Eastern Sierra Potential

May 27, 2026

This week we spent four days in the Eastern Sierras in the Inyo National Forest fishing several creeks in the Bishop and Lone Pine areas.  We camped at the NFS grounds on Bishop Creek.  The weather was ideal, mid 30’s at night and mostly sunny during the day with some light afternoon mountain showers.  The upper ranges were all holding snow and flows were good, however with full sun they flows trended up as expected and made some creeks tough to fish, as did the Memorial Day weekend crowds as we drew closer to the weekend.

We “found” a pool right off the bat loaded with stocker fish and warmed up on the dry dropper.  Being our first trip of the year, we had ring rust that needed ironed out.  And with about 30 fish on that stretch for the three of us, we got that ironed out in fast fashion.

I was grateful to have my son home from VMI for a few weeks between his college and Army commitments. When he was younger, we spent countless days fishing and hunting on our boat and anywhere else we could go. We are in a rare sweet spot now, before he begins his career and fully steps into his own life. Having been retired for just over a year, and with him still able to spend time in the woods and on the water, I know these long, frequent trips will become harder to make. Bill joined us as well, and I cannot say enough about his deep knowledge of Sierra fishing or how generously he shared it.

The evenings found us enjoying a few fresh ones from the local creeks over a Red Oak fire.  Oak has that long, steady, warm feel that makes for an inviting circle that tends to go later than it would otherwise.  We recounted tangles in the brush line, lost potential and planned the next day.  This naturally was accompanied by a decent fifth of Joseph Magnus.  This was the perfect accompaniment to the fire pit, matching perfectly with our evening. This is an entire post to itself, but it was a superb drinker at around $100 a bottle for the small batch straight.  

Day two we went up the creek to some run outs and pools.  Browns were the goal and we did notice a decent amount of Caddis coming off in the AM.  This spot had plenty of traffic and the fish behaved as such, hard to get.  The great spots we could walk to, always seemed to have abysmal cover and over growth.  Nothing came easy in the AM and warm socks were a must at 9,000 feet.  The water was in the low 50’s.  We hit the local saloon and grill for burgers, then made more rounds for a few more Browns.

In the waning light we started down.  This is when the Caddis came off full speed as we drove down the road.  Bill ran down the life cycle for the benefit of my son and me.  Many spots on the road held dozens to a hundred in the dark.  We wrapped up with another fire and meal.

We broke camp and headed south on the 395 stopping at a creek on the eastern slope a bit south.  Memorial Day weekend is essentially opening day for campers and families in the Sierras.  People were out enjoying the NF as they should be, but this made for tough fishing in the small creek with a lot of hikers and campers enjoying the area.  We scratched up a few Browns and drove home. 

Thank you to everyone who puts their name on a list to defend and serve this country.  Over the weekend, many calls were exchanged in remembrance of a few we lost.  It is a time of gratitude and reflection, and we are truly fortunate.

Cheers.