I follow several blogs on the web. Chi Wulff is one blog that I follow it is out of Boseman, Montana. On January 3rd they had this video on Rush Creek. It is a remake from the first one that the Mammoth Fly Rodders put out in the 1990’s. This battle against the LADWP was a huge deal, a David and Goliath size fight. A bunch of fishermen fought the LADWP and won. Part of the settlement was to keep a minimum flow and do restoration of the seven miles from Grant Lake to Mono Lake. They only did two miles of stream restoration. Caltrout was a small organization back then with most of their help being volunteer. That’s how far back it was.
The settlement was turned over to Caltrout several years ago. From what I have heard Caltrout has told LADWP that the requirements of the settlement has been fulfilled. Caltrout’s stance is let’s let nature take its natural course. Problem with that is the dam at Grant Lake. If we get the El Nino that is predicted the LADWP will fill Grant Lake up. They will maintain that minimum flow. Rush Creek won’t get the spring runoff surges like the surrounding creeks will. So there won’t be the scouring and cleaning out of silt on the bottom of the creek. I talked to the CDFW about Rush Creek and asked if fishermen could fulfill the last five miles of restoration. The CADFW told me that the settlement hadn’t been released from the courts. I don’t know exactly what that means but nothing can be done until it is released. What some of the fishermen want to do is make some deeper holes like was done at the top two miles. This will give the trout refuge in the summer from the heat. This has been done in Idaho and other places with very good results.
Why am I bringing this up? Because it is a story that we shouldn’t forget of what fishermen can do to save a small creek. Mammoth Fly Rodders was made up of fishermen from all of California, Socal as well as Norcal. It is not fished by all the masses that come up to the Eastern Sierras. Some people say it is too hard to get into fish. But if you don’t mind fishing a small brushy creek with wild fish in it, this one is a good one. You won’t find the crowds like on Hot Creek or the Owens. It is one of my favorite creeks to fish in the Eastern Sierras. I haven’t heard why they made a new video. Please watch the video.
The Trout That Saved Mono Lake from Guerrilla Film Guide on Vimeo.