June Lake

[gone_fishing]

Since I don't know my head from a hole in the wall when it comes to freshwater fishing or camping, can I get some help here. I'll be headed to June Lake (Pine Cliff) next Friday with my son and a couple of friends. What are the basic baits, lures, rigs, etc.? I'll check back for replies. Thanks in advance.

Hank

[Scott Shaw]

Perry and I have been up to the Loop for many a year. Great place to hang.First of all ,there are four lakes , and all are a bit different. My personal choice is Silver Lake , past town and around the loop. These lakes are deep . and whatever get's your lures or bait down is going to help. At first and last light , you might find them on the surface.After that , they go down to the thermocline. Get a leadcore outfit.A large ocean reel that will hold 10 colors of lead line, 15 or 18 pound, and a stiff rod , as the leadcore will bend the rod from it's own weight.My personal rod and reel is a Shimano 4000GT moocher reel on a 25lb. ocean 7' spinning rod. I like a spinning rod so that the bulky leadline will pass thru easier. Have about 20' of 6Lb. mono with a very small swivel between the leadcore and the mono. Small rapala's ( gold my favorite) , needlefish spoons,and Olive Matuka flies are some things that work.Paddle at different speeds,S-curve your kayak, and experiment. With the leadcore , start at 3 to 4 colors out , and remember that if you stop , the line will sink and snag the bottom. Fish deeper once the sun gets up high , go shallow when the light is off the water.I am now more of a fly fisher , but bait will do the trick. Watch what others are making it work. Have fun , and leave some for your buddy's. Scott

[gone_fishing]

Thanks Scott! I appreciate the tips. I'll post a report with pics when I make it back home.

Hank

[PerryC]

Wow,
What a fun trip I love the Sierra's. Scott and myself and other friends of ours have been going up there for years now taking our kayaks and float tubes. One type of fishing you may be going to to is shore fishing. That is the one type we normally don't do much of though. Some guys use a basic floating bait setup which is a light-medium spinning rod with 6lb line on it. If there's not alot of algae on the bottom, a setup would be a 1/4oz sliding egg sinker slid up the main line, then a swivel tied to the end of the line. Then you would run a 2-4lb leader to the swivel, then the tag end of that to your hook. Then like a #14-18 gold treble hook and put 'da floating bait on that. The algae comes in when your weight drags your bait in the algae and the fish don't see it.

An alternative is to tie a leader (#2-4lb) on the end of your 6lb main line and the hook to about 3 foot of leader. Then right above the leader joint, use split shot, the lightest you can to cast it out there. The theory behind this is the split shot will not drag your bait below the algae and the trout will be able to find it. This is the way we fish the local pay pits where there is alot of algae in close to shore and you don't want your bait going below it. For casting for trout, they don't always produce fish, but I like the Thomas Buoyants (as shown below). I use the 003 and 005 color in both sizes. You can get them at any of the tackle stores up there as they have been catching fish for many, many years.

For trolling, I use the method Scott mentioned. You can troll with your 6lb rod setup from your kayak and float tube . The olive matuka's do very well and so can the purple ones. If they have a bead head, they'll stay down a bit better, but the standard ones with beads will also work well.

Silver Lake is by far my favorite lake in the loop also. It has camping and a small store across the street from it for food and supplies. The boat launch at Silver is very kayak and float tube friendly also. Next would be Gull Lake, which is alot smaller than the other lakes in the loop. Across the lake from the marina is a hand launch. You get to it by leaving town towards Silver Lake, then as soon as you're out of town, there is a 4x4 post with small sign on it for a day use area on your right. Most people miss it the first few times. The sign is literally right around a curve in the road. Once you launch there though, you are in a deep part of the lake with shallow nearby. It's not a bad place to fish. Grant Lake is where we used leadcore to troll for deep runners. It has fish there, but can get very windy there in a heartbeat.

This is by no means everything, and it would be waaaayyy to much for here. If you want, gimme a call this week and I'll fill in the voids as best I can. Have a great trip and catch one for us while you're there

Perry

[gone_fishing]

I had a hunch a few Sierra regulars would chime in with some great info. I'm all for simplicity so I'll try the most basic setup ideas you've posted. My main goal is to soak it all in while I'm there, hit a few hotspots, and make it home safely. When I was a young whipper, we tied a California Mosqito on a long leader with a clear water float for throwing distance with good results. That was about the last time I fished trout.
That's all I remember.

Hank