Welcome to Heenan Lake! You have only until the end of October to fish here, and you'll be further hampered by regulations that allow fishing only from sunrise to sunset on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Your quarry will be the rare Lahontan cutthroat trout, a fish once common throughout much of the Eastern Sierra. Sadly, they are now a threatened species, and Heenan is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game to breed and maintain the population of this beautiful trout. In an age when it seems that much governmental management is aimed at keeping the public OUT, count your blessings and head to Alpine County, where you will be allowed to fish a hatchery pond!

I've described this lake in previous stories, so for directions and a general description of Heenan, read my September, 2000 article. I'm revisiting the subject at this time because Heenan has had good years and bad years for fishing, but my experience this season tells me the fishery is on an upswing, and recent trips have yielded great catches of large trout, as well as great photographs I just had to share. To me, all trout are gorgeous, but there's something particularly compelling about the crazy color variations of Heenan Lake cutthroat. Though they all have olive backs and sparse black spots, their flanks range from polished silver to hot pink to crimson red and each fish brought to net is a surprise gift, a present to be admired, then returned because it's the wrong size- too big! Here are some tips for 'shopping' at Heenan Lake this month.

Expectations: Lower them! Yes, it's a breeder pond, and no, cutthroat trout are not known as the sharpest blades in the knife set, but it's surprisingly easy to get skunked here. Knowledge of lake conditions, productive techniques and tackle will greatly aid the first-time visitor, as will the perspective that one or two eighteen-inch-plus trout make for a great day on the water. Your perspective is your own, but I can help with the other stuff.

Conditions: This year there are substantial weed-beds growing in the shallows around much of the lake, making shore-fishing impossible in many areas. You may be able to cast past the weeds into open water, but if you hook a fish, you'll never get it back through the vegetation without breaking off. Fishing from a float tube, cartop boat or canoe will allow you to access open water beyond the ring of weeds. Only electric motors are permitted here, and there is no launch ramp. There's a gate at the gravel parking area, and a DFG employee is present to unlock it exactly at sunrise (currently just before 7:00 am) and lock it again at sunset. When the gate is open, anglers are permitted to drive several hundred yards down the steep, dirt road to the water's edge to unload small watercraft or float tubes, then they must drive back up and park outside the gate.

Heenan is shallow, less than 20 feet deep in most areas, with a flat, muddy bottom and little underwater structure except the weeds. Fish can hold anywhere from the shoreline to the center of the lake, depending on water temperature, but observant anglers who explore a bit will find key areas that consistently hold fish.

Tackle and Techniques: Lahontan cutthroat respond to both spin and fly techniques, but this year I'd have to give the edge to lures tossed on light spinning gear. On a recent canoe trip with my friend Aaron Fox of Backwater Charters, I caught sixteen fish tossing a gold Pheobe spoon, and Aaron caught ten on a variety of lures, including a Thomas Buoyant spoon and a Rapala Countdown plug. Only two or three of our fish were under sixteen inches, with the largest running in the twenty-four inch, five to six pound class. Panther Martin spinners and Kastmaster spoons are also top producers here. I like to use six-pound line on a light action rod to cast from deep water to the edge of the weedbeds, bass-fishing style, then use a stop-and-go retrieve to trigger bites. These fish are notorious followers, and I've seen many swirl on the lure as I pull it out of the water to recast, or slam it just ten feet from the canoe, so make sure you have your reel's drag set light enough to withstand the impact of vicious, close range strikes.

Dedicated fly anglers will also get into fish here; one productive method is to use a floating line, Styrofoam strike indicator, and long leader with a midge or scud pattern nymph hanging beneath the indicator. This heave-it-and-leave-it method works well as long as you're in an area and depth where trout will cruise by your motionless fly close enough to spot it in the green, murky water, but simply staring at that little bobber until it twitches reminds me of watching the clock and waiting for the end-of-class bell in high school. I prefer to keep active by casting and retrieving or trolling with a full-sink or sink-tip line, pulling a big, beadhead woolly-bugger, with a small nymph such as a beadhead prince as a trailer fly. As with spinning gear, try a stop-and-go retrieve, and be ready for a hit at any point, up until the moment you pull your fly from the water. Also be sure to check your lure or fly frequently for weeds or algae, and don't forget that only barbless hooks are permitted here, no bait is allowed, and all fish must be released.

Catch-and-release tips include wetting your hands before touching the trout, keeping it out of the water for only a few seconds if you want a photograph (is your camera out and ready to shoot?), and cradling your catch by the belly and wrist of its tail. If your prize starts to squirm out of your hands, let it fall into the water rather than slam the floor of your boat and thrash around. Never squeeze the trout hard to keep a grip on it, and never stick your hand under the gill plate to hold up any fish you plan to let go. True catch-and-release photography isn't easy, and for every cutthroat pictured here, there was another, prettier one that refused to cooperate with the trout papparazi and went too crazy to be captured by camera. If you do manage to frame a decent shot, place the fish back in the water carefully, in its normal belly-down position, and continue to hold it very lightly. If it squirms out of your grip and swims away immediately, great! If it just lays there motionless or starts to go belly-up as you let go, you may need to revive your fish by moving it back and forth slowly to pass water through its mouth and over its gills, holding it as deep in the water as you can reach, and as it perks up, give it a final downward shove into deeper, cooler water. If your fish comes back up and floats anyway, try to revive it again, and NO, you can't keep it even if it dies accidentally- ("Oops, sorry warden, these big fish just wouldn't swim away, so I guess I'll have to eat them. No, really, I tried to release them...")

Until Next Time!
Mark (Never Stand In A Canoe) Wiza
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