Mammoth 8/12 - 8/14 - California Fishing

Wahoo! · 08-16-2005, 01:07 PM

I went to up to the Mammoth lakes over the weekend with Harold (Local Rookie), and friends Tim, Gabe, and Melissa. We left Rancho Cucamonga at around 8pm and the trip started out slow - really slow on the 15 freeway. It took us about an hour and a half to get from the 15 to the 395! We finally arrived at Mammoth around 2:30am and were all pretty tired and ready to sleep. We drove through all the campgrounds in the Mammoth loop and all were completely full. We ended up just parking in the Twin Lakes parking lot and sleeping in the cars that night. We finally got to sleep around 3:30am.

At 5:30am, my alarm went off and it was time to fish! Harold and I pumped up our tubes and launched on one of the Twin Lakes (not sure which one was upper and which one was lower). We were the only ones that were willing to wake up and fish and it ended up being the best idea of the trip! I was the first to hookup in the morning about 3 minutes after we got in! The fish hit a green w/ red flake jig and was a nice size DFG stocker. I released this fish and we kept kicking towards the other side of the lake. I'm not sure who caught the next fish, because soon after the first, the bite broke wide open! We had 4 double hookups within the next 45 minutes and landed probably 20-25 fish between us! This included my biggest fish and our biggest fish of the trip. We estimate that it was around 5 or 6 pounds, but I didn't bring a scale so we don't have the official weight. All fish were caught on mini jigs and the hot color was the green w/ red flake. On a side note, we were the only people on the lake really catching fish. The few other people that were there that morning weren't having the same luck we were. I think we just had the right color at the right time. As the sun started peeking over the mountain, the fishing started to slow and it died as soon as the sun cleared the mountain. Russ (FishSlayer) showed up after the bite had died and we all struggled for a while. We picked up a couple more over the next couple hours and decided to get some breakfast, clean the fish (we kept only 2 - my big one and another one that went 2-3 pounds), and move to another lake.

The next lake we hit was Mamie. This was the first time I tubed Mamie and I really liked the lake. It was much less crowded than twin and had quite a bit of interesting bottom structure. We saw quite a few big fish swimming around and Russ hooked up and landed a nice one, but Harold and I didn't see much action. I landed 2 (1 trout and 1 chub) and Harold landed 1 trout. After we had tried everything we had on those fish, we decided to try another lake.

From Mamie, we headed to Mary. I've never tubed Mary before and I don't think I will again. The lake is the biggest in the Mammoth loop and by this time we were a little too tired to kick around and locate fish. Harold and I only spent a short time at Mary and didn't catch any.

Our next stop was the campground that Russ was nice enough to share with us. The site was literally 30 feet from the stream and there were tons of stockers right out in front of our camp. We ended the day catching stocker out of the creek by drifting salmon eggs through the holes. Harold and I also caught a couple browns while wading another part of the stream that were really nice fish. I think these were Harold's first brown trout!

The next morning, we hit the stream again in the morning and then headed to Sotcher lake. My waders got a hole in them on saturday so we fished from shore for a couple hours. I caught one and that was all for us at Sotcher. After that, we headed down the mountain and ate breakfast/lunch at the Dennys in Bishop.

I had a lot of fun and only wish we would have had more time. I'm impressed that we were able to hit so many fishing spots in just a day and a half. Harold and I ended up catching a lot of fish. The other 3 people with us caught a total of 1 between them

. I guess they'll need to practice a little before the next trip.

We lost count of fish, but we caught a lot. The majority of which were caught in 45 minutes at Twin Lakes. I kept 4 total (for dinner on Saturday) and all the rest were released. The hot baits were salmon eggs in the stream and mini jigs in green w/ red flake and a 1/32oz jighead. I'll post pics as soon as I get them resized!

Check out FishSlayer's report for all his catches and the different baits he was using.

cst · 08-16-2005, 01:11 PM

you back in texas already?

umoa · 08-16-2005, 01:12 PM

nice!!!

Wahoo! · 08-16-2005, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cst

you back in texas already?

Oh yeah, I landed in Houston yesterday at 6:45am and was at work by 9am!

umoa · 08-16-2005, 01:49 PM

damn that is hardcore!!!

Wahoo! · 08-16-2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by umoa

damn that is hardcore!!!

LOL! And you only know half of it! My trip started after work on Thursday when we got on a plane in Houston and landed in Ontario at about 11pm. I went to sleep at about 12:30am. Woke up at 6:30am, went to the rental car place at 7:30am, picked up my car, drove from Fontana where I was staying to a meeting in Chatsworth, stopped by my parent's house in Simi Valley to say hi to my family, went to lunch with my dad in Agoura, and got back to Fontana at 6pm. From there, I packed my stuff into the rental, went to Harold's, packed up his car, we took back the rental and left for Mammoth at 8pm. I had a busy weekend.

jstcrzyengh · 08-16-2005, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by umoa

damn that is hardcore!!!

Nice report, I want to get up there for a weekend as well. However...

PlatinumHooks · 08-16-2005, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

I went to up to the Mammoth lakes over the weekend with Harold (Local Rookie), and friends Tim, Gabe, and Melissa. We left Rancho Cucamonga at around 8pm and the trip started out slow - really slow on the 15 freeway. It took us about an hour and a half to get from the 15 to the 395! We finally arrived at Mammoth around 2:30am and were all pretty tired and ready to sleep. We drove through all the campgrounds in the Mammoth loop and all were completely full. We ended up just parking in the Twin Lakes parking lot and sleeping in the cars that night. We finally got to sleep around 3:30am.

At 5:30am, my alarm went off and it was time to fish! Harold and I pumped up our tubes and launched on one of the Twin Lakes (not sure which one was upper and which one was lower). We were the only ones that were willing to wake up and fish and it ended up being the best idea of the trip! I was the first to hookup in the morning about 3 minutes after we got in! The fish hit a green w/ red flake jig and was a nice size DFG stocker. I released this fish and we kept kicking towards the other side of the lake. I'm not sure who caught the next fish, because soon after the first, the bite broke wide open! We had 4 double hookups within the next 45 minutes and landed probably 20-25 fish between us! This included my biggest fish and our biggest fish of the trip. We estimate that it was around 5 or 6 pounds, but I didn't bring a scale so we don't have the official weight. All fish were caught on mini jigs and the hot color was the green w/ red flake. On a side note, we were the only people on the lake really catching fish. The few other people that were there that morning weren't having the same luck we were. I think we just had the right color at the right time. As the sun started peeking over the mountain, the fishing started to slow and it died as soon as the sun cleared the mountain. Russ (FishSlayer) showed up after the bite had died and we all struggled for a while. We picked up a couple more over the next couple hours and decided to get some breakfast, clean the fish (we kept only 2 - my big one and another one that went 2-3 pounds), and move to another lake.

The next lake we hit was Mamie. This was the first time I tubed Mamie and I really liked the lake. It was much less crowded than twin and had quite a bit of interesting bottom structure. We saw quite a few big fish swimming around and Russ hooked up and landed a nice one, but Harold and I didn't see much action. I landed 2 (1 trout and 1 chub) and Harold landed 1 trout. After we had tried everything we had on those fish, we decided to try another lake.

From Mamie, we headed to Mary. I've never tubed Mary before and I don't think I will again. The lake is the biggest in the Mammoth loop and by this time we were a little too tired to kick around and locate fish. Harold and I only spent a short time at Mary and didn't catch any.

Our next stop was the campground that Russ was nice enough to share with us. The site was literally 30 feet from the stream and there were tons of stockers right out in front of our camp. We ended the day catching stocker out of the creek by drifting salmon eggs through the holes. Harold and I also caught a couple browns while wading another part of the stream that were really nice fish. I think these were Harold's first brown trout!

The next morning, we hit the stream again in the morning and then headed to Sotcher lake. My waders got a hole in them on saturday so we fished from shore for a couple hours. I caught one and that was all for us at Sotcher. After that, we headed down the mountain and ate breakfast/lunch at the Dennys in Bishop.

I had a lot of fun and only wish we would have had more time. I'm impressed that we were able to hit so many fishing spots in just a day and a half. Harold and I ended up catching a lot of fish. The other 3 people with us caught a total of 1 between them

. I guess they'll need to practice a little before the next trip.

We lost count of fish, but we caught a lot. The majority of which were caught in 45 minutes at Twin Lakes. I kept 4 total (for dinner on Saturday) and all the rest were released. The hot baits were salmon eggs in the stream and mini jigs in green w/ red flake and a 1/32oz jighead. I'll post pics as soon as I get them resized!

Check out FishSlayer's report for all his catches and the different baits he was using.

What a crappy report! Jus kiddn.

In a day and a half, that was incredible. Jon, I bet that 6 pounder tasted sooooo good. Jon, were the streams too cold to "wet wade" and what stream was it?

Wahoo! · 08-16-2005, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony"PltnmHooks"Z.

What a crappy report! Jus kiddn.

In a day and a half, that was incredible. Jon, I bet that 6 pounder tasted sooooo good. Jon, were the streams too cold to "wet wade" and what stream was it?

It is the one that runs through Devils Postpile. Russ said it was the San Joaquin. The water there is always cold. I'd say it's in the 50s right now.

PlatinumHooks · 08-16-2005, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

It is the one that runs through Devils Postpile. Russ said it was the San Joaquin. The water there is always cold. I'd say it's in the 50s right now.

Oh yes!! absolutely one of my most favorite rivers/streams and areas of the Eastern Sierras. 50 degrees actually isn't that bad to wet wade....borderline wetwading temp. I know the stream very well; a very productive stream...full of Browns during the late Summer early Fall.

DementedFish · 08-16-2005, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jstcrzyengh

Nice report, I want to get up there for a weekend as well. However...

Word

umoa · 08-16-2005, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony"PltnmHooks"Z.

Oh yes!! absolutely one of my most favorite rivers/streams and areas of the Eastern Sierras. 50 degrees actually isn't that bad to wet wade....borderline wetwading temp. I know the stream very well; a very productive stream...full of Browns during the late Summer early Fall.

full of man eating mosquitos too

FishSlayer · 08-17-2005, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

LOL! And you only know half of it! My trip started after work on Thursday when we got on a plane in Houston and landed in Ontario at about 11pm. I went to sleep at about 12:30am. Woke up at 6:30am, went to the rental car place at 7:30am, picked up my car, drove from Fontana where I was staying to a meeting in Chatsworth, stopped by my parent's house in Simi Valley to say hi to my family, went to lunch with my dad in Agoura, and got back to Fontana at 6pm. From there, I packed my stuff into the rental, went to Harold's, packed up his car, we took back the rental and left for Mammoth at 8pm. I had a busy weekend.

Wasnt there supposed to be a 1/2 day trip out of Newport in there somewhere as well?

Wahoo! · 08-17-2005, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishSlayer

Wasnt there supposed to be a 1/2 day trip out of Newport in there somewhere as well?

There was, but the meeting I had to go to in Chatsworth messed up my schedule. I would have been able to fit the 1/2 day in if it wasn't for that.