Well folks, it's about that time. In just 10 short days is the General Trout Season Opener for the Eastern Sierra, or as some say "Fishmas", will be upon us. We still have a few weeks before Parchers & South Lake open (May 17th to be exact) but with the anticipation building for the season, we thought it time to release our first fish report of the season....so here it goes.

Check out the photos attached to see what each fishing area looks like right now.

Bishop Creek: The snow is mostly gone below the 9000ft level and above that there are patches here and there but access should be MUCH improved over last year, even with the recent batch of snow we received last weekend. Creek flows are mild which should mean very fishable stream throughout the canyon for opening weekend. If the DFG does their usual opening week stocking, this should be a doosey of an opener for the creek anglers out there.

South Lake: The lake is still frozen solid as of yesterday afternoon with at least 12" or so of ice covering the lake surface. Ice conditions change very rapidly and with a near summer-like week of warm weather headed our way, the ice may or may not stick around. Anglers hoping to fish South Lake on opener should use extreme caution making sure to stay away from any dark ice and be careful approaching the lake from shore as the icy banks are sketchy to say the least. With a ton of holdover fish from 2011, including some monster trophy trout that were often seen but not caught last year, we're expecting some spectacular action to start off the season. The lake level is much higher than normal for this time of year which will make the hike to the lake easier, although ice conditions may limit access...time will tell. The road is open and accessible all the way to the lake again this year.

North Lake/Lake Sabrina: No updates on the road to North Lake, that's a 50/50 situation as far as we know. We've heard that there is some open water over at Sabrina which makes the ice fishing probability very low for opener. Keep an eye on their website for any updates with regard to conditions over there.

So there it is...first report of the season. Look for our once weekly reports on our website or on our Facebook from now through October.

Sierrally,
Jared, Judy & Steve Smith and the rest of the Parchers Resort gang.