Upper Horton Lakes in Inyo County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Within Inyo County, California, you have Upper Horton Lakes. The setting is lake country bush on every side. It covers about 17 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Compared with other California water on our list, it sits high. Head to West Bishop, 13 miles away, for anything you forgot. Clovis is the closest city, 65 miles away. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Upper Horton Lakes

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Open biodiversity records for Inyo County list california golden trout, brook trout, rainbow trout and brown trout. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Fish Upper Horton Lakes where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 18°F in January to roughly 50°F in August. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Once it clears, about mid June, the fishing comes on quickly. Break-up near mid June, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Upper Horton Lakes regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Horton Lake is 1.2 miles distant. None of that is settled for Upper Horton Lakes in what we hold.