The Underground’s SoCal Saltwater Correspondent Fly Fishes Crowley

[ED: The Trout Underground’s Saltwater Correspondent and Director of Sitting on Floating Objects Jim Troyer spent a few days at Crowley Lake (near Mammoth), and sent us this report — presumably leaving out all the really good stuff, which we’ll discuss privately.]

The trout run big and pretty at Crowley. (photo Jim Troyer)

JIM TROYER — I normally don’t drive through the desert, especially in the middle of August in the daylight but I was ” foaming at the mouth” to fish some midges! Even when the temp was pushing 100 degrees, my mind was in ” fishing mode .”
It had been almost a year since I touched my trout rods so after reading recent reports, I loaded up the sticks and scraped the salt off the yak, packed the tube, and blew out of town — headed right or Crowley.

The Troyer Trout Assault Vehicle (photo Jim Troyer)

Most everyone was fishing the north end around the Green Banks area including the local guide boats. The days would start out slow with the ” bite ” not going until 10 am or so. As the sun warmed up the water, the bugs got moving. Most of the boats would sit out in 7-10′ of water early and then move in shallow as the morning progressed.

It took me a little bit to shake the ” rust ” off my midging but once I had it dialed in….game on! I had some amazing action the first couple days with fish averaging 14-17″ with a “toad” that I stuck in water no less than 3′ deep.

In the early afternoon, I anchored up next to a couple boats that were fishing a real shallow area off the weed. We were all catching fish, nothing real big but fun fish all the same. I had just re-rigged my set up, cast out and watched the indicator. A few minutes went by and then ” plop “, the indi goes down fast and I set the hook and we were off!

The fish just starts rippin’ line as it spins me around in the Yak and starts heading for deeper water. I kept good pressure on it and luckily was able to turn it back towards the Yak. Slowly I was able to see it and what a beautiful fish it was.

I very carefully slid it into the net and lifted it onto the Yak to take a quick picture before the release. It was in the 23-24″ range and at least 6 lbs. As I grabbed the tail to lift it out, it flipped up and over the Yak in to the water and was gone. The bottom fly was gone and so was Mr. Fish….

The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time I was there. The wind, which is usually a factor, never really blew hard until the last day ( Friday ). Most days were calm, with a slight breeze that would come and go.

When the action slowed, I would cast out and ” pop ” the indicator every so often and use a slow twitch and pull which would bring life to the flies and in turn I would get some violent takes.

Later in the week, there were a bunch of guys stripping streamers and doing o.k. I saw a few guys getting ” slammed ” trolling flies and heard of some 21-23″ fish coming on the strip.

Overall, it was still a Midge game but as summer comes to a close and the weeds die off and the water cools, those big fish are going to be gearing up for the winter and the big streamers will be the ticket.

Midges everywhere! (photo Jim Troyer)

My friend Jim from Santa Clarita came up on Thurs. to fish with me and had a great time. The fishing couldn’t have been better with lots of the ” standard ” fish to the net. Jim had three big fish break him off on Thurs. and one late in the day on Friday.

The fish were real spread out in the north end with certain areas producing better at different times. You would have to basically anchor up and wait for the fish to move in and out.

The trolling and stripping in the tubes paid off but a lot of kicking and moving was the norm.

The flies ( Midges) were pretty much the standard Crowley stuff with variations thrown in. I took stomach samples through out my stay and by far the main color was Grey body/Black rib and Black body/Red rib. Bead colors changed with the time of day. In the early morning, I was fishing a White bead w/ black body and red rib and doing well.

As the sun was more over head and brighter, I switched to the standard Zebra midge with a copper bead and still stuck some fish. My upper fly of choice was a Grey body/black rib and a clear bead. This fly really came on when the fish were taking the pupa.

I didn’t hear much about McGee Bay but did paddle down to the Six Bays area for a look. I metered a few fish but nothing to hang out and shoot for.

I camped up on the hill down by launch area at Green Banks. The Midges were THICK and at times I had difficulty getting in and out of the truck what with the “black clouds ” that would engulf you at moments notice!

I would go to sleep at night with the ” humming ” just outside the window and end up sleeping with a few of the ” locals ” that got in before the hatch shut. The nights were clear and warm. The stars were so bright, it woke me up a on a few occasions.

There is something about Crowley that keeps drawing me back. Maybe it’s the amazing fishing, or the scenery, or the vibe I get when I start driving down the wash board roads to the lake, I don’t know. All I do know is that if you’ve never been, you might want to check it out the next time you’re up in the Mammoth area.

Sunrise, Crowley (photo Jim Troyer)

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