Wilbur May Lake Fishing Guide, Mono County, California

• Overview

  This water sits in Mono County, California. It sits at 9,790 feet above sea level. At 23 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Some 13 miles away sits Mammoth Lakes, the nearest settlement. West Bishop is 28 miles and Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 30 miles. Not far off: Grassy Lake 1.1 miles off, Lake of the Lone Indian within 1.2 miles, Papoose Lake 1.2 miles off, Peter Pande Lake within 1.4 miles and Chief Lake 1.6 miles off. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Wilbur May Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Mono County cover brook trout, rainbow trout and brown trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Anyone new to Wilbur May Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 23°F in February up to 53°F in August. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around late May. Open water usually runs from late May until about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. On Wilbur May Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. 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. Grassy Lake, 1.1 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Wilbur May Lake should be assumed from this page alone.