Now some GREAT news! We got our stocking from Desert Spring Trout Farm out of Oregon on Wednesday and Wright’s Rainbow from Idaho passed their tests and we’re being put on their schedule for a delivery of trout soon. It’s been pretty darn warm up here at the Lake and those fish have gone deep. We’re also a bit on the smokey side up here although we had some thunderboomers and rain in over the weekend and that cleaned things up a bit, but depending on the direction of the breezes it can come back very quickly.  

We’ve only had one large trout come out (that we know of) and that was by Rich Simons – tried to get a picture of it – but operator or camera error prohibited that – anyway it was a 5-1/2 pounder caught on a NightCrawler and confirmed by Dwayne our employee. It’s mostly bait that are pick up some fish, but the fish that are being caught are pretty nice looking. Not hearing much about lures right now, but you never know that could change in a heartbeat.

The Eagles are still putting on shows at the back of the Lake, so if you’re not catching fish, don’t forget to look up and listen very carefully, you just might hear some little eaglets – yup we have babies!  We’ve heard of a couple of mountain lions roaming thru Aspendell so head’s up – watch your loved one included the 4-legged furry ones!

The Auxiliary Spillway crew took Thursday and Friday off from our project to work on another, but before they left they put in some foundation footings. Forest Service has notified us that the middle of the parking lot will be closed periodically on some Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to allow the cement mixer to get in and be able to turn around and get in position to pump concrete across the dam to the auxiliary spillway. Fun Times!!!

In regards to smoke – Mammoth Times had a great response:

  We are getting a lot of questions every day here about smoke: "How much is there, Where is it, Can I, Should I, come up to the Eastern Sierra?" 

The simple answer is... there is smoke here. Often, there is a lot. Not much of it is from local fires (at this time), but instead, it is from the huge fires in the Bay Area, in the Santa Cruz area, in Southern California. 

 Sometimes it is a lot of smoke, so thick you do not want to be outside. Sometimes it is almost clear for a few hours or even most of a day, in certain places, at certain times of the day, and then, in a wink of an eye, it can be thick again. 

 For example, this morning, Aug. 24, Monday, the Owens Valley was terrible with smoke and Mammoth was doing ok; hazy but not terrible. Then, a few hours later, (and right now), the smoke became pretty thick in town and we can hardly see the top of Mammoth Mountain from the office window a mile away.

 The issue we are dealing with and the reason it is hard to answer your questions is this: it all changes so fast. 

 It changes when the wind shifts; it changes when the morning inversion patterns, which trap the smoke in the cold valley areas overnight, shift to mid-day patterns and begin to allow the smoke to move up the mountain slopes to higher elevations; it changes when the wind shifts from southeast to south west to northwest to north to south to... 

 At times, it is totally gone and for a short time, you can forget how much smoke is blanketing the state in many areas. At other times, it has a mixed impact; the smoke is high in the air, throwing a blanket of gray over us, but you cannot even smell it and you are simply hanging out under the gray blanket but not really feeling it.

It's been that kind of week; so variable we do not have a good answer for you. 

But that said, the bottom line is there is a serious amount of smoke in the air coming at the Eastern Sierra from every direction. This smoke is coming from three of the biggest fires in the state's history and they are, as the crow flies, only 50-100 miles from us. They are still growing fast, they are barely contained at this time, and the forecast is for more dry lightning and gusty winds in the next few days. 

 So, this is not going away soon. If you are coming to the Eastern Sierra to hike, backpack, camp, etc., please know you will be dealing with smoke into the foreseeable future. Do not come here expecting blue skies and clear air. That might happen but if it does, it will likely be icing on the cake, not the norm for your trip. You will not get those endless blue skies until something big changes in the weather or the fires get more controlled at the state level. 

So, plan ahead. Watch the news and road conditions. Call ahead. Especially, you should think this out even more seriously if you are planning a long trip through the Sierra backcountry, such as multiple days on the JMT and/or the PCT, climbing 10,000 to 13,000-foot passes on a daily or weekly basis. Hiking in this stuff for even a few days could leave you sick, or worse, with longer-term impacts to your lungs and respiratory system. 

 Just... be aware this is not an ideal situation and that we are not a complete escape from the rest of the state's woes. We wish we were. But we are not. 

 Take care and be safe. MT

Bishop has brought back DRIVE-IN movies at the Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgrounds. Every Friday and Saturday evenings, the gate opens at 7:00pm and the show starts at 8:30pm. Food trucks are out at the Fairgrounds and the Bishop Theater is providing their GREAT popcorn along with other delicious candy snacks. Come out and support the Fairgrounds, the Bishop Theater and the Food trucks! Good times!

It’s quieting down during the week with kids going back to school although some are still looking for wi-fi so their kids or they can still go to school or work and not from home. Fridays and Saturdays are still quite busy.  

THIS COMMENT IS STAYING PUT:

Pooping around the Lake has become another problem – please stay at least 200 feet from the Lake, Inlets, Creeks or Trail and bury your TP – it’s getting disgusting out there. Better yet – get a wag bag and pack it out!

Fishing etiquette is once again becoming a bit of a problem at the Lake and we don’t like problems. If you come upon someone fishing, please don’t fish right next to them – take a bit of hike farther down and don’t cast over into their spot. Same at the Inlet, there are so many areas to fish on this Lake go find another ‘soon to be’ favorite spot. This is also an addition by one of our customers - “If you have your boat pulled all the way into the Inlet and are hogging the whole inlet how about leaving after everyone in your boat has caught 5 to 10 fish so that others can have a chance. The inlets aren't as big as last year due to the reduced water flow and when you hog the whole inlet for 3 hours while everyone in the boat catches MORE than their limit its pretty rude. We all know that there is a whole big wide lake out there and lots of room but when people are being polite and waiting for inlet access it’s pretty rude to hog it for the whole afternoon.”

Also, DON’T FORGET TO PICK-UP YOUR TRASH!!!

 Here is the forecast for the week from www.weather.gov – looks like you best pack your rain gear as ThunderBoomers are in the forecast (enter Aspendell, CA in the search and scroll down to see the temps).