Our warm mid-day weather is about to turn into much needed winter weather as the Eastern Sierra are expecting storms over the weekend. There will be new snow at upper elevations and hopefully a little rain in the Owens Valley. The trout’s winter feeding hours will be from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M to coincide with winter insect activity. Fish can be caught before and after these hours, but prime trout fishing will be in the middle of the day. Midges and mayflies will be providing the bulk of the insect activity until we get to February when stoneflies and caddis will be hatching.
The Home Street Middle School fly fishing club enjoyed a late afternoon session of nymphing on Bishop Creek Canal.
Lower Owens River:
Wild Trout Section:
I’m getting out to the wild trout section by 11:00 A.M. just in time to catch the blue wing olive hatch that starts mid-day. While some sections have enough trout rising to the surface for dry fly action, I prefer to fish nymphs on my Euro rig. Size 18 blue wing olive patterns like blue wing olive parachutes and olive sparkle duns are fooling the surface feeding wild trout. On the Euro rig I’m fishing with an olive quilldigon, stoner nymph, and hot spot pheasant tail nymph. I’ve been catching fish on all three flies. I’m wading into sections that are heavily lined with willows and tulles. These are spots that a lot of fly fishers don’t fish.
Andrew Castillo from San Diego learned how to Euro nymph honing his skill while catching little brown trout.
Hot Creek:
Interpretive Site:
Access before the storms was easy as multiple vehicles had packed down the snow on the road to the Interpretive site and in the parking area. Access after the storms will depend on the accumulated snow fall. Fishing mid-day has been good with midges and blue wing olives. I’m using size 20 blue wing olive parachutes, size 20 sparkle duns, and size 22 midge emergers.
Hot Creek Canyon is tricky to access when it has snow, but is worth the effort when the wild browns are taking nymphs and dries.
Hot Creek:
Canyon Section:
If there is enough accumulated snow from this series of storms it’s highly probable that the road will not be accessible by vehicles. Nymphing with mayfly nymphs and midge nymphs has been the most productive method of fly fishing the canyon prior to the storms. Dry fly activity, if it happens, will be middle of the day. The primary winter hatch will be midges with the occasional blue wing olive hatch.
Fly fishers covering lots of river looking for trophy trout that are feeding and resting in the deep holes, runs and cutbanks are finding a few trout willing to take stoner nymphs and green/gold Prince nymphs.
Upper Owens River:
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Access to the upper Owens River will be tough right after the storms. It will take a few days for the snowmobiles and walking in fly fishers to pack down the trail. Fishing on the upper Owens has been tough as there are few trophy trout in the system. Successful fly fishers are covering lots of water looking for the few trophy trout that are resting and feeding in the deep holes, runs and cutbanks. I like fishing with larger nymphs dredged on the bottom of the deep water sections. I’m Euro nymphing with size 12 stoner nymphs, and size 12 green/gold Prince nymphs.
John Mcquade from San Diego is nymphing over a pod of stocker rainbows that were taking his nymph fished under an indicator.
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Ford Dealer:
Few fly fishers are taking advantage of the canal being open to catch and release barbless lures and flies for the winter season. The trout are feeding on nymphs and I’m fishing under an indicator or with the Euro rig. I’m fishing with bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, stoner nymphs, and olive quilldigons. There are a few pods of stocked trout roaming around in the canal offering fly fishers a chance to catch a few rainbows.