Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Fishing season opens this weekend: The fish are jumping!

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Erik Lyon, 2013 Project Specialist.

Looking to land the big one? Or just looking for another big fish tale? As spring’s rejuvenating sunshine melts the ice in the Eastern Sierra’s many beautiful alpine lakes, another great fishing season begins this Saturday, April 27. Mono County’s lakes and reservoirs are fully stocked with Alpers Trout from our neighbors at Conway Ranch, located just north of Mono Lake.

Upper Rush Creek between Silver Lake and Grant Lake Reservoir is a great place to fish. Photo by Elin Ljung.

Angling has long held a special place in our hearts here at the Mono Lake Committee. In 1984, long after the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) diverted four of Mono Lake’s tributaries to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a local fly fisherman from the Mammoth Flyrodders fishing club found something surprising: rainbow and brown trout in the lower reaches of Rush Creek. A series of wet years in the early 1980’s had washed the fish over Grant Lake Reservoir’s spillway, and sustained a resident population. He quickly reported his finding to a Fish & Game warden who told him that the spillway was due to be shut off within the month.

Dismayed, the flyrodder brought the news to California Trout, an organization whose mission is to protect populations of wild trout throughout California, and is well-versed in California Fish & Game codes. They knew that if DWP let Rush Creek go dry again, they would be in direct violation of Fish & Game code section 5937, which requires dam owners to release enough water to maintain fish populations found below their dams. CalTrout and the Flyrodders brought the case against DWP. A swift injunction required DWP to continue releasing water until the matter was resolved, keeping water in Rush Creek for the fish—and flowing into Mono Lake.

As the lawsuit evolved over the following years, the focus shifted from the codes themselves to the fish and their streams as public trust resources, in addition to Mono Lake. In the beginning, however, the anglers played a critical role in keeping water flowing in the creeks and into Mono Lake. So come on down to Mono County and celebrate the history of fishing in Mono Lake’s protection by landing that big one!

More information can be found at Mono County’s fishing web page.