Kirman Lake is a 45-acre high elevation lake in the Eastern Sierra sitting at 7,200ft. It is famously known as a trophy brook trout fishery where DFW planted brook trout grow to exceptionally sizes due to the abundance of food found in the lake. Although brook trout can be found throughout California it is rare to find specimen that are over +12″ making Kirman Lake one of a kind. Kirman Lake has been on my bucket list for many years now and I finally found the opportunity this fall to make the trek and fish it.
According to online documents Kirman Lake was last planted in the fall of 2022 with 3,500 brook trout. This was exciting news since the lake was pretty much dead as it hadn’t been planted since 2018. Excitement quickly turned to concern as the winter of 2023 had one of the largest snowpacks seen since 1952 and reportedly killed off the majority of the brook trout that were planted. Since the die-off, fishing reports have shared anglers having little to no luck connecting with these fish this year.
Bad reports made me question whether or not it would be a good idea to try and fish Kirman Lake. Having already enjoyed a successful trip to the Eastern Sierra earlier this year, I was hesitant to return for a second visit fearing the conditions might not live up to my previous experience. I jumped back and forth on ideas of where to go this fall, float tubing Kirman Lake in the Eastern Sierra, surf fishing along HWY 1, stream hopping the Burney area, or chasing steelhead on the North Coast. I ultimately settled for Kirman Lake as it was the only place I had yet to explore.
My trip to Kirman Lake was planned as an overnight bike camping trip. A lot of information I had read about Kirman Lake involved taking a bike to get to the lake so naturally I thought it was the way to go. I had about 30 pounds of gear in my pack with an additional 10 pounds strapped to my bike. I had never done an overnight with a bike so it was going to be an interesting experiment on gear management.
I arrived at the trailhead at about 4:30pm. The trail to Kirman Lake is about 3 miles and rated as a moderate hike. I thought I would be able to effortlessly ride my bike all the way to the lake but I was very wrong. The trail to Kirman Lake is about 80% uphill. I tried to bike up the inclines but the weight of all my gear made it too difficult and strenuous. At the halfway point I gave up on pedaling, threw my pack onto the handlebars and seat, and walked the uphill sections. I finally made it to the lake at about 5:45pm. I was pissed off and exhausted. I quickly set up camp before sunset and called it a day until tomorrow where I would finally be able to wet my line. My word of advice is that it is definitely more of an e-bike destination unless you are packing light for a day trip.
The following day I was on the water by 8am. As I kicked around the lake I observed American coots enjoying the morning and found healthy weed beds that were receded for the season. The water was nice and clear and I kept my eye out for any signs of life under the water. I covered water around the lake for 2-3 hours and didn’t see a single fish. The only fish activity I saw were 3 rises. My fish finder indicated that the lake’s average depth was approximately 13-14 feet and I managed to detect 3-4 fish hovering about 12″ above the bottom. Overall the scarcity of fish was disappointing. I tried both an intermediate and type-3 sinking line with buggers and didn’t get a single grab. At around 10am people started arriving to fish the lake and out of the three anglers that were there I only saw one hook up.
The good thing about a destination being uphill is that when you’re leaving it’s all downhill. I flew down the trail from Kirman Lake and made it back to the car within 30-40 minutes. As I was leaving I met a wildlife group that were doing construction on the trail. The group was adding new gates to the fence so that people using the trail with bikes wouldn’t have to throw their bikes either over or under the fencing. Now if only they could add a few more fish to the lake…
Overall my experience on Kirman Lake was underwhelming. I’ve been keeping up with the lake since 2020 and all the reports I’ve read have never been very good. The dream of catching huge trout both Lahontan cutthroat and brook trout on Kirman Lake were real over a decade ago but nowadays it’s a crapshoot. On my way back I spoke to an angler who discussed the potential future of stocking native Lahontan cutthroat trout in place of brook trout at Kirman Lake. The lake is so rich in food sources that I believe anything thrown in there would grow to something amazing it just needs to be stocked more regularly. It seems that currently there is no definitive information about what Kirman Lake’s future holds.
I was bummed. All that effort to get to Kirman Lake and the fishing wasn’t good. Sometimes I wish I could erase my memory of all the streams and rivers in the Eastern Sierra I’ve fished so I wouldn’t compare when the fishing isn’t good. There’s no reason to settle for fishing somewhere that’s bad up there because there are so many good options. On the way home I drove through Yosemite on Tioga Road to enjoy the majestic views. I stopped and fished the Tuolumne River near Tuolumne Meadows. It was tough fishing but I managed to get a few.
Hi Matt,
I only fished Kirman once back in 2014. I fished it late October and when I arrived, there was a school of huge brook trout just sitting by the little beach where you first arrive. I believe they try to spawn during that time and are attracted to the beach because it’s the closest thing to an inlet/outlet and they look for moving water. Anyway, I managed to catch a bunch of huge brook trout by suspending small nymphs in front of their faces. Not the most challenging fishing and you could just look at the fish and watch them occasionally eat the nymph. They look good in my photos but the reality is they don’t fight worth a damn. These aren’t athletic fish; they’re couch potato fish that never had to work or move fast for anything. Even weaker than stocked rainbows and no problem landing them on a 5weight with 5x tippet despite them being 3-5 pounds. If I had a time machine I would still go back and fish the lake under those conditions, but the experience wasn’t even close to what you’d expect just by the photos alone, so don’t feel too bad about missing out on the “good ole days’ fishery.
Thanks for the report. Those brookies look like they are some of the biggest in the state but the fishing seems to be super dependent on the stocking which we all know can be either hit or miss. It was kind of a pain in the ass to get up to the lake so I will live through everyone’s reports.
Hello Matt… i’ve just discovered your writings here, really nice stuff. I’m in Fresno so a lot of your posts interest me. Your Kirman outing confirms what i’ve been reading for the past few years. Kirman had been on my list for at least a decade but maybe not so much anymore. I’d love to find some bigger brook trout than the typical small ones i find in Sierra streams.
This post piqued my interest more for the biking part! Over the past few years i’ve gotten into gravel cycling as well as bikepacking and i had been picturing me riding my steel all terrain Surly ECR with a rigid fork but big tubeless tires loaded with lightweight panniers and other packs made for dirt/trail riding and bikepacking. Mainly for fun covering those 3 miles to the lake and back. I wonder how i might fare with its 30 tooth front chainring and wide cassette with the big 52 tooth cog for decently low gearing. But i think Kirman has dropped off my radar for future excursions now.
Have you sought out cutthroat in lakes in the Sierra? I’d like to find some sizable cutts someday too, without going to Pyramid. For me, anything between 12 and 19 inches would be perfectly fine. hahaha.
Nice project you have here at keepcalmandflyfish! Keep it up! -eric
Thanks Eric. I used a Change Flatbike 811, although it looks like they’ve discontinued making bikes, it didn’t do very well going up to Kirman because of the sand. It was not a fun bike ride and I think I only rode like half of the way up. The Flatbike is lightweight and folds so it’ll be better used for my intended purpose of bikerafting. Kirman Lake coming from Fresno is a long drive and definitely not worth the drive but if you are just doing a day trip to Kirman with the focus on exploring the Eastern Sierras it’s worth checking out. You may also want to check out Marlette Lake in Nevada for big brookies. It looked like a lot of bikers were on it when we hiked it a few years ago. Other than Kirman and Marlette I don’t know of any other places that guarantee decent sized brookies.