Silver Lake Resort Fishing Report from Andrew the Resort operator...
Well…….. You either are really happy that you caught a nice 3 to 6 pound Rainbow here at Silver Lake or you are a little grumpy because you didn’t catch a thing. To say the least, the catching side of fishing has been a struggle here at Silver Lake the last few weeks due in part to the hot weather and lack of stocking being done by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which has been zero stocking the past three weeks. (See website for more information on why DFW is not currently stocking
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.a...=180567&inline)
What we have been seeing here at Silver Lake is some really nice, healthy and fat Rainbows being caught, thanks in part to Ernie’s Tackle Shop that donated 100 pounds to each of the lakes in the June Lake Loop and an additional 500 pounds stocked of the big boys by Desert Springs Hatchery in Oregon courtesy of Silver Lake Resort. With the lack or none existent stocking by DFW over the near future, we are planning on doing our best to continue to purchase fish from Desert Springs in Oregon. We are hoping to do several loads (3-4) of 1 pound Rainbows and continue to do our traditional four or five loads of 3 to 5 pounders to help supplement this gap in stocking by the state. We should be getting a load about every two to three weeks starting the first week of August. Just keep in mind when you come in the store and are grumpy and unhappy about not catching fish that we are doing our best to help supplement the shortfall by DFW – You could even smile and say thank you but we never expect that!!! There is no Government Bailout for Lack of Fish so we will do our best to pick up the pieces.
Anglers the past two weeks have seen the most consistent action early in the morning and later in the afternoons when the water is cooler using Night Crawlers, Berkley Pinch Crawlers, and Berkley Mice Tails. As the water temperature heats up throughout the day look to switching to good old power baits – all colors and flavors work good – and think about a longer leader line to get above the weeds as they grow in the mist of summer. The always consistent Thomas Buoyants and Kastmasters work well tossing from the shore or a boat and streamers like an Olive Matuka and Woolly Bugger do well trolling if you can get them deeper in the water. You have to search a little for that depth and cooler waters the fishies are hanging out at, but once you have found that zone you should do well.
I wish we had better news to post on the stocking side of things but as we all know, things are not as easy as they use to be in today’s new world. Remember to enjoy the little things, be kind to each other and when you are fishing in the Eastern Sierra remember to look up and enjoy the beauty surrounding you, breath in the fresh air and who knows, maybe you will catch a nice size Rainbow.