WHAT BECAME OF THE MAIN STRAIN?

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

MAMMOTH LAKES - Department of Fish and Game hatchery personnel expected the Kamloop strain of rainbow trout to be the main bite during last weekend's Eastern Sierra trout opener.

But at Crowley Lake, the largest lake in the region and located between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, it wasn't the Kamloop strain that took bait from approximately 9,000 anglers on the lake. Instead, it was the Coleman Junction strain, followed by the Coleman rainbow, Eagle Lake and wild trout.

``There was some uniqueness to the opener,'' DFG hatchery supervisor Mike Haynie said.

Generally, Haynie said, the Kamloops are caught on opening day, mostly by shore anglers. The Colemans are also frequent opening-day meals but are caught mostly by boaters. The Eagle Lake bite generally turns on later in the season.

But the 1999-2000 winter apparently changed the way the fish were caught on Saturday and Sunday. Crowley, at roughly 7,000 feet, never froze over and the fish had a full-out feeding blitz before last weekend's opener, which resulted in larger-sized catches, Haynie said. The Crowley angler's fish averaged about 1.02 pounds, compared to the normal size of three-quarter pounds.

``The Kamloops were generally not in the lake,'' Haynie said. ``They were in the Owens River, up to Benton Crossing and the mouth of the lake, spawning. What was left were the Colemans and they feed differently.

``The anglers fishing the Owens and from Benton Crossing to the lake were doing exceptionally well. So were those at McGee Creek and (the wild trout section of) Hot Creek.''

Haynie said it took anglers a little longer to figure the Crowley fishing pattern. Instead of three hours to reach the five-fish limit, it was taking six or seven.

``(Anglers) were coming in a little later,'' he said. ``It was just taking time for anglers to adapt to the lake's conditions.''

Haynie and Rick Teasdale of the Crowley Fish Camp both said that with ideal fishing conditions - there was little wind, the skies were cloudless and temperatures in the 70s - it was an excellent weekend.

``I think the water temperature had a lot to do with the way the fish were biting,'' Teasdale said. ``The fish went deeper.''

At Whiskey Creek, a popular arm of the lake, it was wall-to-wall with anglers Saturday morning. But later in the day - usually after anglers have had trout for lunch - the area was nearly devoid of fishermen, who were finally able to cast without worrying about another's line. But their take was about the same as the morning one: lucky to get one or two fish.

--Bear facts: The best catching of the week was made by a poacher, and not the human kind.

A bear entered the DFG fish-growing pond at Junction Reservoir, located near Lake Kerwin in the Bridgeport area, and helped himself to fish last week.

``He ate quite a lot of fish,'' Haynie said.

The DFG now has a camper on the lake in case the bear is ready to snack again.

But it's not the only poacher problem in the area. At nearby lower Twin Lakes, river otters are eating fish.

--Gas up: The price of gas lags behind what L.A. area residents are paying.

In Mammoth Lakes, unleaded went for $1.95 a gallon. In Bishop, the prices were $1.85 for unleaded on Saturday and Sunday but could be found for $1.77 on Monday.

--Training table: In Bishop, the trout opening-eve food of choice was apparently a banana split from Baskin-Robbins.

Richard Hoffman, owner of the Bishop store, said the Friday night before the opener is his biggest selling night, with anglers going bananas for his splits.

ONES THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY

Here's a list of some of the larger fish caught by area anglers on opening day of the Eastern Sierra trout season:

City Weight Jerry Repiequet Winnetka 7.15

North shore of Convict Lake with Captain America Power Bait

Richard Alexander Moorpark 4.0

Convict Lake inlet with Power Bait

Andrew Kilsheimer Sylmar 4.15

Crowley Lake's Sandy Point with a broken Rapala

Nick Trigueiro Palmdale 9.0

Rush Creek

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