Fall Fishing along Lundy Lake Sierra Nevada

The recent California drought lowers the water along the shore of Lundy Lake.

At the west end of Lundy Lake, you can see the evidence of a prolonged drought on the lake's level. If you are planning to fish the lake from a pontoon boat or motor boat, the west end of the lake provides the lake's only boat ramp. With the shoreline receded in late season, driving boats and gear down to the lake edge can save you a long walk hauling gear.

A fly angler fishes the inlet stream along Lundy Lake.

If you look hard enough, you can see the small trace of Mill Creek to the right of the above photograph. Fishing an inlet to a lake can be a productive move. But fishing Lundy late season can be the exception. The drop in the lake's level and the extreme low flow of the creek resulted in a mud flat with a foot or two of depth.

A float tube or boat allows you to cover the most water in Lundy Lake.

Certainly fishing from shore can be productive right after ice-out or during the late season as the water temps drop. I think using a boat or float tube opens up way more water, especially when the fish are not cruising the lake looking for food. That said, be prepared for strong winds in Lundy Canyon. These winds seemingly come off the towering peaks in the eastern end and get squeezed (read: speed up) through the canyon and across Lundy Lake. A long six weight rod quickly becomes your friend in the face of strong winds. And it's also good to have when you tangle with some of the larger rainbows that can be caught at Lundy.

Fishing Lundy Lake just outside of Lee Vining along Highway 395.

To reach Lundy Lake, drive six miles north from Lee Vining on Highway 395. Turn left (headed west) onto Lundy Road. Proceed up the mountain for about 6 miles. The Lundy Lake Resort, and the boat ramp are the very west end of the lake.

The Eastern Sierra Nevada in fall explodes with fallcolor in an aspen tree grove along Lundy Lake.

A Brief History of Lundy Canyon

The canyon is named after William Lundy, who built a sawmill near the head of the lake in 1876 to supply lumber to another mining town - Bodie. A few years later, prospectors found gold in Lundy Canyon. Much of the mining activity took place two miles west of Lundy Lake. The most profitable mine towered about Lundy Lake on Mount Scowden. William Lundy operated the May Lundy mine on Mount Scowden and mined over $1 million in gold.

In 1880, 500 people, seven saloons, and two general stores seemingly appeared overnight. A small mining boom town by most standards (e.g., Bodie had a population of 10,000 at it's peak), but a boom-town for sure. Four years later, the best ore had been mined from the Lundy Canyon. The May Lundy went bust, and most of the town's miners moved on for greener pasture. Today, the small Lundy Lake Resort occupies the former site of a once booming town during the canyon's properous gold mining days.