August 10, 2002

Greetings Rock Creekers!  Summer's in full swing.  The weather's beautiful, the fish are biting, the pie's on the table, and here's another newsletter.


---WEATHER---

The weather in the Eastern Sierra has been dry and very warm for much of the summer.  July recorded high temperatures in excess of 110 in Bishop and 80 at Rock Creek Lake, which is almost unheard of.  Thunderstorms have been a rarity, although Wednesday and Thursday of last week brought 1/3 of an inch of rain to the lake, just enough to wet down the trails a bit and fill the air with the gratifying scent of wet sagebrush.  Although most of the summer has been extremely warm, the past couple of weeks were pleasantly cooler in the Eastern Sierra, with windy conditions at times.  Typically, winds help keep temperatures up at night, so even though the highs didn't get out of the low 60's a couple of days, the lows didn't drop below the mid 40's most nights.  However, when the winds died down on Wednesday night the temperature was finally allowed to drop, and it did.  Campers awoke to a brisk 33 degree morning on Thursday, and the low was once again in the 30's on Friday and Saturday.  This should be the end of cooler than normal temperatures for a while now, as high pressure is once again building back into the area and pushing temperatures back to seasonal norms.  Highs should be in the mid to upper 70's once again in the high country with lows in the 40's.  No precipitation is in sight for the coming 5 day period, and probably beyond.  To check temperatures of the past 10 days, go to the weather page and click the temperature graph...
http://www.rockcreeklake.com/weather/


---FISHING---

Fishing continues to be fair-good for most anglers.  The lake continues to produce limits on a variety of baits, lures, and flies.  Over the past 2-3 weeks, several good-sized rainbows have been caught, the largest being a 5 pound, 14 ouncer hauled in by Tom Smith of Anaheim.  The fish was caught on a chrome/red head Super Duper.  Other large fish were caught on olive matukas and a Berkley Power Worm.  As of Monday, the lake's water temperature was 61 degrees.  Expect it to increase slightly in response to the coming warmer temperatures.
The creek has also been good, however its water level is dropping as expected.  The fishing conditions have been recently updated on the site.  Give 'em a look...
http://www.rockcreeklake.com/fishing/current.htm

For many years, the local businesses in Rock Creek have been stocking Rock Creek and Rock Creek Lake with Alpers trout to supplement weekly DFG plants and improve the local fishery.  This pattern has continued this year with more Alpers plants.  In addition, another local private hatchery has started planting Rock Creek with the help of some Mono County funds.  The Sierra Trout Foundation's hatchery at Conway Ranch is producing 'bows and browns for planting in the various Eastern Sierra waters, and a portion of the so-called "bed tax" that is being charged for camping in Mono County is being used to fund these plants.  Rock Creek has received a minimal number of plants and no browns yet, as the hatchery is waiting for the fish to grow more.  All fish from Conway Ranch are being planted in the creek.  To increase the funds available for planting, Rock Creek Lakes Resort has placed a jar for donations to the Sierra Trout Foundation on its front counter.  All funds donated will be used to stock the creek with 1-3 pound browns and rainbows.  Next time you're in the resort, please consider dropping something in the jar.  If everyone that comes into the resort helps out, we can improve the fishing on the creek substantially.  John Cooley, one of the subscribers to this newsletter, made a donation last week that will stock a number of beautiful trout.  Thanks, John!  It's greatly appreciated.  Now, if more people would practice catch and release...


---CAMPING---

August breeds crowds, and the campgrounds in Rock Creek are doing their best to accommodate them.  Bears have been in the campgrounds nightly, however little damage has occurred, none to vehicles.  According to Pam Fink, campground manager at East Fork, "The bears have been very active and I usually write several bear reports every morning.  There are a few campers who won't listen when we tell them to put all food away.  The park rangers have been citing them for leaving food out, and of course they come crying to us with their $150 citation!!"  Apparently, the forest service is taking the bear problem in Rock Creek seriously, which is a good thing.  In the long run, the enforcement will protect the bears and hopefully guide them back to foraging for their traditional foods...berries, ants, fishermen, etc. :)

After the Birch fire in early July that burned the lower part of Rock Creek, many people have been concerned with fire in the area.  Fires in the Southern Sierra are creating a great deal of smoke in the Owens Valley, particularly south of Olancha.  Skies are smoke-free in the Rock Creek area.  As of now, campfires are still allowed, however smoking is only permitted in RV's, vehicles, or near fire rings for obvious reasons.  New fire restrictions were placed on the Inyo National Forest starting June 29.  To read them, check out the following address...
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/fire_restrictions.htm

Some of the best campers visit Rock Creek in August.  They respect the area, leave their area clean, and respect their fellow campers.  However, along with these come some of the most clueless, ignorant individuals to the area as well.  According to Dick and Laura, the managers at the lake, some nuts camped on the beach in the day use area even after they were told they couldn't.  They even said that they had reservations to do so.  There were 28 French Canadians in the group.  The next day they couldn't understand English.  According to Laura, "I was wishing for the bear that night, but he let me down."

Lastly, many people that have been camping in Rock Creek for the past 2 decades have gotten to know Bud and Lois Pearman, longtime campground managers in Rock Creek.  They began managing at the lake and moved down French Camp later.  A couple of weeks ago, they chose to end their careers as campground managers in Rock Creek for reasons unknown to me.  They were fixtures in Rock Creek for years and will be greatly missed.


That's about it for this newsletter.  I'll try to get another newsletter written before Labor Day weekend.  If there's anything you'd like included please let me know.  Until next time, take it easy and THINK CREEK!

Tim