Ok, y'all are driving a bit too fast cuz you're bringing the smog with you ??? actually its probably smoke. We've gotten quite a bit of the smoke from the fires to the north, the south and now as of Sunday afternoon a fire in the Buttermilks and across the valley in the White Mountain Range up by the California-Nevada border caused by dry lightning strikes.

Hasn't really affected the fishing though ??? pretty much the same as last week with some getting limits and others who can't find a fish to save their soul. REMEMBER, IF YOU PUT ON BUG JUICE, SUN SCREEN OR FOO FOO JUICE,WASH YOUR HANDS! THEN RUB THEM IN WORM GOO, TROUT ATTRACTANT OR POWERBAIT ??? GET THE OTHER SCENT OFF!

Most productive again were the inlets ~ with the Dingleberry Inlet (back right-hand corner) being the most beneficial with NightCrawlers and PowerBait although don't discount the Little George (back left-hand corner) when you just can't get into the Dingleberry. Some of the trollers claimed a few limits by dragging an olive wooly bugger or olive matuka through the water. Those communing with nature and the mosquitoes on shore were feeding the fish with PowerBait. Berkley has come out with a new Gulp PowerBait ??? CHUNKY CHEESE ~ it's expensive, but boy is it getting results. (Maybe it's just because it's new and the fish are bored with everything else.) The Department of Fish and Game stocked Tuesday.

Dan Doran of Bishop nabbed his second big fish in as many week ~ a 3-pounder on a PowerWorm. Austin Phillips of Yorba Linda plucked a 4-1/2 pounder out of the lake on green PowerBait. Eamon O'Connor of Los Angeles yanked out a 3-pounder also on PowerBait. Not to be outdone, Sean Bozigan of Palmdale walked off with the BIG FISH of the week with a 5-pound Alper.

The lake is just about ready to spill ??? probably next week. All this means is that there is more water coming into the lake than is going out. It will NOT be going over the part of the dam where you walk, but the spillway at the far end of the dam. So if you intend to use the shortcut across the dam to get to theBlue Lake trail expect to get a bit wet. The water has cleared up and you can now once again see the fish you're fishing for.

Rick's garden continues to flourish- it is now Purple Lilac time, which smells pretty much like the white lilacs, so now it's double the smell down the trail. The temperatures continue to be great ~ in the mid 40s during the night and the mid 70s during the day, but with a bit of smoke and breeze in the afternoon and a chance or two of a thunder bumper shower. You may want to check out Howard's forecast at www.MammothWeather.com.

Remember your sunscreen, dark glasses and bug juice as we have a quite a few of those pesky skeeters making a BIG-TIME appearance. PONCHOS MAY ALSO BE NEEDED THIS WEEKEND - YOU NEVER KNOW!

ALWAYS PACK A JACKET! ! ! !

We had a beautiful evening a couple nights ago (which is normal) lake glassed off, nice and warm (low 60s ??? remember it's relative) and I had some energy left from the day (not normal), so I took Hi and Lo for our first kayak ride. Paddled around the lake for about an hour while Hi fished and Lo the Lion slept behind me. Haven't gotten Nimrod on the kayak yet, like Louie used to do, but we'll work on it and get a picture. Lo's about ready for another haircut ??? maybe a week or two. We also had a sighting of a mountain lion just above the building. Apparently several people saw it ~ all thought it was maybe thought to be Lo or Nimrod they said it was much bigger than either Nimrod or Lo. Rick tells me they have a hunting area of 100 miles, so he could be down to Big Pine or half way to Mammoth by now.

The Paiute Palace and Adopt-a-Creek is sponsoring the "CASH OF THE DAY" where the waters of INTAKE II, NORTH LAKE and the BISHOP CANYON CREEKS will be stocked with tagged fish redeemable at the Piute Palace for CASH. No registration required ??? just fishin' and catchin'.

Hope to see you all soon!