN DIEGO: Doane Pond
SAN LUIS OBISPO: Lopez Lake and Santa Margarita Lake
SANTA BARBARA: Cachuma Lake
VENTURA: Piru Lake and Rancho Simi Park Lake
INYO: Owens River (Section 2)
--Pete Thomas
Photo credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach angler Frank Duarte, pictured above, used a yellow-and-white mini-jig to entice this beautiful 12.2-pound rainbow trout onto his hook during a recent excursion to Irvine Lake.
Orange resident Nick Holiguin, pictured below, used Power Bait and night crawlers to fill an impressive limit at the scenic reservoir alongside Silverado Canyon Road.
"The trout fishing has been absolutely wide-open every day since the opener" last Friday, reports Jimmy Getty from the Pro Shop. "The fish have just been going bananas. The west shoreline looks like a popcorn machine every morning as the bite indicators shoot up.
"We have been selling double-limit and triple-limit passes within an hour of opening the gates. Fish are being caught at the west shore, the flats, Sierra Cove, anywhere and everywhere."
Most of the trout are 1 to 5 pounds, but fish to 13.1 pounds were caught.
Getty suggests bait over trolled lures. "Power Mouses," constructed with Gulp, salmon egg and Power Trout worm in color combinations of white, chartreuse, orange and green are working best.
Of course, that seems like a lot of work. Traditional Power Bait and night crawlers are working too.
Getty says a few anglers have scored so-called grand slams, catching rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, channel catfish and bluegill in one day.
The lake is open from 6 a.m.-4 p.m.
-- Pete Thomas
Photos courtesy of Irvine Lake
The following is a Department of Fish and Game schedule of Southern California waters to be stocked with rainbow trout in the week beginning Nov. 3:
LOS ANGELES: Alondra Park Lake, Belvedere Lake, Cerritos Lake, Downey Lake, Echo Park Lake, El Dorado Park Lake, Kenneth Hahn Lake, La Mirada Lake, Legg Lakes, Lincoln Park Lake, Magic Johnson Lake, Pyramid Lake and San Gabriel River (East & West forks).
ORANGE: Carr Park Lake, Eisenhower Park Lake, Greer Park Lake, Huntington Park Lake and Laguna Lake.
RIVERSIDE: Cahuilla Park Lake and Rancho Jurupa Park Pond.
SAN BERNARDINO: Cucamonga Guasti Park Lake, Glen Helen Park Lake, Mojave Narrows Regional Park Lake, Prado Park Lake, Seccombe Park Lake and Yucaipa Lake.
SAN DIEGO: Chollas Park Lake, Cuyamaca Lake, Lindo Lake and Murray Lake.
IMPERIAL: Sunbeam Lake and Weist Lake.
File photo by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Nice catch of a dorado (see photo) by Jan Forszpaniak of Naples, Fla., during his recent trip to Magdalena Bay in Baja California Sur.
Bob Hoyt, reporting for Baja on the Fly, says the brilliantly colorful dorado are trading turns with marlin and tuna marauding balled-up schools of bait at Thetis Bank.
"The tuna bite was outrageous on the fly," Hoyt writes. "Kurt Ransohoff of Santa Barbara and Tom Lorish from Portland, Oregon, ended their trip with limits of 30-pound fish, though at a price. Several of their flylines went south and at least one 12-weight [rod] was a couple of feet shorter."
Both caught a marlin on a fly rod and I can't even fathom such an experience.
Inside the bay, Hoyt said, small snook and leopard grouper to about 10 pounds were being successfully targeted.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo courtesy of Baja on the Fly
Trout season in the Eastern Sierra ends Nov. 15. But the season at three Southern California paid-entry lakes is just beginning. It's already open season at Santa Ana River Lakes in Anaheim and Corona Lake.
Both have received rainbows from a new source in Bridgeport, Neb. The fish reportedly are spirited and thus are being marketed as "Bridgeport Tailwalkers." They're also said to have salmon-colored flesh.
Already, anglers are catching these fish to about five pounds. Both lakes also will continue to receive much larger rainbows trucked down from Mount Lassen Trout Farms in Northern California.
Not far away, Irvine Lake is preparing for its opener on Friday. The scenic Silverado Canyon reservoir will receive 20,000 pounds of mostly rainbows weighing 1 to 5 pounds, but also brook, brown and steelhead trout.
The lake is closed until Friday in preparation for the opener.
Irvine Lake's pro shop offers this advice:
"Anglers intent on making a dent in Irvine’s trout population are advised to use ultra-light line. In most cases nothing heavier than 4-pound test. When the fish are acting reluctant, dropping down to 2-pound test makes a real difference in the catch rate.
By far the favorite baits for trouters are Power Bait and Gulp! Trout Dough, in chartreuse, yellow, rainbow and white colors. Another top producer is the "Power Mouse," which is made with a floating Gulp! Salmon Egg as the "head," and a 2-inch piece of Power Trout Worm as the “tail.” In most cases, bait leaders should be 10-14 inches long.
"Trollers will take their share of trout on opening weekend. Small Rapalas are the top choice for this work, with the Rapala Countdown CD3 and CD5 in firetiger or brown trout colors being perennial trout killers."
Good fishing everyone!
--Pete Thomas
Photo: Adrian Pintor of Hollywood is happier than he looks after catching this 13.14-pound trout on a nightcrawler last season at Irvine Lake.
Credit: Irvine Lake
Wahoo anyone?
Eric Brictson sent the above photo from San Jose del Cabo this morning in an attempt to lure anglers from Southern California at a time when our saltwater game fish season is waning.
The wahoo in the photo, caught by Walt Valt of Huntington Beach, weighed 60 pounds. Brictson's Gordo Banks Pangas fleet targets these lightning-fast and delectable members of the mackerel family each fall and winter, and the bite ought to turn on over the next few weeks.
"The areas from La Fortuna to the Iman Bank seems to have produced the majority of wahoo strikes, and most of them have been earlier in the morning before too many boats show up to target the tuna and dorado," Brictson reports. "Wahoo have ranged in sizes from small 10-pound fish up to hefty 60-pound trophy-sized specimens. If anglers spend too much time trolling for wahoo early they might miss out on the tuna bite, which has been early in recent days."
Live bait is scarce but obtainable with effort, and large humboldt squid, which can be jigged up and cut into bait, have become a preferred food of yellowfin tuna. Most of the marlin are around Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula, but fishing pressure has been incredibly heavy during the tournament season. One tournament angler landed an 870-pound blue marlin.
It's a far more tranquil scene in and around San Jose del Cabo. Brictson's catch list for 138 charters this past week: 4 sailfish, 41 wahoo, 404 yellowfin tuna, 566 dorado, 26 bonito, 22 cabrilla, 74 various pargo species, 28 sierra, 12 giant squid and 48 triggerfish.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo courtesy of Gordo Banks Pangas
The following is a list of Southern California and Eastern Sierra waters to be planted this week with rainbow trout by the Department of Fish and Game:
LOS ANGELES: Bouquet Canyon Creek, Castaic Lagoon, Castaic Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Hansen Dam, Peck Road Park Lake, Puddingstone Lake, Pyramid Lake and Santa Fe Reservoir.
RIVERSIDE: Hemet Lake and Perris Lake.
SAN BERNARDINO: Big Bear Lake and Silverwood Lake.
SAN LUIS OBISPO:Atascadero Lake, Lopez Lake and Santa Margarita Lake.
SANTA BARBARA: Cachuma Lake.
VENTURA: Piru Lake and Rancho Simi Park Lake.
INYO: Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek Intake 2, Bishop Creek Lower, Bishop Creek (Middle and South forks), Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek, Owens River (Section 2), Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Rock Creek Lake, South Lake, Taboose Creek and Tuttle Creek.
MONO: Convict Creek, Mammoth Creek, McGee Creek and Rock Creek (Sections 1 and 2).
--Pete Thomas
Photo credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
On our annual fall trip to the Eastern Sierra last week, we looked forward to escaping Santa Ana winds in exchange for cool, crisp days — perfect for hiking and the final fishing of the season. We got more than we bargained for. Within a few days, we experienced a temperature difference of about 80 degrees. The San Gabriel Valley was hovering at around 100 when we left, and two days later a cold front from Alaska hit the Mammoth Lakes area with temps in the 20s. It snowed about 4 inches. The shot above is of the Sherwins from Old Mammoth Road on Oct. 11. Although it's in the 60s during the day right now, it's staying cold at night and at this rate, opening day of ski season at Mammoth Mountain may come earlier than Nov. 13.
Fall color was nearly peaking in the areas we visited: the San Joaquin River, Rock Creek Canyon, Rush Creek, Hot Creek and Bishop Creek Canyon. Snow amidst the vibrant yellow, orange and amber of aspens, cottonwoods and willows made for some fine leaf-peeping photo opportunities.
Read on »
You know it's getting late in the season at Crowley Lake when crowds dissipate and water level recedes. But this fall, crowds are virtually non-existent (bad economy) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has dropped the Eastern Sierra reservoir waterline to levels not seen in years.
Tom Loe, the Sierra Drifters guide pictured above with a client named Lisa (and her very impressive brown trout), said some of his top GPS-marked locations for fall have been "high and dry" since mid-August.
Lane Garrett, who runs Crowley Lake Fish Camp, told me today that a light runoff season coupled with DWP projects downstream have led to the low-water conditions.
Garrett added, however, that before the recent algae bloom, which is beginning to clear up, fishing was phenomenal in places, and that he and two fly-fishing friends recently caught and released 50 trout in less than three hours in the Crooked Creek area.
"The water was only 1 to 3 feet deep, so it was like fishing for bonefish" in the flats, Garrett said of the evening bite. Garrett personally landed 18 trout, including two browns at 20-plus inches, a 22-inch cutthroat and four rainbows 18 inches or longer.
With the algae clearing, fishing should vastly improve over the next few weeks. Lance Watkins of Beverly Hills caught, weighed and released a 7-pound rainbow on Wednesday.
"You should come up," Garrett said. "You can virtually have the entire lake to yourself."
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Trout fishing at Crowley Lake in the Eastern Sierra ought to be very good throughout the remainder of the season despite low water that has exposed much of the shoreline and many prime fishing spots. Photos courtesy of Sierra Drifters
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