VOL . 42 • ISS . 7 May 5 , 2023

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Bishop Chamber of Commerce has made the difficult decision to reschedule the previously resched-

uled 2023 Blake Jones Trout Derby . Originally , the event was set for March 11 th , but unusually heavy snow made holding the derby impossible at that time . Organizers had hoped conditions would improve by May , but the Owens River is running too high and too fast . Access to other waters is limited due to ice , snow removal and road repairs . New date for Blake Jones will be Saturday , September 16th 2023 . Conditions should improve greatly by mid-September . Flows in the Owens will likely stabilize and upper elevation lakes like Sabrina and South Lake will be open and ice-free . Pleasant Valley Reservoir should be good as well .

The derby will follow the same format – registration , weigh-in and prize ceremony at the Tri-County Fair & Event Center . It will be a blind bogey with plenty of prizes for all . Derby participants that have already registered may choose to rollover the fees to the new date or receive a refund . “ We ’ re grateful for all the hard work of the land and water management agencies as well as road repair crews . This winter has been a tough one and we know everyone is working as hard as possible to get us safe access to all the places we love to recreate . We ’ ll just have to be patient ,” adds Tawni Thomson , Chamber Executive Director .

Note : California Department of Fish and Wildlife has not changed the date for the General Trout Season Opener – Saturday , April 29 th . The Bishop Chamber , LADWP and Inyo County encourage anyone who is fishing or otherwise recreating in the region to be extra careful around all waterways . Please obey all road closures and pay attention to posted warning signs . A silver lining … “ We may get a bit of a late start this year , but we ’ ll see great fishing later into the season . Summer and fall will be wonderful with full lakes and flowing streams ,” adds Thomson . For more information please call ( 760 ) 873-8405 or visit them online at wwwbishopvisitor . com

Anthony Bettencourt of Vacaville won first place in the adult division of the NorCal Trout Angler ’ s Challenge event at Lake Amador on April 23 with this huge 14.42 lb . Lake Amador cutbow . He saw the giant trout cruising near the surface after having no luck on trout all morning and switching over to bass fishing . On the fourth cast to the trout with a Megabass jerkbait , the fish swiped the lure and Bettencourt set the hook . After a two-minute battle , he got the behemoth in the net . It was the largest-ever trout caught in any NTAC event since the tour started 10 years ago .

Photo by Dan Bacher

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