Outdoors with Don Q: Lundy Lake is a special place for weekend camping and fishing

If you're looking for a camping and fishing trip after this week's NV 150 Fair at Fuji Park, my suggestion is a special location that is not too far from Carson City, south of here off of Highway 395.

If you're not familiar with Lundy Lake, Calif., you are probably asking yourself, "What is Lundy Lake and where in the heck is it?"
 Well, if you're interested, here is some information to whet your appetite:

Lundy Lake is located just off U.S. 395, about half-way between Bridgeport and Lee Vining, Calif. It is situated at an elevation of 7,858 feet (that means cool evenings!) and the lake is surprisingly, fairly large, about one mile long by about a half-mile wide.

How to get there:

Drive south on U.S. 395 from Carson City to Bridgeport. Go past Bridgeport for about 15 miles, up, over and down Conway Summit. Just past the south foot of Conway Summit, the paved road on your left will take you to Hawthorne, and the paved road on your right will take you to Lundy Lake. Obviously, you want to take the road on the right. 
The trip is about a 2-hour drive (roughly 100 miles) from Carson City.

Where to fish:

Anywhere at this large, high-mountain lake is usually fairly good for nice brook, brown and rainbow trout.
The Lundy Lake record is an awesome 13-pound, 12-ounce rainbow. My personal, all-time best, shore success has been on the opposite side of the lake, close to the dam, but for only average-sized rainbows.

How to fish: 

From shore, in chest waders, in a float tube, canoe or small boat. Small powered boats are allowed on the lake with a 10 mph speed restriction (no wake), hand launch only.
Boat rentals are available at the Lundy Lake Resort at the far end of the lake.

What to use: 

From shore if using bait, try nightcrawlers or orange-colored Power Bait. From shore if fishing with lures, try small lures, such as TOR-P-DO, Kastmaster, Mepps, Panther/Martin, Super Duper, etc. 

If fly fishing from a float tube (near the inlet stream at the far end of the lake), try small artificial flies, such as golden olive-colored Woolly Worm, soft hackle (Carey Special), bird's nest, Prince Nymph or Zug Bug.
From a boat, troll along the back side of the lake with silver-colored Ford Fender flasher blades and worms or small Apex, Flatfish or Rapala lures. 
Note: If you fish from a float tube, canoe or boat, be advised this lake is prone to becoming very windy, very quickly. The wind can really come roaring down off the nearby, towering mountains in a big hurry.

Miscellaneous:

Lundy Lake is located in a Swiss Alps type setting. If you've never been there, you'll be impressed by the beautiful, high-mountain scenery.
Be sure to have a camera and take lots of photos. 
There are a number of small lakes (all of them are steep uphill hikes!) near the lake and Lundy is also the trailhead to the 20 Lakes Basin. 
It’s steep hiking into that backcountry but there is darn good fishing there.

Camping: 

There is a U.S.F.S. Lundy Canyon Campground at the east end of the lake and the Lundy Lake Resort at the west end. 
The Resort has services for both campers and day visitors, and it consists of 27 campsites, 8 full RV hook-ups, and a boat launch. There is a small General Store with tackle, bait, groceries, etc.
The resort is located on the site of a historic sawmill and mining town of the 1880's that was called "Lundy."

Additional information:
I have an old copy of "Lundy, Gem of the Eastern Sierra" a day hiker's and backpacker's guide to the geology, history and points of interest that was written by Jim Hanna of Carson City and copyrighted back in 1990.
It is great reading for info on that general area.

According to Wikipedia, "The lake was named after W.J. Lundy who operated a sawmill near Lundy Lake. The sawmill was a major timber producer for the nearby town of Bodi. Lundy also had a mining camp that was established in 1879. The Lundy post office ran from 1880-1914."

For information, call: 
The Lundy Lake Resort at (626) 309-0415. Ken's Sporting Goods Store in Bridgeport at (760) 932-7707. 
Mono County Parks at (760) 932-5440.

Finally:
If the weather is nice, take the time to go camping and fishing somewhere. It sure beats doing all of those “Honey Dos” at home, and they will still be there when you return from having fun in the Great Outdoors.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon:

Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you if I have ever hiked into any of those hard-to-get-to lakes that are located way above Lundy Lake.
If he grins and says, "Heck, Don has backpacked up that very steep, old road on the backside of Lundy Lake to camp and fish at Oneida Lake and he has even hiked to Burro Lake over very steep, loose shale," he could have been one of my panting, puffing and sweating backpack partners.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. Don's wife, Elaine, is the Outdoor photographer. They can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.