Getting There

To reach Tomahawk Lake, park at the North Lake Trailhead. North Lake is located outside of Bishop in the Lake Sabrina area. The trail leads to Piute Pass and the Humphreys Basin Backcountry.

The Hike

The trail to Piute Pass starts in a forested area and works it's way westward and uphill for the first 1.4 miles. When you reach the first switchbacks you will be exposed to the sun for much of the rest of the way. After passing Loch Leven Lake on the left, the trail climbs gradually to Piute Lake. This is a good place to rest and find some shade if you plan on hiking over Piute Pass. From Piute Lake, the hike up to Piute Pass is easy and the rest is downhill into the Humphreys Basin. We chose to camp at Piute Lake and day hike into Tomahawk Lake. Tomahawk Lake has many campsites available if you choose to say there.

The Fishing

Tomahawk Lake rests on the northern bench of the Humphreys Basin and is a very accessible destination. We made it there during a storm where rain was dropping intermittently so the fishing was limited a bit. At first glance we did not see any signs of life, aside from some moss growing on the bottom. We were worried that the MYLFers beat us there. However, after watching the water for a while, I thought I saw a fish rise out in the middle.

I worked the eastern shore, southward, with dry and wet flies and could not get any attention from the fish. I put an inflated night crawler out there and continued to work the eastern shore, this time northward, with a yellow Panther Martin. I had no hits on the lure but I did see my strike indicator on the night crawler move so I quickly found myself battling a decent sized Brook Trout.

By the time we were ready to leave Tomahawk Lake I witnessed many more fish surface and my impression now is that it holds a good amount of fish, some of which I assume are quite large.