Up The 395: August At The East Walker

Up The 395: August At The East Walker

Written by Paul S.

Near The Lower Owens In August Well, I hadn't been up the 395 in a long time. In fact, it had probably been 15 years since I had let that much time go between visits. My Trip to Montana with my father just whetted my appetite for trophy trout so I set aside two long weekends in August to spend on the East Walker. Since it had been so long since I'd taken that drive, my new favorite fly shop hadn't opened yet. The Sierra Trout Magnet Fly Shop in Bishop is now one of my stops every time I pass through Bishop.

So, within a week of returning from Montana, I set up my tying bench and got to work. The first weekend in August worked into my schedule so I packed up and hit the road mid morning. Now, for me Bishop is about a 4 hour jaunt. Add another 90 minutes if I'm going all the way to Bridgeport. So, what I do now is have a couple of audiobooks in the iphone and plenty of tunes on the ipod (Yup, I use both). I actually love the down time. About the time I'm heading through the town of Mojave, I feel my self mentally decompressing.

Sierra Trout Magnet Fly Shop and Guide Service

In Bishop I stopped for gas and supplies. My last stop before continuing to Bridgeport was The Sierra Trout Magnet Fly Shop and Guide Service. The shop is owned by David D’Beaupre who opened it in August of last year. He also has been guiding the Eastern Sierra for the last 5 years. I had known Dave vicariously through some of his posts on some other forums I sometimes frequent. Dave's good guy and gave me some great tips. He sold me a pair of forceps that act as a clamp and scissor combo - awesome! Check out his shop. You'll find the shop at 2272 North Sierra Hwy, Bishop, CA 93514 (760) 873-0010 and at www.sierratroutmagnet.com

I fished the East Walker all day Saturday and Sunday. I was going to do a half day on Monday, but I didn't need to (I knew I'd be coming back soon). I have to say it was probably one of the best weekends I'd ever had. Plenty of fish all day with some slow times in the middle of the day. But, I switched out flies often and did well. The dry flies were killing them too. I got back late Sunday night and slept like a baby.

Dave D'Beaupre the Sierra Trout Magnet So over the the next couple of weeks I tied more flies to replenish my boxes and dreamed of big browns. On Friday I got to Bishop around 4pm. Dave was in his store so we chatted for a bit. I picked up a few more flies (I love those parachute caddis) then headed North. Once I got to the East Walker I strung up my rod and practically ran to the water before I realized I was still in my flip flops. It was then that another angler informed my of the algae bloom that started not 30 minutes before my arrival. It was bad. Normal casting, regardless of nymph or dry flies, coated the flies with a green gunk. The fishing had shut down. I tried again in the morning, but the story was the same. I took a couple on grasshoppers, but the algae just made it ugly. I decided to head to Hot Creek. There the wind was howling. So, I shortened my weekend even more and came home. To be honest, the drive was the best part, and worth every minute of the 12 hours I spent going back and forth. Well, There's always the fall.