TOUGH TREK, TONS OF TROUT; KIRMAN LAKE IS WORTH THE TROUBLE.

Byline: Dave Strege Orange County Register

The hike to Kirman Lake is breathtaking, not so much for the scenery, resplendent as it is, but for the steep climb near the end of the 2-3/4-mile road.

Huffing and puffing, you wonder whether this one-hour trek with a float-tube strapped to your back is worth the effort.

If it is cold and raining, like it was three weekends ago, you also wonder if it is worth the bother to battle the elements.

All this to catch the beefy brook trout Kirman Lake is famous for?

Without uttering a word, an angler from Northern California provided the answer. Sitting in his float-tube, he seemed oblivious that he was visibly shivering. ``Cold, what cold?''

What's a little hypothermia when the brook trout are in a wide-open bite?

A first-timer at Kirman, the fly-fisherman was catching and releasing 2-pound brook trout as if he were fishing a hatchery. For this, Kirman Lake is worth the walk and braving the elements.

A little sacrifice is needed to experience a piece of the action at this tiny, backcountry fishery situated at 7,176 feet elevation that was named after a Reno, Nev., banker who owned a large parcel of nearby land around 1870.

If you are lucky, you will be there when it's on. During those times, catching and releasing 25 to 30 or more brook trout in a day is not uncommon for the experienced angler.

``I'd say the majority of people go there and struggle to catch one or two,'' said Harry Blackburn, 35, a Mammoth Lakes fly-fishing guide. ``After you've gone there enough times and gained some knowledge from fishing it, I don't think it's that difficult when it's good.

``If somebody goes up there and catches a couple of fish, it's definitely going to stick in their memory bank as to how well they fought and the size of fish. They're kind of a bulldog fish; they give you some good battles.''

Particularly if you hook into one of the lake's 3- or 4-pound bruisers. Rick Rockel, manager of Ken's Sporting Goods here, described them as footballs with fins.

The growth rate and size of fish, explained by a never-ending food source, make Kirman Lake unique. ``The fish in Kirman gorge themselves on shrimp, which is like us dining on lobster every night,'' Blackburn said.

Stare at the water and you can see thousands of the tiny freshwater shrimp, also known as scuds. No wonder the flashback and gray-olive scuds are flies that work best at Kirman.

This fine-dining experience is the reason a fingerling brook trout of 3 inches grows to a plump 16 inches and weighs 2 or more pounds in three years. Rockel said 3-year-old brook trout at Kirman average anywhere from 2 to 3 pounds in any given season. Some become so fat their shape becomes distorted.

Not only are the fish healthy - if that is the proper word for an overeating fish - the population is, too. The Department of Fish and Game and Rockel, a representative of the preservation and education group CalTrout, formulated a plan to maintain the fishery.

Each August at Kirman, the DFG trucks in and stocks 15,000 fingerling brook trout from Tuolumne County's Moccasin Creek Hatchery and 1,000 fingerling Lahontan cutthroat trout from Hot Creek Hatchery east of Mammoth Lakes. This year, the DFG stocked 1,000 sub-catchable cutthroats instead of fingerlings. They were six or seven fish to the pound.

Cutthroats have proven more difficult to catch at Kirman and are less popular, but they can get big, too. An 8-3/4-pound cutthroat was once caught, Rockel said.

Brook trout will push 5 pounds at Kirman. They don't live to grow much bigger.

Studies determined the life span of a brook trout in Kirman is 4 or 4-1/2 years, Rockel said. So rich is the food source, they grow fat and die of heart attacks.

``We don't have triple bypasses for fish yet,'' Rockel quipped.

As the fishery became increasingly popular in the '80s, regulations were established. The DFG and Rockel determined a two-fish, 16-inch minimum size limit would be enough to protect the renewable fishery.

The idea is to harvest the fish before they die of natural causes.

``In the event the fishery starts going backward, we would change the limits,'' Rockel said. ``For catch-and-release purists, the two-fish limit might be offensive, but you can harvest fish and not damage the resource, and the fishing is phenomenal.''

Sometimes, it's almost too good. Or so Blackburn believes.

October is said to be Kirman's best month, when fish migrate en masse to certain areas of the lake to spawn, albeit unsuccessfully.

Blackburn calls it sort of a joke because 50 to 60 fish are moving back and forth in one area while anglers line up in one spot and cast. Clashes between fly and spin anglers can occur, and unethical anglers sometimes intentionally snag fish.

Experts recommend fishing the first two hours of daylight for the best action. This means getting started on the road to Kirman in darkness. Bring a flashlight.

And when you get to the steep incline, remember this: You're almost there.

IF YOU'RE GOING

To get to the Kirman Lake trailhead, drive 17 miles northwest from Bridgeport on Highway 395 and turn left (west) on Highway 108.

Motor another six-tenths of a mile, and, just beyond a cattle guard across the highway, pull off to the left or right and park.

Look to the left (south) for a metal ladder leading over a barbed-wire fence to a dirt road. This is private land that anglers are welcome to cross.

Follow the road 2-3/4 miles to Kirman Lake, passing en route signed Junction Reservoir, a hatchery pond for rearing Kamloops rainbow trout where fishing is forbidden.

Kirman, which often is misspelled on maps as Carmen, is regulated by the Department of Fish and Game. Information: [phone].

From Los Angeles, plan on a six- to seven-hour drive north to Bridgeport along highways 14 and 395.

- Daily News

CAPTION(S):

Map, Box

MAP: Kirman Lake

BOX: IF YOU'RE GOING (see text)

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