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Welcome! My name is Kelly Leyva and I'm a heavy equipment mechanic at the county road yard
in Bakersfield. If you fish the Eastern Sierra you already know what the last Saturday in April means.
If you don't, it's the trout opener, and every year since 1986 the same bunch of us has driven up 395
for it. We've missed a lot of things in 14 years but we have not missed that one.
This year there were five of us instead of four, because my son Robert turned 16 and finally got his
own license and a seat in the boat. He also got stuck with the camera, so most of these are his. I
bought a waterproof throwaway camera at the gas station on the way out of town, the drugstore developed
it when we got home, and my daughter Elizabeth scanned the prints at the college library for me.
Thanks mija. They're big, so give them a minute to come in.
[ The Crew | The Trip |
The Count | If You Go ]
THE CREW
| Who |
The story |
Kelly
(me) |
Camo cap, red plaid coat. Been fixing graders and loaders for the county for 19 years. I bring the truck and the stove. |
| Mark |
My neighbor two doors down. Teaches auto shop at the high school, so his idea of a vacation is still a room full of engines. Navy watch cap and the beard. Catches the big one every year and won't tell you what he's using. |
| Jim |
Works with me at the yard. Gray hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses on a green cord that he has never once put on his face. Best cook of the bunch, worst luck. |
| Dennis |
My brother-in-law. Carries the mail, so he's out in the weather all year and he's the only one of us who's never cold. Orange knit cap so we can find him. |
Robert
(rookie) |
My boy. First opener. Took the pictures, which is why he's not in any of them. |
THE TRIP
FRIDAY 4/23, ABOUT 3:30 P.M.
Loaded up in my driveway. Left to right that's me, Mark, Jim and Dennis. The camper shell holds two
coolers, three tackle boxes, five sleeping bags, the stove, a box of groceries, and eleven rods, and
yes Jim, we counted.
FRIDAY, ON 395
Dennis took the wheel after we gassed up and I rode shotgun. This is what the drive looks like once you
get up into the Owens Valley: a straight road, sagebrush, and the whole Sierra standing up ahead of
you with snow all over it. That's Dennis's hand on the wheel and his thermos on the dash. The spots are
bugs and a little rain we drove through. We got to the cabin about 9 and nobody slept much.
SATURDAY 4/24, FIRST LIGHT
24 degrees on the thermometer at the dock at 5 a.m. You can start fishing an hour before sunrise, and
every boat on the lake was sitting out there in the fog waiting for it. Robert took this from the back
by the motor. That's Mark standing up (don't do that, kids), and me, Jim and Dennis sitting down trying
to keep our hands warm. Look at the pink on the mountains. That's why we get up.
SATURDAY, A FEW MINUTES LATER
I'm putting this one in because it's the most honest picture on the page. That's a thumb. Robert says
it's mine. It is not mine. Behind it you can see Jim's boots, the tackle box, and the thermos, which is
about all you see for the first hour anyway.
SATURDAY, ABOUT 7:30 A.M.
THE BIG ONE. Mark's rainbow, 4 lb 2 oz on the scale at the marina. He's holding it out at the
camera the way everybody does to make it look bigger, but this one didn't need the help. There's frost
in his beard if you look close. He had it mounted and it's hanging in his garage now, because his wife
said it was not coming in the house.
SATURDAY, NOON
Back at the dock with part of the morning. That's me and Dennis. The sun comes up and the wind comes
up right behind it, so by noon most everybody's back in. You can see how many rental boats they've got
lined up there. On opening weekend every one of them is out.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Jim got skunked on Saturday. Not one fish. And he still cooked for everybody, trout and potatoes in
the big cast iron pan, with the dish towel on his shoulder like he's working a restaurant. That's the
kind of guy he is. Mark's at the table behind him waiting on dinner and giving advice. The flash on
these throwaway cameras doesn't reach much past the stove.
SUNDAY 4/25, BEFORE WE LEFT
The last one. Me, Mark, Jim and Dennis in front of the cabin with the truck behind us and the lake and
the marina off to the right. Robert stood about a mile back to get the mountains in. Jim is holding up
his coffee cup because he says it was the only thing he caught all weekend, which isn't true, he got two
on Sunday. We were back in Bakersfield by 8 that night, sunburned on one side of our faces.
THE COUNT
Limit is five trout a day. Here's how it went. (Jim asked me not to post this. Sorry Jim.)
| Name |
Sat |
Sun |
Biggest |
| Kelly | 5 | 3 | 1 lb 14 oz |
| Mark | 5 | 2 | 4 lb 2 oz |
| Jim | 0 | 2 | 1 lb 1 oz |
| Dennis | 4 | 5 | 2 lb 6 oz |
| Robert | 3 | 5 | 1 lb 9 oz |
Robert limited out on Sunday morning, which is more than his dad did, and he has mentioned it a few times since.
IF YOU GO
A few things 14 years of openers have taught us:
- Dress for two different days. It's in the 20s at the dock and it can be 60 and windy by
lunch. Layers, a good hat, and gloves you can tie a knot in.
- Reserve your boat early. The rental boats go way before April. We call in January.
- Bring two thermoses. One is not enough coffee for four grown men and a teenager.
- Get off the water when the wind comes up. Crowley gets rough fast in the afternoon, and a
14 foot boat with five guys in it is no place to find out how rough. (We took the bigger boat this
year on account of Robert, and I was glad of it.)
- Buy your license before you leave home. The line at the store up there on Friday night
goes out the door.
- Take the kid. I waited too long to bring mine.
Next opener is April 29, 2000. We already put in for the boat.
Fish Crowley too? Know Mark's secret? [email protected]
You are fisherman number
    
since May 9, 1999
Page put up May 9, 1999. Last updated August 29, 1999 (Mark's fish came back from the taxidermist).
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OPENING DAY 1999