Look for SFR and Owner at the trout opener
Crowley Lake was wide open and free of ice by the middle of April and reports from Eastern Sierra hot spots like Convict Lake are everything's a go for the April 30 opener and fishing should be fantastic.

SportfishingReport.com founder Chad Woods and his brother Keith will be out on Convict Lake in Chad's trolling machine on opening day, while this writer hopes to be out on Crowley for the opener. There's one face you will be sure to see at Crowley all day Friday at Crowley Lake Fish Camp and out on the water fishing on Saturday. That's Dennis Yamamoto of Owner Hooks.

Dennis will start off his trek by hitting Bishop's top tackle stores on Thursday and then will move up the line to Ernie's in June Lake and maybe even on to Ken's in Bridgeport depending on the weather and road conditions. Rick's Sportscenter in Mammoth will be Owner headquarters, with at least one rep their opening weekend and that's where Dennis usually ends up Saturday afternoon as folks bring in their big fish from area lakes and Crowley on the way back to their accommodations in town.

But, as noted, Crowley is where Owner's Yamamoto will be found during Zero Hour of trout opener. He'll be touting Crowley customers on what is undoubtedly one of the most productive lures to troll on the lake on opening day -- the Owner Cultiva minnows. Two styles and sizes are especially effective for trout trolling -- the MiraShad 50 and the Rip'N Minnow 65, both in the suspending versions. Suspending lures are especially effective for trolling because of the way they react to changes of speed and direction. Rarely do you want to troll in a straight line and it's a good technique to sweep the rod back from time to time to add action that attracts a reaction bite.

And since you are looking for a reaction bite from fish that have been eating anything that moves without any repercussions (like a super-sharp Owner treble hook in the lip), visibility is important and you want to troll bright colors. Vibrant opening day colors Yamamoto recommends are the Orange Gold (19), Pink Passion (71), Purple Magic (15) and Flame (30). If water is super clear or you lose the low-light advantage of early morning, Dennis says to go with the Shiner (06) color. I've had good luck in Crowley with the Baby Bass (13), perhaps because it's close in look to a Sacramento perch, which are plentiful in the lake.

If the troll bite slows or you prefer to soak bait, then consider the Owner No. 12 Mosquito hook. It's a good size for a nightcrawler and works very well with Power Baits. It can be kind of tricky molding the dough baits onto a single hook, but the bait floats better and studies (conducted on Crowley) show that a fish hooked on a single hook and released with no handling (just cut the line) survives as well or better than a fish caught and released on an artificial fly. Good luck and see you in the High Country.

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