Shorter days of sunlight is helping to cool waters to allow fly fishers to fish popular waters in the Eastern Sierra. Carrying and using a thermometer is the best way to insure the mortality rate of catch and release trout is kept around 10 %. Fly fishers should avoid catch and releasing trout in waters warmer than 70 degrees. Waters over 68 degrees cause an increase in stress on trout. Free stone streams above 9,000 feet have cool waters and wild brown, rainbow and brook trout for fly fishers to catch.
A great escape from the mid-day temperatures in the Owens Valley is to head up Bishop Canyon and fish one of the forks of Bishop Creek.
Lower Owens River Wild Trout Section:
Best fly fishing opportunities continues to be early in the morning and late in the evening. Caddis activity in the evenings is offering the best dry fly opportunities for fly fishers. Fishing with elk hair caddis, X-caddis, and parachute caddis is producing wild rainbow and brown trout from 6:00 P.M to dark. Use elk hair caddis, X-caddis, and E/C caddis dead drifted or skittered. Nymphing in the morning from 8:00 A.M. to noon with bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, Butano nymphs, stoner nymphs, and quildigons is fooling the feeding trout. When fishing under an indicator the flies should be one and half to two times the average water depth below the indicator.
Czech nymphing in the mornings tell noon is producing wild brown trout to 14 inches.
Hot Creek:
Interpretive Site:
The early morning trico hatch continues to provide fly fishers with the best fly fishing of the day on Hot Creek. The hatch starts out with female trico on the water. Than the spinners show up. Followed up by the spinner fall. Start out fishing with a female trico parachute in a size 24. Than go to a size 24 trico parachute followed by a size 24 trico spinner. The hatch has been lasting until 10:00. Caddis have been sporadically hatching at the end of the trico hatch. Fish with a size 20 gray parachute caddis, X-caddis or gray spent partridge caddis.
A size 24 trico parachute is the perfect imitation for this trico mayfly that hatched in the interpretive site of Hot Creek.
Hot Creek Canyon Section:
The steeper gradient in the canyon section of Hot Creek offers fly fishers quicker moving water than the interpretive site or Hot Creek Ranch. The trout in this section do not have the opportunity to give the flies as thorough a look as they do in the flatter water sections of Hot Creek. A dry or dry and a dropper is a great way to fish in this section. Parachute mayflies and elk hair caddis patterns are great flies to imitate the hatching trico may flies and gray caddis that are coming off in the mornings. A dry and a dropper is a great way to fish Hot Creek with the low flows that we are seeing this year. I fish a size 16 Adams parachute with a size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph under it.
Upper Owens River:
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Water temperatures on the upper Owens River are right at the top of the fishable level in the afternoons. I check the water temperatures often when I’m on the water after noon. There is a very small sized trico hatch in the morning starting around 9:00 A.M. A size 24 female trico parachute was bigger than the hatching insects, but the trout still took it. When the hatch ends, I put on a foam hopper and start covering water looking for trout that will take the hopper. It takes covering a lot of water to find trout that will take the hopper and get hooked. I get a lot more takes than I get hook ups. I love hopper season. It’s not as good as the last two years, but trout are starting to take the hoppers.
Cows munching away as wild brown and rainbow trout rise to the hatching trico mayfly in the morning.
Bishop Creek Canal Behind the Ford Dealer:
Water continues to be full of debris and off color as LA DWP finishes up dredging Bishop Creek Canal. There is a trico hatch in the morning that is done by 9:00 A.M. The trout are ignoring the duns and feeding exclusively on the trico spinners. A size 22 trico spinner presented on a drag free drift will fool the trout into taking the fly. At the height of the hatch the trout feed rhythmically on the spent spinners and your fly needs to be presented to the trout in rhythm to the fishes feeding.
The advantage of fishing a three fly Euro nymph rig in Bishop Creek Canal is that you get doubles like this wild brown trout and stocker rainbow trout.
San Joaquin River:
Water levels are getting low on the San Joaquin River. Water temperatures have not been a problem. This is a free stone stream that the trout feed opportunistically on whatever dry fly you offer the trout. My favorite dry flies for the San Joaquin River are a royal Wulff in a size 12 to 16, an elk hair caddis in size 16, and an Adams parachute in a size 14 or 16. I like to fish a dry and dropper rig in the San Joaquin River. I tie off a three foot tippet on the bend of the dry fly and put either a bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph or bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ear nymph on the end of the tippet.
Wading upstream casting to the pockets, pools and runs produces wild brown , brook, rainbow and hybrid golden trout.