POLE POSITION; TROUT OPENER EXPECTED TO BE BEST IN YEARS.

Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Sports Editor 

MAMMOTH LAKES - No more waiting. Finally, it is next year.

It is the year you dreamed of when the wind was so cold it sliced through your heaviest jacket. It is the year you dreamed of as you sat miserably in the rain and wondered why you drove five hours and left work early. It is the year you dreamed of when checking your bait became the highlight of every hour.

This is the year.

Saturday's Eastern Sierra trout opener is widely expected to be the best in a decade or two. Only the sorriest, dorkiest or most unlucky anglers will fail to catch their five-fish limits - you know, the same kind of guy who's the only one in the office not to get in on that winning $20 million Lotto ticket.

``The opener,'' said Gary Hooper of Rick's Sporting Goods, an angling landmark here off the main drag in Mammoth Village, ``is going to be killer.''

Rick's will be open all night Friday (and offering a $1 spooling special) and early Saturday for good reason: Last year, an estimated 50,000 anglers from the San Fernando Valley and surrounding area fished the opener.

Most make the 300-mile drive after work on Friday (a fact that has not slipped past the CHP), sleep for an hour or two and wake before dawn for a shot at catching a fish that costs a buck-fifty at your local supermarket.

That, of course, misses the point. The trout opener is a tradition for many L.A. families. For some, it's their only significant outdoors experience of the year.

On Wednesday afternoon, the waters of June Lake were mirror-like, reflecting the snow-capped mountains that surround it.

And even those who receive speeding tickets should be smiling on Saturday as a rare combination of weather conditions has created an ideal trout-fishing weekend.

There is mild, spring weather in the Eastern Sierra - daytime temperatures have routinely reached into the 80s in Bishop - yet a tremendous amount of water is available for the region's lakes and streams.

The winter started late and ended early but was unusually intense. As a result, the snowpack is 120 to 175 percent of normal. There is plenty of water, little ice and, as a bonus, early wildflower blooms.

Most important to anglers, the Department of Fish and Game has had far more time to plant waterways with trout, and they took advantage.

``To be honest with you,'' said John Frederickson of June Lake,``it's going to be a very easy opener.''

The DFG has planted 1.1 million catchable trout in Mono County waters and nearly 500,000 in Inyo County. In Crowley Lake alone, the DFG has planted 450,000 trout, including 50,000 browns.

And those figures don't include fish planted by various area chambers of commerce to spice things up. They plant mostly bigger, trophy-sized fish, including many of the famed Alpers trout.

Because the region's lakes have been ice-free for so long, the fish have been feeding longer. The DFG is expecting fish to be 20 percent bigger than normal.

``Significantly bigger,'' is how DFG biologist Curtis Milliron put it.

The forecast calls for clear skies with strong winds today and Friday. As usual, there will be a brief fireworks show over Crowley Lake to mark the season's official opening, one hour before sunrise.

Anglers need to be especially careful if they run into ice at the higher elevations. Many of the lakes that are normally frozen over at this time of the year are not. Do not be deceived by a lake's thin ice sheet.

Fishing licenses cost $28.10 this year, an increase of $1.05. A second- rod stamp, valid in lakes, costs $9.20.

``The grass is green,'' said Mickey Frederickson, John's wife, ``and the fish are jumping.''

WHEN IN DOUBT, STAY OUT

To each his own.

The opening of trout season draws thousands to the Eastern Sierra each year. Many of these anglers are relatively inexperienced, fishing perhaps only this weekend of the year.

Like anything else, fishing has its etiquette. And perhaps the most violated rule, on this weekend in particular, is encroaching on an angler's fishing space.

A person's fishing zone is the space to which he or she can cast on all sides.

It's common to see those who are successfully catching fish to be besieged by clueless anglers who aren't.

Unless invited, stay out of a person's fishing zone.

``Everybody should be able to catch their own fish,'' said one veteran angler, Craig Stockton of Simi Valley.

``If you get there first, you're entitled to fish that spot. When someone encroaches on your space, it turns a good day in the outdoors into a bad day in a hurry.''

- Michael A. Anastasi

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) A fly fisherman casts a floating pattern on the Upper Owens river just above Crowley. The trout opener is expected to be the best in years at Crowley Lake and sites throughout California.

(2) Snow-capped peaks were visible at Grant Lake on opening day last year. This year, anglers might be too busy catching fish to notice the scenery.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Box: WHEN IN DOUBT, STAY OUT (see text)