There’s a variety of one-day walk-to-fish trips you can make that are just a short drive from the campground that will produce lots of small fish. One of my favorites is angling in the small lakes and streams along the Duck Lake Pass trail. Lots of people like to camp in this area, too. Some of this area was recently featured in an interesting article in Western Outdoor News, but here’s my take on these spots to add to your knowledge base if you visit the area.
The Duck Lake Pass trail is accessible from the Coldwater Campground trail head behind Lake Mary. Take the road up from Mammoth and continue driving past Twin Lakes. You’ll pass some riding stables on your right, and then look to your left for the first turn. Follow that narrow paved road along the edge of Lake Mary to your next left turn into the Coldwater Campground. That road leads to the trailhead. There is also a trail to Emerald Lake (1 mile, 500 feet elevation gain) in the lower part of the Coldwater Campground lot and a trail across the lot that leads to Heart Lake and an old gold mine (also 1 mile); interesting areas but not as fishable as the spots along the pass trail.
In my youth I used to hike over Duck Pass to fish Duck Lake Creek, and that location was featured in last year’s Mammoth blog. Now I stop at Barney Lake, a 3.5-mile one-way hike with about a 1,200 foot elevation gain. The worse (steepest) part of the trail is the beginning up the switchbacks at the start of the trail. After you pass Arrowhead Lake, it’s still a climb, but it’s not as steep. You can stop at Arrowhead Lake, a 1.5-mile trip up from the trailhead with a 600 foot elevation gain, or continue to Skeleton Lake, which is another mile and 400 more feet up. The fishing in these two lakes is okay, but not as good as it is at Barney. The trip from Skeleton to Barney is the easiest third of the hike, so I always keep going because I think that Barney is the best fishing of the three.
Barney Lake is sometimes cloudy but don’t let that fool you — it’s full of fish. Early in the season hungry brook trout hit almost anything, and these will average 6 to 12 inches with an occasional larger fish in the mix. I was there early this year in June and caught fish on the average of one every other cast. This doesn’t hold up later in the summer though — there’s just too much fishing pressure after the middle of July. My favorite areas at Barney include fishing near the outlet where a small stream trickles out and runs into another nearby pond, fishing off the rock at the far end of the lake, or working the tumbled rock area across from the trail.
I also like the streams where they exit the lake and the pond for 1 or 2 fish each trip. After fishing, it’s lunch, a rest, and then another 3.5 miles back to the trailhead, but it’s downhill. Think of the cooler in the car as a reward for your efforts.
Arrowhead and Skeleton Lakes have slightly smaller fish, and there are more rainbows in the mix. It’s an easier hike to either of these spots but remember: the closer, easier-to-reach spots get more pressure from anglers, so the fishing suffers. Also, the earlier in the year, the less angling pressure and the better the fishing will be. By mid-July there’s usually a marked drop off in success rates. When I stop here I like fishing the inlets at both of these spots. Wade out and cast a lure or float a bobber and you could do well. 
These lakes are clearer than Barney, and most of the shorelines here feature a shallow shelf, so you’ll have to cast over that to get to the deeper water where the fish are more plentiful. The creek exiting Barney holds some small fish too, but it will take a limit to make a meal out of those fingerlings.
If you’ve just driven up from the flatland I suggest you take a couple of days to acclimatize yourself before attempting any part of this trail. Like I told you earlier, the first part is the worse, and it really gets most people’s attention if they haven’t been hiking at altitude (Barney is at 10,200 feet). This trail is popular with the locals, too. A lot of hardy Mammoth citizens take the hike all the way up the pass (10,850 feet) for lunch and the scenic views. Some even run. For me those days are gone forever. How about you?
…to be continued