Time for Crowley lake now

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Had some Crowley Lake regulars in today.

They are headed down there now.

They said August and September where tops.

Most fish in float tubes or pontoon boats in McGee Bay where the stream flows in and cools the lake. It's all pretty shallow.

They use woolly buggers on a sinking line or midges under an indicator.

Crowley Cam for the Trout Fitter's web site:

http://thetroutfly.com/crowleycam.html

[JAWallace]

Five of us fished Crowley August 17 and 18. Two of us were experienced Crowley fishermen and took all but 3 of the 40 we netted in those two days. Not red hot, but certainly worth the trip.

Against the advice of the local fly shop, we fished McGee bay and found most of the guide boats migrating over there by 10 am or so. We got 3 Browns, and the rest Eagle Lake, a few Kamloops, and some DFG generics, all 12" - 17" which is small for Crowley. Normally we expect to get several fish in the 18" - 22" range; above that is a real bonus and not usual.

Fish early. Early means starting around 7 am, as the winds come up around 12:30 PM and by 2 everyone is off the lake.

There are 2 ways to fish Crowley. The first is trolling with a wooley bugger and a #18 buggy point fly like a Prince, and the other is indicator fishing where you have 2 midges rigged about 15" apart and a few inches off the bottom. ALL the guide boats use indicators only, and we found about 75% of our fish came from that method.

3x tippet is the rule. The fish are not leader shy and can be very hot.

The biggest drawback to fishing Crowley, especially at McGee Bay, is the access. There is a miserable 60-100 yard trek through mud and cow manure and with thin air it is an effort. My Hobie FloatCat is now motorized and as such eliminated the long kick to and from the good fishing grounds, but the portage was tough for the 65# craft.

We have been fishing Crowley for 17 years. Previously we would see 15-20 cars parked above the lake, but this weekend we were the only ones both days and the only float tubes on the water. Many people are now using boats due to the access problems and the ability to move around to the 3 major fishing spots on the lake.

You don't need a guide there, but that or a boat (rentals available) would not be a bad investment for the first trip. Sierra Drifters is the big steer there, but they all go to the same places. Just look for the guide boats and you're at the right place.

Crowley is arguably the best trout lake in California and everyone should make that trip. The 395 region from Bridgeport to south of Mammoth Lakes has fabulous water and quality plants from DFG, the counties, and some private clubs.

[Nick B]

Good report LC. How was the water level when you were there? I thought Crowley was subject to massive amounts of float tubes as well, a little change isnt bad though.

[DonCooksey]

Just returned from fishing Crowley Lake yesterday (8/21). Had a blast with rainbows like this one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/DonCooksey/IMGP0725.jpg

We had about equal numbers on midges under indicators or by stripping "punk perch" flies with fast or intermediate sink-tip lines. The Sacramento perch fry are small at this time, so the little (3/4-inch) punk perch pattern seems to work better than larger patterns that are effective later in the fall (Matukas, etc.). I could not find the punk perch pattern on the internet, so I bought a few of them at the Crowley Lake tackle shop. Anyone know the pattern? They really work!

We ended up renting a boat from the tackle shop, largely since I was there in my passenger car and not able to tackle the "roads" leading to the various bays for put in with a tube.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have never fished Crowley but have talked to many who have and they report that those fish hit woolly buggers and streamers very hard.

Thanks for the wonderful reports guys.

I guess it just gets better into September.