Bishop Creek Canyon

Fish & Trail Report

9-4-24

My goodness, the conditions the past few weeks have been rad, especially this week as the weather set up nicely for the weekend visitors and the trout really started to chew. Many/most school districts in SoCal started back up mid-month so as expected, from that time on the hustle and bustle of summer gave way to a far quieter canyon. It's still summer, but it’s a mellower version of it.... like summer took a nap before Labor Day, woke up and had a party and then went right back to napping. What's most exciting for us though, is the mountain magic that happens between Labor Day and when the fall color starts to pop near the end of September. Over the next couple weeks, the window will be open for what I consider the best time of the entire season from a purely hiking and fishing standpoint. More on that below....

 

Oh – and it’s so quiet we have cabins open this weekend and next over at Parchers Resort somehow….and we want you people up here to enjoy it so we’ve waived the 3 minimum and are offering 20% off two nights in any of the 4-person mountain cabins still open. The discount is applied at check-in for online bookings, at the time of reservation for peeps who call.

Sorry – shameless plug but I mean seriously, its prime time.

 

Although many of us in the resort biz consider Labor Day to be the beginning of fall. However, the reality is that summer is very much in charge as far as average daytime temps go. Having said that, we're over 9000 ft elevation here so a few days of wind, rain, or even snow flurries (which we had 2 weeks back) mixed in with warm summer days, it’s a not-so-subtle reminder as to why bringing multiple layers of clothing is a good idea. This is even more true as we get deeper into September. When asked “what kind of clothing should we bring?” I’ve often replied that “every day is a new day up here… ya’ll may start the day in jackets and beanies and by noon its time for flops and bikinis. A reminder that you need not call our office for the 5-day, the local forecast for our latitude/longitude and elevation is linked right on our home page and it’s worth keeping an eye on.

 

As far as the water level at our Lake Sabrina goes, it’s come up several feet over the course of August, but things appear to have leveled off. If you hadn’t already heard, the SCE spillway project was put on hold til 2025, so water managers are trying to optimize storage.

South Lake on the other hand has come down a bit, although it’s still well within the range we consider “great” as the entire lake, including the back inlets, are very much accessible.

Creek flows have been a little inconsistent on the middle fork, but overall its been trending on the low flow side. A lot more water coming down the So Fork Bishop Creek. In either case, both are very much in the fishy zone.

 

The skeeters are gone, the summer stampede is over, most of the thru hikers have stowed their gear for the season, or in the case of the PCT folks they’re well north of us by now…ahhhhh, the joy of the shoulder season is here!!!

 

With exception to the holiday weekend, the traffic at the trailheads has been considerably lighter that during the late June to mid August timeframe. With the holiday weekend in the rear view – it’s time for those of who’ve been waiting for added solitude to bask in it.

 

Now admittedly the holiday weekend was busy, bordering on bonkers, with a small army of weekend warriors squeezing in their last overnighters for 2024, but I’m here to tell you that by day’s end on Labor Day, the campgrounds fall quiet, the vacation homes empty, most cabin guests are homebound, the trail dust settles, and just like clockwork the vibe goes from “woo hoo lets party!” to flat out chillin’. If Bishop Creek Canyon was a radio station, we just heard a rock block from AC/DC and now we’re around the campfire with Jack Johnson &. James Taylor.

I realize that didn’t have a lot of trail info – but, well – the trails are open everywhere by now so what are you waiting for?!

 

 

DFW has been doing a better job as of late so the quantity of fish is starting to catch up with the quality of the fish we’ve put in from Oregon & Idaho. And SURPISE – more Idaho fish arrived Tuesday!!!! I gotta say, the new runs they build out there has the average size of the fish pushing 2lb and they’re right at home in the cool waters of our little alpine oasis. That makes 6 loads of private stock on top of the DFW fish so you can’t blame bad luck on the fish population.

Thankfully most are catching with biggun’s mixed in.

 

The Hot STUFF – Trolling has been productive all season and continues to be. Thomas Buoyants are top on the list but needlefish and small Rapalas are winners as well. You can go down as deep as 25ft but people are doing just fine trolling on top. The classic green garlic Powerbait seems to be the winning flavor for the glob mob but don’t forget about the Gulp pinched crawlers fished off the bottom with a 3ft leader. Jig tossers are always catching fish but the best color to throw is up for debate. We can tell you what color is selling the best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best…see, left a little room for experimentation there. 

The Hot SPOTS – Start broken record now - the bait n’ wait, tossers and jig folks are doing. best at the inlets (duh), Cookie’s point, Toon Cove or from shore near the dam. Trolling the west shore from Cookie’s point across the rockslide and back as been the best trolling route if you’re a fan of hauling gear around while enjoying the view.

 

At report time we had 5 pontoon boats and 10 motorboats available for rent. We also have kayaks, a canoe and stand-up PADDLE BOARDS for rent!!! Reservations are highly

recommended and can be made online so click here or visit www.LakeSabrinaBoats.com.

 

Current operating hours 7am – 6pm Daily.

 

 

The bite took a dip in early August, really no apparent reason for it either cuz the fish were there. Thankfully a few loads of DFW fish to make up for a late start (for them not us) and loads of Idaho and Oregon fish, including ANOTHER boat full of Idaho fish put in yesterday – its’ been lights out if you can find a pattern. The fish are more spread out now that stocking has been relatively consistent as opposed to a big batch her and a big batch there.

The Hot STUFF – Surprisingly the trolling went just stupid the past few weeks. Best bet by far were small shallow diving jerk baits or countdowns trolled on top. They run about 3 to 7ft deep depending on the speed but trolling them slow downhill and maybe 2mph into the wind is a good start. No need to be precise on this btw, just approximating. The dough has been consistently productive and crawler crowd has been super successful fly lining right in the current. BLACK ANTS, big ones with white wings are another stilly good choice if you’re down to fly fish or know how the fly/bubble goes. A shocking number of Brook trout in the 12’ range have been caught the past few weeks – all on the fly – and all very healthy. If people keep putting them back that could be a very interesting bite next year.

 

The Hot SPOTS – Inlets, ROCK SLIDE, channel by the island for those casting. Trolling from the far corner of the dam to the rock slide and back has been silly good. Lots of C&R on pan sized bows with a bunch of the 2-3lb out of state imports eating them too. Someone got freight train’d on something big right by the dam – just hit it and took off – and the lure was only 3ft deep so it “weren’t no snag!”

 

At report time the South Lake fleet has 5 pontoon boats, 10 motorboats and 2 kayaks. Reservations are highly recommended and can be made on the Parchers Resort website www.ParchersResort.net

Current operating hours 7am – 6pm Daily.

 

Idaho rainbows & DFW fish this week. Enough said.

I’m sure its good. Or ok at the least.

Lots of fish for float tubers fly fishing. Other than that, not much intel. Feel free to reply if you have some.

It’s gonna get cold up there soon gang, they gotta eat so give them a fly or lure to bite. Gorgeous time of year to be catching the wild ones.

Waterfront Café at Sabrina is OPEN

Kitchen & Grill

8am – 3pm Fri-Sun

Killer breakfast burritos, bowls, & hot cakes for breakfast and big ol' burgers and steak sammies for lunch.

Coffee, Pie & Beer Counter

8am – 6pm DailyServing Fat Trout coffee by local roasters Black Sheep Coffee, our famous homemade pie, local brews on tap.

For Cabin Rentals visit our lodging website at Parchers Resort . The Parchers Store on the South Fork of Bishop Creek is open daily from 8am to 6pm. We have a great stretch of creek adjacent to the resort so fish the creek and stop in to say hi!

Everything within the canyon is open. Trailheads are open. Launch ramps are open. Had buddies up at Coyote Flat last week, rough ride but open. Bring it on!!!!

All USFS campgrounds are open! YAY!

Please remember that DISPERSED CAMPING IS PROHIBITED up here, so if you wanna camp, expect to pay.

Weather Updates and Forecasts for Our Specific Longitude and Latitude Can Be Found at www.LakeSabrinaBoatLanding.comand clicking the puffy little cloud below our phone number.

Sierrally,

Jared (me), Seth, Judy, Steve and the whole Lake Sabrina, South Lake Landing & Parchers Crew

Photos compiled by our staff , friends and family, and the rest of the information sourced from our wonderful guests. Thank You!!!

We’re still looking for the right family to take the reigns over at Parchers and South Lake. As much as I’ve tried, I can’t do it all without my now fully retired business partners (congrats Mom & Dad). If you think you’re the right fit to run a business in a crazy awesome place and serve our crazy awesome customers - Parchers Resort & South Lake Landing is a rare opportunity. If you dream of living the mountain life, visit www.parchersresort.net/business-opportunity for details. Price has been reduced so take a gander and be our neighbor!

Until next time……tight lines and happy trails!