BY MIKE STEVENS
Regardless of what happens between now and the Eastern Sierra trout opener (April 25), anglers are going to be looking at a low-snowpack season and should plan accordingly. At the time of this writing, “snow-water equivalents” in the Sierra Nevada dipped to about two-thirds of normal for the last week of March.
The Southern Sierra (which includes the Eastern Sierra in terms of trout fishing regions) is in better shape at around 90 percent of normal for late March, but unseasonably hot temps have been steadily melting it off. That bodes well for fishing access on the lakes and streams typically available on opening weekend and might even crack open some bonus areas that are usually still locked off in snow, but it causes some real question marks for trout anglers looking to head up in mid- to late summer.
Snow totals on Mammoth Mountain (as an example) were respectable this winter with 16 inches reported in October followed by November (24 inches), December (73), January (43) and a whopping 87 inches in February. February and December benefited from monster individual storms that turned what was looking like a bleak winter in terms of precipitation into decent totals.
Then came a warm storm in February followed by March heat waves that affected most of the west with summerlike conditions if not record highs in some areas. The Sierra was not immune to that heat, and a “rapid melt” that normally happens in April or May took place in March sending all of that water into the lakes and streams.
THE GOOD NEWS
Every lake and stream is going to be in great shape on opening weekend. Crowley Lake and the waters of the June Lake Loop already have open water as do the big lakes around Bridgeport. So access to the typical opener hot spots won’t be an issue unless a blizzard hits near the end of April which is about as likely as the Long Valley Caldera erupting (it hasn’t for the past 760,000 years).
Also, while still unlikely, there is a chance the Mammoth Lakes Basin is available for the opener. There’s a better chance for that to happen than the aforementioned volcanic event, but I’ve been covering the opener in person for over a decade straight, and it’s only been open once in that stretch. But that one year it was open was incredible.
The thing about the Eastern Sierra trout opener is most families taking part in it have been doing so for generations, decades of making the annual trek specifically for that event. Almost all of them have the same opening weekend routine and go to the same lake or stream every year if not the same SPOT on the same lake every year. Since the Mammoth Lakes Basin is rarely available, it’s not part of anyone’s tradition, so when it happened, no one was up there. No one other than my dad, brother and I, that is, and we took advantage of wide-open fishing for 2- to 4-pound holdover rainbows that ate everything that hit the water. So, even a chance of the Basin opening in time is worth monitoring.
Similarly, some of the lakes down in Bishop Creek Canyon that are not always open could be opening weekend options. Lake Sabrina and South Lake are the ones to keep an eye on, as Intake II will definitely be open but North Lake will likely still be closed regardless of the snow situation. That’s an area that really needs those options because it can cause crowding on the few waters that are available if those are not.
Lastly, unless a significant amount of snow falls in April and melts off before the 25th, the off-color, frigid water and heavy creek flows associated with peak runoff that really put a damper on fishing are far enough back in the rear-view that conditions will have cleared up and stabilized before the opening bell sounds.
THE BAD NEWS
Even with all that snow melted off well before the season opens, there will be enough left in the high country to power creeks that feed lakes at least until June, but then what? While there is always enough melt to keep the creeks flowing at some level, things can get pretty low in the July through August doldrums. That makes creek fishing difficult, especially under bluebird skies and 80-plus degree heat, but it doesn’t end there.
Those are the creeks feeding the lakes, and with minimal flows running into them, the water temps are going to rise. That’s going to send trout deep, and effective methods for catching them will switch from casting to them close to shore and near the surface to trolling deep with leadcore line or sending bait rigs out into deeper water. There’s still decent fishing to be had via those methods, but it can be more of a grind and those techniques are considered boring by some anglers.
As far as I’m concerned, July and August aren’t options for my trips in 2026. I already don’t prefer trout fishing under conditions like those at home (San Diego) regardless of snowpack, but I really don’t want to be up there if I have to work way harder for my bites.
If you can comfortably wade in shorts and sandals, it’s cool on a hot day but it means the trout are less than stoked. But if an angler can only go in July or August this year, look for the coolest most oxygenated water: shade, inlets, deep drop-offs, wind-blown points and banks and creeks with the best flows should all be on the hit list.
THE SHORT VERSION
As far as the April 25 Eastern Sierra Trout Opener is concerned, the weekend will be unaffected by the snowpack/runoff situation, or it could even be better than usual due to the possibility of access to more lakes and streams. May and most of June should also be business as usual.
But come July, those creek flows are really going to start falling off causing the lakes to warm up and trout to slow down. That of course is paired with the fact those months get a lot more traffic due to the new Sierra visitors created by the great 2020 rush to the outdoors, and a lot of them aren’t anglers but they’ll float right over your spot on the Owens River in inflatable unicorns when they’re up there.
For my time and money, the best months to fish the Eastern Sierra in 2026 are going to be May, June and October.
Bank on it.