Convict Lake

Convict Lake sits in a granite bowl under Mount Morrison at about 7,580 feet, two miles off US-395 across from the Mammoth airport. It is small, about 170 acres, but it drops to around 140 feet, and the water is clear enough to see 30 feet down. Most of what you catch is planted rainbows: CDFW plants it through the season, and the resort adds its own trophy rainbows a few times a year, so a 3 to 8 pound fish is a real chance. The browns are fewer than they were, but they are why the lake still gets talked about — the lake record is a 19.5 pound brown from 1956.

This is not Crowley. It is a deep, rocky lake with little weed, and the fish hold along the drop-offs rather than over flats. Bring an intermediate or full-sinking line and count a black, brown or olive leech or bugger down to the ledge, or hang a chironomid under an indicator 8 to 20 feet down just off the edge. In spring a pink or white bugger fished deep passes for rainbow fry. A float tube or a rented boat from the marina gets you to the ledges. The inlet at the south end, where Convict Creek comes in off the wilderness, holds the bigger fish, and you can walk there on the trail that circles the lake. The weeks after the late-April opener and the fall run-up to the November 15 close fish best. In midsummer the trout go deep by late morning, so fish early and late.

The trade-offs are crowds and wind. The bridge, the marina jetty and the shore by the parking lot fill with bait anglers after each plant, and the spring and fall derby weekends are busier still. Wind comes down the canyon most afternoons. The lake is on Inyo National Forest land, and Convict Lake Resort runs the marina, store and cabins. Ask the resort about motor rules before you bring your own boat, and carry the 2026 mussel sticker on a trailered boat and bring any craft clean, drained and dry. Stay off the ice in winter. If the lake is packed, Crowley Lake and Hot Creek are both within 15 minutes.