Winter snuck in with 2 days of wind and leaving about 4" of snow to make traveling the Virginia Lakes Road icy and treacherous for those with bad tires or even worse, "bad" driving skills. Park Service closed both Sonora and Tioga passes for a couple days but they are now open and ready for traveling to your favorite fishing spot.

Virginia Lakes has continued to thrive among the best "spots" for catching during this fall color change. The winds have blown the more exposed aspens into Nevada, but the valley areas remain to give everyone a full glow of color for the next week or so. This will not last long, but the snow is an added bonus for contrast, if you are a photo buff.

Fishing has been no less than terrific, but stop in and ask what the trout are hitting. Little Virginia got the very first load of brown trout ever raised on Conway Ranch by IAG (Inland Aquaculture Group) also known as Tim Alpers. DFG also put in about 600 pounds of trout including his regular "Alpers" beauties. The lakes are loaded with wonderful surprises, so don't miss the opportunity to get into some great action. The weather started to warm up again today, and the long range forecast looks good through about the 20th of the month.

Salmon eggs, power worms, salmon peach power bait and inflated crawlers will get you into fish. For the fly boys, try some black Matukas, black wooly buggers with flash, and even dark rust with a bead head. Ever hear of a Liberace, look it up and get some, it's a good choice for this week.