Bishop Creek Canyon
Fish & Trail Report
7-2-2020

--Trail Conditions--
Absolutely perfect summer hiking conditions are here in the Bishop Creek Canyon. The trails are clear, the views are spectacular, the wildflowers are starting to bloom and the skeeters really aren’t that bad so day hikers are in luck! So for once in 2020, we’re actually enjoying something resembling a best case scenario. Day hikes to Green & Brown Lake, Tyee Lakes, Sabrina Basin, Lamarck Lakes and Piute Pass are keeping avid hikers plenty entertained.

For overnight users however, we suggest looking at the other area trailheads as overnight parking will be prohibited at the Bishop Pass Trailhead from July 6th thru approximately July 25th due to construction. There will be limited day use parking for day hikers, kayakers and anglers, but vehicles parked overnight will be towed. We strongly recommend taking advantage of the Bishop Creek Shuttle by Eastern Sierra Transit...it is the only logistically dependable situation for Bishop Pass given the road repaving project.

--Fish Report—

--South Lake--
The lake level is well up on the ramp and roughly 6-8ft below full pool. Fishing has been good for the most part, but the parade of small cold fronts that have moved in and out of the area over the past few weeks has the fish playing hard-to-get at times. Still, there is no lack of fish so it really comes down to mixing up your lures and baits until you find what they want to eat. Lots of fish in the 2lb to 4lb range taken, including some beautiful holdovers from 2019 and some chunky Idaho Rainbows from our stocking around Father’s Day.

The launch ramp is open for private boaters but be advised that parking is extremely limited due to road work so there is a very good chance that you will have nowhere to park your boat trailer for the next few weeks.

Hot Spots: West Shore, Inlets, Dam
Hot Lures: Sierra Slammer jigs in Pigtail, Baby Brown, Grasshopper, Red/Gold Thomas Buoyants, Rainbow Thomas Buoyants, 1/8oz Kastmasters
Best Fliest: Blank Ants, bead-head nymphs.
Best Baits: Nightcrawlers, Micetails.
Trolling: Worms, needlefish, Thomas Buoyants between 5 and 10 colors.

--Weir Pond—
Hit or miss depending on who you talk to but multiple quality Rainbows have been caught over the past few weeks. Fly angers are having a tough time.

--Bishop Creek--
Access on the South Fork of Bishop Creek is mostly limited to areas within walking distance of Parchers Resort or the Creekside RV/Bishop Creek Lodge area due to road work. No parking is allowed on the road in many areas. Still, people that have been able to find pools holding fish have done well including some very nice fish in the 2-3lb range. The usual suspects are best, jigs, salmon eggs, spinners. Access on the middle fork is much better, however due to DFW stocking protocols relating to the COVID-19 pandemic they are not stocking most areas that require 2 people which means they aren’t stocking the streams. Thankfully we are bringing in more private fish to mitigate the shortage of DFW fish.

--Intake 2—
We haven’t had a good report from this small lake in a while.

--North Lake—
No Reports

--Road Work Update—
Please be advised that there is major road work occurring on South Lake Road Monday thru Friday through October. You can expect up to 30-minute delays in either direction and when leaving the resort. Thankfully there is no road work on the weekends and holidays. These delays are admittedly very annoying, but in the grand scheme of things it could be a whole lot worse. These delays are limited to South Lake Road so things over on hwy 168 are not currently affected. It was just announced this week that there will be NO OVERNIGHT PARKING available at the Bishop Pass Trail between July 6th and July 25th.

--Fish Stocking Update—
Some pretty bad news out of the Department of Fish & Wildlife this week as a rare bacterial infetion has been found at both of our local hatcheries in the Owens Valley. The DFW has quarantined the fish temporarily in the hopes that the fish and water can be treated. We don’t have a clear picture as to how long this will be the case but we don’t expect any DFW stockings in the high country for at least a few weeks, probably longer. Thankfully this situation has not prevented us from sourcing fish from private hatcheries and our Bishop Creek cooperative stocking program is making some moves to keep fish coming, even if they’re coming all the way from Idaho or Oregon. We’ll have more details available within the week. I took a boat out yesterday to check the quantity of fish in the lake and quite frankly, South Lake is still loaded so with the additional private fish stockings we have arranged, the bite should remain strong.

Sierrally,
The Parchers Crew