BY MIKE STEVENS
JUNE LAKE – Opening weekend fishing varied a bit between each lake in the June Lake Loop, but it was solid overall despite chilly conditions that seemed to hang on longer than the other popular Eastern Sierra fishing zones.
JUNE LAKE
There was no shortage of staingers limits at June Lake according to Abbie Thomason of June Lake Marina who also told Western Outdoor News the top trout out of June on Opening Day was a 8.2-pound cutthroat. That fish ate a 2-inch swimbait and took top honors in the Ernie’s Tackle Monster Trout Contest.
“We saw lots of nice cutties, and the early heat wave activated the bite so the early- season fishing is way better than normal,” said Thomason. “They are also now stocking browns in June. They haven’t for a long time but now they are back!”
Thomason went on to say anyone who brings their mother out on Mother’s Day gets half off a boat rental. Speaking of boats, quite a few were concentrated just outside of the dropoff beyond the buoys at the swim beach. That’s a productive area for June’s cutthroat, and float tubers were also in the mix in that zone. Others boaters went with a back-and-forth trolling pattern along the road, while shorepounders did most of their damage with PowerBait and Mice Tails.
GULL LAKE
As one made the lake-to-lake rounds through the Loop, it seemed like Gull was the slowest of the bunch. Bait dunkers working the area near the campground and the playground near the Marina had to put extra time in for their bites, but boaters, float tubers and kayakers seemed to have a better go at it.
“Gull Lake was slower than recent Openers, but my team still picked off lots of fish with a few in the 3- to 4-poumd range on using GSF Mini Super Tubes and minijigs,” said Estevan McDonald of Golden State Fishing. “The best area was near Marina and the north side of lake.”
WON spotted a cluster of boats putting in work in Gull Lake’s southwest corner, so there was likely some action back there as well.
SILVER LAKE
While all these lakes are relatively close to each other, conditions can vary between them, and Silver Lake took the brunt of the wind and cold.It was still fishable, but it was borderline white-caps at times, and some float tubers showed up, watched it from shore for a while only to move on to a Plan B somewhere else.Shore pounders had a fair run on DFW rainbow trout with floating baits, while some guys in waders connected on spoons and jigs.Bonnie Peak of Oregon weighed in a 5.8-pound rainbowwhile fishing with Jason Bivins who had what looked like a 3 pounder that fell for salmon eggs. There was chatter of a 6-plus pounder weighed at the store when WON arrived to check the scene out. Most boaters were positioned offshore of the Rush Creek inlet, while the best shore fishing was on the opposite end near the launch ramp and floating dock.
GRANT LAKE
The wind also was part of the equation at Grant Lake, but not to the point it kept boats off the water. McDonald told WON brown trout to 3 pounds and “some healthy full-finned rainbows” were caught across from the Marina, and the area just outside of the Rush Creek inlet. That’s where WON reader Gabriel Marquez dropped his tube in and proceeded to bag at least one nice brown and a 4.8-pound rainbow that stood as the top Grant Lake fish in the Ernie’s Tackle Monster Trout Derby. He said he was working with Get Bent Customz Sluggos in the Emerald Hopper color.