Ernie Cowan
North County Times

It's a ritual of summer that trout anglers seek like a brook trout seeks a dry fly.

The preview comes in April with the opening of the Eastern High Sierra trout season, but the main event begins when winter ice finally leaves the high country lakes. Mountain streams bubble cold and clear over ancient rocks.

Swarms of insects hovering like clouds over still pools provide a feast for hungry trout now awake from their winter slumber.

Trout hunters from around the world flock to their personal "secret places" along the 200-mile Eastern Sierra front. From Lone Pine to Bridgeport and from the meandering flow of the Owens River to the cascading torrents of Pine Creek, the avid trout hunter is now in high season.

One of the most avid trout hunters is John Barbier. For more then a decade this North County resident has been spending his summers in the Sierra, logging hundreds of miles of hiking to remote lakes and catching 1,000 fish a season. He has written two trout guides and taught many to enjoy his simply style of fly fishing.

Barbier travels light, usually with only a fly rod, creel, water bottle and a small fly box. He rarely fishes where he can drive, preferring to hike to more remote lakes and streams where solitude and aggressive native trout are the main events of the day.

Like a migrating bird, Barbier returns to the Sierra every June to spend his summer fishing mostly alone. Some years he must wait until mid-July for winter to release its grip on high country lakes. This year the arrival of summer has been early and lakes are wide open.

"Saddlebag Lake at 10,000 feet had about 50 percent ice three days ago, but we've had some really warm weather and it is now ice free," Barbier said in a telephone interview from his June Lake cabin.

While the wildfires in Northern California are creating hazy conditions, the fishing has been nothing short of fantastic.

On a hike to Gaylor Lakes north of Tioga Pass, he caught and released 27 brook trout, and the short hike to Blue Lake in the Virginia Lakes Basin yielded 43 fish from the gin-clear waters.

"You could see them lining up to take a shot at the fly," said Barbier, describing the joy of luring native trout to a fly at the nearly invisible tip of a fly line.

While most of us will spend a week or maybe 10 days in the Sierra if we are lucky, Barbier spends his entire summer there, leaving only when the weather drives him from the high country.

For the usual Sierra angler, the vacation visit is brief fantasy adventure before a return to "the real world." For Barbier the beauty, solitude and connection with the wild fish is indeed "the real world."

Trout politics

Efforts by the conservation organization California Trout has put a stop to a raid on state funds that could have seriously impacted the state's fish hatchery program.

Earlier this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had proposed a transfer of $4 million from the state Hatchery and Inland Fisheries Fund (HIIF) to the state General Fund. � The transfer would be a loan to be repaid in 2013. Money for HIFF comes exclusively from the sale of fishing licenses.

In response to the Governor's proposal, Cal Trout called for a freeze on California Fishing License fees.

"It is unfair to the two million anglers who annually buy fishing licenses in this state to continue to see their fees raised year after year by the Department of Fish and Game when it is simultaneously cutting back fish hatchery operations, wild trout protection, and programs for recovery of endangered species like salmon," said Cal Trout CEO Brian Stranko in a press release.

Even without the loss of HIIF funds, Stranko said the DFG would likely be cutting back service to programs for anglers due to increased transportation costs and lack of funds for ongoing maintenance to the state's fish hatcheries.

Responding to the Cal Trout position, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources approved the loan but made it contingent on a freeze on fishing license fees.

Last week the issues died when the Governor withdrew the proposal and the Legislature's Budget Conference Committee rejected the transfer.

"This is an important victory for fishing enthusiasts and conservation advocates across California," Stranko said. "Trying to raid funds that support state fish hatchery operations and protection of wild trout stocks was a bad idea from the start. We're pleased that these funds remain secure."

As a result of the Budget Committee action, Cal Trout has withdrawn its call for a freeze on fishing license fees.

Ernie Cowan is the outdoor writer for the North County Times. If you have a story of interest, call (760) 518-8050, or e-mail ernie@packtrain.com.