LAKES AND THE FULL MOON

While working for Mammoth Sporting Goods during the summer of 1979, I inadvertently learned about the effects of a full moon on lake fishing in the Eastern Sierra. The full moon definitely slows down the trout fishing in still waters.

 I judged the fishing in the Mammoth Lakes area by the success of anglers coming into Mammoth Sporting Goods. Fishing would be great and anglers were happy with the fish they were catching.

 Anglers started complaining about their catch rate slowing down or going to zero. Nobody likes to get skunked when fishing. I didn’t pay much attentions to this. I just assumed that they were bad fishermen and could not catch fish. This slow fishing lasted for less than a week’s time.

 Well a few weeks went by and it happened again. It lasted less than a week.

 Maybe a month went by and it happened again. This time I became aware that it was a full moon. The next time that it happened I realized it was a full moon again.

Fly fishing the middle of the day on Intake Two in Bishop Canyon.

 I came to realize that the full moon was causing the slow fishing in the lakes in the Mammoth Lakes area. Well, from my fisheries biology background, I knew that trout, particularly brown trout, are nocturnal by nature. Trout tend to feed 12 hours apart a lot of times.

 On full moons, particularly on Crowley Lake, I started fishing middle of the day during the full moon. This turned out to work extremely well for me. While others complained about the fishing being slow, I caught lots of trout.

 I find the full moon effect does not have an impact on stream fishing. There are lots of factors that contribute to the success rate of fishing in moving waters. The next time you are on a lake during the full moon try fishing middle of the day.

How I Named the Business Sierra Bright Dot

In the summer of 1979 I had a summer job teaching fly fishing and fly tying for Mammoth Sporting Goods, now the location of Rick’s Sports Center. I also worked in the shop interacting with the anglers who fished throughout the Eastern Sierra.

I learned a few things from the customers that summer.

The Sierra bright dot fly pattern that Sierra Bright Dot Fly Fishing Guide Service is named after.

Anglers coming in to fish backcountry lakes and streams bought three flies. The Adams parachute, California mosquito and the Sierra bright dot. The Sierra bright dot was the fly of choice when targeting golden trout.

The golden trout is the state fish of California and a trout associated with the Eastern Sierra backcountry.

Golden trout have always been high on my list of trout to catch. They are indigenous to the Kern Plateau and have been planted in a vast number of backcountry streams and lakes. For information on waters with golden trout check out this interpretive site of Eastern Sierra backcountry lakes and streams: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5410679.pdf. They generally require a day or two of hiking to access them, keeping fly fishing pressure down. Goldens are in my opinion the prettiest trout I catch each season. Golden trout are only accessible in the summer months after ice out.

I had tied lots of Sierra bright dots in my budding fly tying career and knew it was a regional Eastern Sierra backcountry fly. I thought it represented fly fishing for trout in the Eastern Sierra. The golden trout was a symbolic Eastern Sierra trout to me so I incorporated into my logo.

In the winter of 1981-1982 Sierra Bright Dot the fly fishing guide service was born. Sometime during the summer of 1982 Laura Patterson designed the first Sierra Bright Dot logo. She is in the process of updating my logo.