Lake Sabrina Boat Landing

760-873-7425

July 3, 2017

Summer is definitely here and the Lake is almost full - about 6’ - 7’ from spill. SCE is keeping a watchful eye opening and closing the pipes to keep it just below. The docks are hooked up and the ramps not quite so steep. With the Lake nearing capacity, it’s getting a bit harder to find a place to fish along shore so lots of dam fisherpeople this week.

The catching part of fishing is spectacular (although that moon is getting awful bright).  Lots of limits still coming out of the Lake. Fishing the inlets with Garlic PowerBait, NightCrawlers, Lures or Jigs. Trolling NightCrawlers or Lures around the shoreline or rockpiles. Drifting NightCrawlers or PowerBait. Shore fishing NightCrawlers, PowerBait or tossing Lures. Don’t let the Owens Valley Sucker fish trick you into thinking they are trout.

Lots of fish pictures this week – limits, memories and big fish. Bill Earndhardt caught a nice 2-1/4 Rainbow on a MouseTail. Judy and Peter Fry brought in a 7 pound stringer using NightCrawlers – plenty for dinner. Tanner Ernie’s stringer weighed in at 5 pounds as the fish couldn’t resist his Red and Gold Thomas Buoyant. A 3-1/4 pound Rainbow just couldn’t refuse the scent of a Garlic PowerBait ball Amanda Hanson threw at it. Father Harold and son Tim Devens made memories using NeedleFish and brought in limits and dinner. Kathleen Cruz, using a Grub, landed a 2-3/4 pound Rainbow. Uncle George Maronyan, Suzanna Hakopyan and Veronica Maronyan all brought in limits using NightCrawlers. Gary and Cathy Loope had a blast catching fish using Thomas Buoyants – Red/Gold, Purple or Green – color doesn’t matter. Glenn Halverson landed a planted DFW 3 pound Trophy using a mini tube jig. Ellife (6 years old) and Ryland (4 years old) were so excited to be at the Lake catching fish as was Sierra Tovar. Brandon Comins finally landed a 2-1/4 pounder using a red/gold PowerWorm. Dan Shibley brought his friend Dave fishing – another convert for life! Lots of fish tacos with all those fish caught this week.

The baby Wrens are chirping away in their nest as Mom and Dad are busy keeping them fed and are flying back and forth at a furious pace. So watch out when heading to the door – they whiz by you pretty darn fast.

Len & Ginny took time out to plant the flowers on the deck, yup, summer is here – looks so festive! Still a lot of Pine Pollen on the Lake (so if you’re inclined to hayfever, best have something with you). We’ve got Purple Chives blooming away and as is the Purple Iris in the back by the grassy area. The Yellow Columbine and Purple Lilacs are still budding away. Went for a drive on the South Lake side of the mountain – so many wildflowers blooming along the road over yonder – yellows, reds, purples and whites – oh, so pretty.

Looks like afternoon ThunderBoomers return this week, so pack your ponchos – just in case. One weather app is showing temps in the low 70s for highs and mid 40s for lows with a slight chance of some ThunderBoomers on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The other app shows a 50% - 60% chance of ThunderBoomers in the forecast starting Wednesday thru Monday. Temps on this app shows the mercury rising to the mid 80’s over the weekend – so y’all figure it out. Check www.weather.gov – enter Aspendell, CA, in the search field and scroll down a bit – I used this website for the first forecast – we’ll see which one is closer.

If you’re planning on spent July 4th in Bishop, check out the spectacular fireworks show sponsored by the Bishop Fire Department on July 4 @ 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm at the Bishop Airport on East Line St.  Bring your barbecue, coolers, and shade. After sundown, watch the night sky show. Contact 760-873-5863 for info.

July 21 - July 22 - The 2nd Annual Eastern Sierra Music Festival benefits the National Wounded Warrior Center in addition to offering two days of nonstop music, vendors, RV camping, and cameraderie in the eastern Sierra. Check out http://www.wwmusicfest.org/ for more info!

Important stuff that just stays in the report for a bit:

ALWAYS BRING A JACKET TO THE LAKE!

Watch out for Deer – especially during dawn and dusk.

The Lake had been low due to a concern for flooding in the Valley. The Powers-to-Be are trying to spread the water over the valley floor to replenish the aquifer and to minimize flooding when the run-off really gets going. Remember, too, we are a reservoir - we always start low in the spring as SCE uses water during the winter to produce electricity thru their hydro-plants and there is only snow falling. As we warm up, the run-off begins and the Lake starts to fill. We are usually at capacity at the beginning of July and stay at capacity during August. Once the run-off winds down, the Lake level starts to lower - and the water cycle of the Lake begins again. Hope this gives some insight on why there is so little water in the Lake. 😀

If you catch a big fish or a limit just to have your picture taken for the webpage and then try and give your fish away – we won’t post your picture, but then again we may post it as ‘WASTER OF A PERFECTLY GOOD FISH TO EAT’! Crimp down your barbs, take a picture on the boat and release it for another day.

If you’re hiking stay safe out there. Remember to leave a note about your destination and approximate return time and a clothing description. And you might want to hike with a buddy!

When using the bug juice, try not to get it on your hands – you’ll transfer it to your bait and the fish just don’t like bug juice or sunscreen or lotion or cologne or perfume. Wash your hands in the stream or Lake to get it off, and then use some fish attractant on your hands.

Make sure you wear some kind of sun protection – the sun and reflection off the water will do a number on your skin and eyeballs!

Some new faces with us this year.

Safe travels.

Juanita, Rick, Patti, Len, Ginny, Dwayne, Jamin & Wade