BY MATT SPOLSKY
Special to Western Outdoor News
The Ascent
On June 13, 2026, we set out to finally fish the Cottonwood Lakes above Lone Pine. I’ve fished other alpine lakes above Bishop and Lone Pine previously. The Cottonwood Lakes were the next lakes on the list.
The Cottonwood Lakes fully open in September. My September is busy this year so I had to go early in the season which meant only Lake 5 would be open.
The ascent was not too grueling, and the elevation was mainly at the end before reaching a plateau. This allowed us to stop and check out sections of Cottonwood Creek and scout some of the meadows for deer. We made camp by the north end of Lake 3 and had lunch before setting off to fish.
The Fishing
Fishing on the trip was divided into two parts: one before the hailstorm and one after the hailstorm passed. I have been in many Eastern Sierra storms, but quarter inch hail was a first for me. We waited about an hour in the tents for the storm to clear.
Fishing Lake 5 required a fishing strategy due to the clarity of the water and lack of surrounding trees. Lake 5 is exposed and it feels like you are fishing directly on top of the fish you can see swimming in the crystal-clear water.
We watched some of the fish sitting in the tributary between Lakes 4 and 5. You can see their colors through the ripples of the river passing through almost as if they were in your net. It was surreal to see fish so clearly while they were still under the water.
We moved from the entrance of Lake 5 to the back right corner of the lake. This section was protected from much the wind which created calmer waters where the fish could feed. There was also a large boulder, more bushes, and small trees which created a backdrop making it more difficult for the fish to see you.
With all of these conditions and a well-placed Purple Haze Mayfly we cast out to see what Lake 5 held. After a short time, our work produced a 16-inch golden trout out of Lake 5.
With the target species acquired, we called it a successful trip and headed back to camp for some whiskey.
Next Time
Next time I will change the date of the trip. Lake 3 was showing signs of life about 6:00 p.. right at twilight. The entire lake was feeding after the hailstorm ended. We did not have enough time to scout Lake other than to see them from the hike. I did think the campsite at Lake 3 was a great middle ground for access between all of the lakes.
There were also more areas of Lake 5 to try and more techniques to be used (maybe a 6-foot leader and a midge dropped off the left side of the lake by the rockpile, or right at the entrance with a small elk hair caddis). We covered as much ground as we could with the limited time we had for a weekend trip.
Overall, the trip was a success. We set out to catch at least one Golden Trout and accomplished that goal. Another alpine lake to add to the backpacking list!
Matt Sposlky lives in Carlsbad, CA, and is an attorney with Clark Hill, LLP. He also operates the Alpine Trout Co., LLC, AlpineTroutCo.com
