Fishing Iron Lake in Mono County, California

• Overview

  Iron Lake sits within Mono County in California. It stands 10,371 feet above sea level. About 10 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Mammoth Lakes is the closest town at 11 miles. Yosemite Valley lies 24 miles off, Oakhurst another 33 miles. Water in the same corner: Ashley Lake 0.8 miles away, Alstot Lake (0.9 miles), Anona Lake 1.1 miles away, Gertrude Lake (1.3 miles) and Holcomb Lake 1.4 miles away. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Iron Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Mono County records list brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, owens sucker and california golden trout among the fish reported. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Iron Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  August runs about 57°F on average, February about 27°F. Conditions shift steadily rather than sharply. It should never be assumed safe, whatever the month says. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. The season on Iron Lake rarely departs from it. The week either side of a change of season often fishes hardest.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Ashley Lake, 0.8 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Iron Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.