Fly Fishing the 395 Trout Highway

The southern section of the highway, which starts in Hesperia and runs along the Eastern Sierra to the Nevada border near Topaz Lake, passes by more than a lifetime’s worth of fishing possibilities.

“It’s pretty special,” Mike Coco said.

Mike is the owner of Liberty Sports Bar & Grill in Mammoth Lakes, he’s also a proud dad, husband, and an avid angler. “Fly fishing is definitely a passion I’ll spend the rest of my life doing,” he said.

Mike’s passion for fishing was born just a few years after he was, when he first caught sunfish like bluegill and perch in the waters of southeast Pennsylvania.

At about the same time, two of Mike’s future fishing buddies in California were also casting their early days away in the Keystone State.

Jeff Posey first came to the Eastern Sierra from Pennsylvania in 1994, and his big personality and bartending skills soon made him well known in Mammoth. Jeff’s early fishing days included going after “carp with WD40 and Wonder bread” he joked. The father of three is a big fan of fishing in the Sierra’s immense backcountry and he’s also a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Traits that Mike and the third member of the Three Amigos of Top Bug Fly Fishing, Tim Carraher, all share.

Unlike Mammothites Jeff and Mike, Tim lives in the high desert town of Palmdale, but fly fishing is in his blood line. Tim’s great grandfather was a fly fisherman and his grandfather taught him the sport on Pennsylvania’s famed Spruce Creek and the Little Juniata River. Like many other Southern Californians, the native Pennsylvanian and father of four boys loves to fish the Eastern Sierra.

It’s this shared passion for angling and for doing so along the Highway 395 corridor that inspired the three angling Philly fanatics (who met in the Golden State) to team up a couple years ago to create Top Bug Fly Fishing, an apparel company deeply rooted in the region.

Top Bug’s t-shirts, hats, and stickers are handmade in Mammoth by Jeff’s Eastcore Productions and are only sold locally. They also honor the region with slogans like “Keep Crowley Brown” and graphics like the 395 highway sign in front of the silhouette of a trout. Inspired by Patagonia’s give-back business philosophy, the goal for Top Bug is to support the region and to help put the “395 Trout Highway” on the map, and in the company it deserves.

“We’re all big enthusiasts of the Eastern Sierra,” said Tim who “baptized” his kids on Mammoth Creek. “Yes, you’ve got to fight the crowds on the weekends to get to the goodness up here, but it’s worth it.”

“We’re three guys who want to do something unique, something positive that helps support the Eastern Sierra and its fly fishing community,” Mike said.

“We’re a small company, American made, no crap from China,” Jeff added.

While all three enjoy the easy access that Highway 395 offers to world-class fisheries like Crowley Lake, Hot Creek or the Mammoth Lakes Basin, when asked about their favorite places to cast, they all had the same answer: angling around the Eastern Sierra’s monstrous backcountry.

“That’s one of the most amazing things about this place, fishing in the backcountry. You can’t get that experience any place else. You never have a bad day out there,” Mike said. “The views alone are worth it. Anybody who fishes the backcountry here enjoys it.”

“High country lakes in the fall—there’s nobody around, you get to catch goldens, and the scenery isn’t too bad either,” Jeff said about his passion for heading out on “golden adventures.”

“I got lucky,” Tim said. “My first trout in the Sierra was a golden on my grandfather’s fly rod. You fall in love with that kind of stuff and that’s that. The air is crisp, the fish are ready. I love the backcountry in the Sierra. There’s nothing like it. You can’t find more perfect moments.”

For those in search of perfect fishing moments, there’s no better route to take you there than the 395 Trout Highway.