Hope you all had a GREAT 4th - we sure did - had a bit of weather come thru - couple of sprinkles here and there - heard a few thunderboomers last night - love the sounds of nature along with the sights - the bald eagle is still around at the back of the Lake - sure was awesome to see our National Bird on our Independence Day.

Talking about GREAT - that's what catching was - GREAT! Lots of limits coming out of the Lake this week - fishing the inlets with NightCrawlers, Jigs, Garlic PowerBait or PowerWorms. Trolling Thomas Buoyants (Red and Gold, of course), KastMasters (you all remember what your grandparents used to use), pulling flashers (yup - grandpa used those, too) and NightCrawlers or just trolling with a NightCrawler. Drifting the rock piles with NightCrawlers or PowerBaits. Shorefishing with Salmon Eggs, NightCrawlers, or PowerBait. DGF put in another load of fish Thursday.

Bishop local Jason Molinar had a visit from family and they out did themselves - limits for all 2 days in a row - Madison, Robert, Hailey & Amy Glass made the trek from Long Beach to spend the 4th at the Lake - this was Hailey and Amy's first and second limits - good job, girls! They were caught on Pink and White Mice tails and Garlic Powerbait, see the main photo above.

As we reported last week, they started working on the bridge - they had roped off the North Lake Hiker parking area at the North Lake road last week -this week we have a storage container and forklift in the roped off area. We'll keep you informed of the progress. Those of you who have been up to the Lake this year may have noticed the markings on the road and markers at the 2nd bridge - also known as Cadillac Corner - due to a brand spankin' new Cadillac not makin' the corner - ending up in the creek & bursting into flames (all parties survived). Inyo County is going to straighten the road and replace the bridge. Construction is to begin this month - the bridge is to be approximately 80 feet long and wide enough for two cars with pedestrian walk-ways on both sides.

KEEPING THIS IN - Guess it's that time of year to remind you of a few things - when using BUG JUICE - not many of them - think the last cold streak killed most of the big ones and the smaller ones haven't hatched yet (could be because of the lack of run-off) - or SANITIZER you need to really wash your hands before fishing - then rub some Salmon Egg juice, worm dirt or Anglers Bros Trout attractant (got it in stock at the Lake) to take that smell off. Remember your polarized dark glasses and sunscreen - we saw a few anglers that looked a bit like cooked lobster last year.

Believe it or not - temps have been in the low-80's for highs and in the low 50's for lows. We do have a chance of thunderbooms and showers in the afternoon for the next week. DON'T FORGET YOUR PONCHOS. You can check www.weather.gov and enter ASPENDELL, CA on the site and it will give you a fairly good hint at the weather or check in with Howard at www.MammothWeather.com.

And, of course, we'll have HOMEMADE pie and ice cream (until it's gone), sodas, beer, wine, coffee, tea and hot cocoa!

Looking forward to seeing you all in the very near future.

Juanita, Rick, Patti, Bryan, Len, Ginny & Thomas