BY MIKE STEVENS
CONVICT LAKE – Using Convict Lake Resort (CLR) as a fall fishing base camp is a no brainer due to its wide range of lodging options, as well as the onsite general store, restaurant and bar. It’s also ideally located for day trips to Crowley Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Hot Creek, the Owens River and the June Lake Loop, but also for heading “downhill” to Rock Creek Lake or Bishop Creek Canyon.
Of course, that is all in addition to the fishing at Convict Lake itself which still manages to fly below the radar for anglers looking for trophy fall brown trout despite offering outstanding all-around fishing in the final months of the season (closes November 15). Evidence in the form of impressive fish mounts are scattered among various businesses in Bishop and in the bar at Convict Lake that show exactly what the lake is capable of.
While “brown baggers” congregate on some of the larger lakes from Crowley all the way to Bridgeport as well as creeks that get more pub as trophy brown trout waters, anglers familiar with Convict stay away from the crowd and fish a very deep lake with all the makings of a fishery that kicks out wall-hangers.
WON recently spoke to one of those anglers who said the way to target big browns in Convict Lake is to go all-in on targeting them with heavier gear and bigger lures. In his case, big Rapalas and similar jerkbaits in sizes more often associated with bass fishing is what not only works for him, but it landed him on the cover of WON last year after landing a tanker brown while casting from Convict’s South Shore.
Trolling (topline or leadcore) is also very effective over Convict Lake’s triple-digit depths, and unlike summer, anglers working from boats aren’t dealing with as many paddlers and float tubes in the fall months. Anglers also shouldn’t sleep on the brown trout fishing in Convict Creek which has a long history of producing trophy browns from just below the lake’s outlet and down through the campground.
As one of the most heavily stocked lakes in the Eastern Sierra (Convict gets premium Desert Springs, Oregon, trout via its own stocking budget, that of Mono County as well as regular DFW stocking), rainbow trout fishing also remains productive all the way to November 15.
Visiting anglers should also take part in the Ambush at the Lake event that goes on from late August to the end of the season. That event (entry fee $19) puts $6,000 in prizes up for grabs, and Morrison’s Bonus Weekend (Oct. 23-25) that puts up $2,200 in cash for tagged fish.