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I may have a chance to get to the Gold Lakes Basin in a couple of weeks. I am familiar with some of the "drive-to" lakes, but don't know much about the day hiking/fishing opportunities. Is Jamison Lake worth fishing? I have heard that Big Bear, Little Bear and Cub eradicated the fish because of the yellow frog. But I don't know if this is true or not. Does any know? Thank you.
Panther,
There is still tons of snow up there. Getting to any of the hike-in lakes probably won't be possible until early July. I've fished most of the hike-to lakes in the basin. Been a few years, but Jamison was OK for rainbows to 12". Nearby Rock Lk had some good sized brookies. Grass Lk supposedly has nice browns, but I never saw any. It's very weedy. Wades Lk had smallish rainbows. Big Bear Lake was aerial planted in 2022 according to the DFW website. So it should be pretty good for 10"ers. Next year will be better. If you look at the website, it tells you where plants occur. However, many lakes up there have self-sustaining populations of fish, or fish that are holdovers from previous plants. Here's the link: https://apps.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/
I have run into some very nice fish in a couple that aren't listed on that plant list. And the good thing is, once the fish are in the lake for a while, they don't look like the ugly planters you see on the internet. The ones with no tails or fins.
As for the snow, here's a good website to see what you're looking at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...rd1045012.html
Definitely bring a float tube to greatly up your chances of a good day. Some lakes are tough to impossible to fish from shore.
~Jeff
Jeff,
Thanks so much! That's tremendous information and really helps me. I greatly appreciate that you took the time to respond in such detail. Because of the snow, I guess it will be too early in the season to hike, but I am really excited that Big Bear has been planted. I had known nothing about this. Once again, thanks so much.
Panther