Dave's Sierra Fishing

Fishing Baboon Lakes

Sabrina Basin in California's Eastern Sierra

Baboon Lakes Overview

Spectacular Baboon Lakes rest at 11,000 feet in the Sabrina Basin, only 4.5 miles from the Lake Sabrina trailhead, and yet they are often overlooked by hikers in the area. The three lakes offer superb fishing for rainbow and brook trout.

Situated in the John Muir Wilderness, Baboon Lakes have varied shorelines, from granite cliffs and jutting points to scattered forest and meadowland. Plenty of good camping sites abound. Compared to other nearby lakes such as Blue Lake and Dingleberry Lake, Baboon Lakes are much less often visited by anglers and hikers. You should not be surprised to find you have the lakes to yourself.

Approach to Baboon Lakes

The trail to Baboon Lakes begins at Lake Sabrina. From Bishop on Highway 395 in Inyo County, drive west on Highway 168 nineteen miles to Lake Sabrina. Be sure to park before you reach the No Parking signs at the end of the highway. You can park on the shoulder of the highway or in the designated parking area. The trailhead is still about a half mile up the road where there is no overnight parking.

The first 3 miles of trail leading out of Lake Sabrina up to Blue Lake is an arduous hike due to the steep trail and the high altitude. Lake Sabrina, a popular fishing destination itself, is at an elevation of 9,100 feet. The trail circles the lake, climbing gradually at first and then begins a series of switchbacks up to Blue Lake. Blue Lake is a popular destination and you may find it relatively crowded. Fishing there is good for rainbow and brook trout.

Follow the trail around the shore of Blue Lake, bypassing the turn to Dingleberry Lake and taking the trail marked to Donkey Lake. Only a short distance farther (at the end of Blue Lake), you will come to a sign pointing to the Baboon Lakes trail. It comes much sooner than it appears on topo maps. It climbs along the side of the ridge west of the creek coming from Baboon Lakes.

I presume that this newer trail with a more gradual grade was built since the maps were published, but I must confess I have not followed this trail. My route was up to Donkey Lake and then up an old trail from there to Baboon Lakes. This old trail involved some bush-whacking, boulder scrambling, and steep inclines. I would recommend taking the established trail marked by the sign. In about 1.5 miles it should deliver you to the western edge of the lowest lake.

Recommended Books for Fishing the Eastern Sierra

• Fly Fishing Eastern Sierra Streams, Where to Go, What to Use, and How to Get There, Mike Brown. Great book detailing the best streams in the Eastern Sierra. Color Photographs.
• California's Best Fly Fishing: Premier Streams and Rivers from Northern California to the Eastern Sierra, Chip O'Brien. An up-to-date guidebook, complete with maps, detailed descriptions of fishing locations, analysis of the seasonal differences which affect fishing, and fly patterns.
• Fly Fishing Mammoth: A Fly Fisher's Guide to the Mammoth Lakes Area, Mark J. Heskett. Information about fishing the Mammoth Lakes area of the Eastern Sierra.
• The Definitive Guide to Fishing Central California , Chris Shaffer. The book details more than 380 lakes, rivers and streams around Central California. The full color guide has more than 500 color photos.

In My Creel:

I was fly fishing throughout the Sabrina Basin on this trip, finding fish everywhere I looked. The shores of Baboon Lakes are for the most part clear of obstructions, making casting easy. On this September trip it appears that grasshoppers would have made a good bait choice. They were prevalent around many of the lakes. (The haze you see around the high peaks in some of the pictures was smoke from a forest fire burning in Kings Canyon National Park, September, 2010.)

Accommodations and Supplies:

There are good backpacking campsites all along the northern shores of Baboon Lakes. An alternative would be to camp below the lakes along the creek or at nearby Donkey Lake, which has good camping.

There are a number of resorts in the Bishop Creek drainage below Lake Sabrina. Among them are Bishop Creek Lodge, Cardinal Village Resort, and Parcher's Resort by South Lake. Campgrounds abound along Bishop Creek: Sabrina Campground, Forks Campground, Bitterbrush Campground, Big Trees Campground, and others. Dispersed camping is not allowed along Bishop Creek.

Fishing supplies can be purchased locally at the following places:

Sidetrips:

Nearby Donkey Lake is a sidetrip that should not be missed. The cross-country trail (mentioned above) connecting Baboon Lakes to Donkey Lake is a little rugged, but worth the scramble. Approaching Donkey Lake from below along the established trail is easy. Donkey Lake has brook trout and lots of open places from to fish.