Fishing Notes:
Record Browns, Abundant Rainbows Thrive In Twin Lakes
By Dan Bacher

September 1, 1999 Twin Lakes in Mono County near Bridgeport are the home of the largest brown trout found in California, but the abundant, heavily stocked rainbow trout are what most anglers catch here.

Located at 7,000 feet in elevation at the foot of the gorgeous Sawtooth Range of the eastern Sierra Nevada, the lake consists of two lakes, upper and lower Twin, separated by a 150 foot long stream. Danny Stearman captured the California state brown trout record by catching a 26-1/2 pounder in Upper Twin in 1987. John Minami held the previous record of 26 pounds, 6 ounces, caught at Lower Twin Lake in 1983.

"Brown trout fishing is best from opening day until mid-May, when the weather is windy, cold and choppy, or in the fall from mid September until the end of October," said Dan Beltran at LowerTwin Lakes Resort. "You have to study the lake and work it hard to bag the big browns, putting in a lot of hours trolling with Rapalas, Rebels and other lures."

Because the water is so clear, fishing early and late in the day is necessary to bag the big German browns. Putting a lot of line out between the boat and the lure is also advisable for catching these wary leviathans, according to Beltran.

During the heat of the summer, the browns go deep and few big fish are caught. For most anglers throughout the season, rainbow trout are the hottest angling prospect. One of the reasons why rainbow fishing is so good at Twin Lakes - and why the browns reach such large sizes - is because of the heavy plants of trout by the DFG and Mono County at upper and lower Twin. The DFG will be releasing 53,600 rainbows into 265-acre Upper Twin this year and 46,600 catchable rainbows into 391-acre Lower Twin. Mono County also stocks Twin Lakes with Alpers rainbows, the pen-raised trophy trout grown in pens on the Alpers Ranch on the Owens River.

I can attest to the abundance of rainbow trout at Twin Lakes, based on a trip that Tom Mulderrig and I made there prior to Memorial Day weekend. Ken Battson, the co-owner of Lower Twin Lakes Resort, had asked me to cover the first annual Rusty Humphries Trout Derby at the lake on the previous weekend. I couldn't go that weekend, so I decided to fish Lower Twin Lake on May 26 and 27.

After Mulderrig and I checked into our cabin, we walked to the point west of the marina to bank fish with nightcrawlers and Power Bait. Battson had advised me to cast the bait out as far as I could, using a 3 pound test leader on a sliding sinker rig. I followed his advice, and within minutes of casting my bait out, I had a bite.

I set the hook and landed a scrappy 11 inch rainbow. Over the next 1-1/2 hours, I caught my limit of feisty rainbows measuring 10 to 13 inches, while Mulderrig also landed two trout. I had a blast using my light 6 foot "Tony's" custom spinning rod with a Shikari blank.

While we were tossing out bait, Dennis Shea lost a big fish that broke his line as he cast a countdown Rapala off the point. He reported catching and releasing 15 trout while using Power Bait, nightcrawlers and Rapalas during the afternoon and evening. Antonio Gomez of Santa Barbara and Mario Gomez of Rohnert Park also landed their limits of trout while tossing Power Bait from the bank.

On the next morning, we found similar success while fishing an area on the north shore where an old, launch ramp goes into the lake. I quickly caught a limit of rainbows while bait fishing. About 9 a.m., we went up to Mono Village on upper Twin to get a late breakfast. While we were eating breakfast, we heard that six-year-old Jacob Woolsey of Corona had caught a 5 pound, 6 ounce rainbow while trolling a rainbow Rapala with his dad on the south end of Upper Twin.

Although the biggest fish was caught by a troller, fishing at both lakes was better for bank anglers and float tubers than it was boaters. Trollers were finding the top action while using Rapalas, Wooly Buggers and nightcrawlers behind flashers. Paul Gallegos also landed a 13 pound stringer of five rainbows while fishing Super Duper Lures from a float tube.

Before I left the lake, I saw Dan Beltran feed the brown trout that Lower Twin Lakes Resort keeps in several pens. The resort is raising 2,000 German browns to be released when they're 9 to 10 inches long. The pen-rearing program has been in operation since 1968.

In addition, the DFG stocks approximately 1,100 pounds of catchable browns yearly. This year they stocked the fish on May 5, 10, 17 and 24, including some tagged fish. "We've seen 80 of these browns caught since they were planted this year," noted Beltran. However, I didn't see any browns caught on my trip.

The lakes also have a decent self-sustaining kokanee salmon population; the kokanee haven't been planted since the 1960's. "The kokanee are small, averaging 6 to 7 inches in Lower Twin and 9 to 11 inches in Upper Twin," said Ken Rockel of Ken's Sporting Goods in Bridgeport. "The fish were only larger one year, when the fish went up to 17 inches long."

The kokanee normally don't start hitting until mid-June. The bite lasts until mid-September, when the kokanee start spawning. Trollers catch the land locked sockeyes while trolling Wedding Rings, Needlefish, Sockeye Slammers, Kokanee Bugs, Goldeneyes, Cripplures, Koke-A-Nuts and other lures, tipped with corn, behind flashers and dodgers.

Lower Twin Lake also has brook trout now. The Mono Village Fish Enhancement Project planted several hundred pounds of pen-reared brookies in Upper Twin last year, according to Kent Monroe, marina manager. In addition, they also plant pen-reared browns and rainbows throughout the season.

Upper and Lower Twin, although they harbor the same species of fish, are different in character. Lower Twin is the more serene of the two lakes, with no water skiing allowed and a 5 mph speed limit in force. Upper Twin allows water skis and personal watercraft and features a busy lakeside recreational community, "Mono Village."

Lower Twin Lakes Resort features housekeeping cottages, a trailer park, a marina, boat launch, boat rentals, overnight mooring, bait and tackle and a grocery store. Call (760) 932-7751 or fax (760) 932-7121. Annett's Mono Village Fishermen's Resort on Upper Twin has a cafe, market, cabins, RV spaces, campgrounds, motel, rental boats, boat launch, marina and gift shop. Call (760) 932-7071 or Fax (760) 932-7468. Fishing information is also available at Ken's Sporting Goods (760) 932-7707.

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