Fishing season closed on Wednesday November 15, 2023. Winter fishing season, primarily for moving waters, opened on Thursday November 16, 2023. So what’s open to winter fishing? Any lake that does not have an associated resort with it. So up Bishop Creek Canyon Sabrina and South Lake have resorts and are closed. North Lake and Intake Two do not have resorts and are open to year round fishing with no gear restrictions and a five fish limit. All three forks of Bishop Creek are open to catch and release fishing with barbless flies or lures. For specific moving waters that are closed check out section 7.50 in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife fishing regulations. Who is going to fly fish the Eastern Sierra for Thanksgiving weekend? Richard and I have availability in November.
Fall in the Owens Valley is just about over as winter is quickly approaching.
Lower Owens River
Wild Trout Section:
Flows in the lower Owens River are just under 600 CFS. The river is flowing bank to bank and not offering much in the way of fly fishing. If you feel you have to fish the lower Owens River you can try fishing in the spawning channel section where it flows through Pleasant Valley Campground. There is a section of the river right above Five Bridges that got rechanneled and the old channel at high flows does offer some fly fishing opportunities. For now this is not a good option for fly fishing. Maybe flows will recede first of the year.
The lower Owens River is flowing bank to bank at just under 600 CFS offering little to no fly fishing opportunities this fall and early winter.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
Things are slowing down on the creek as the hatches of blue wing olives will soon be over. Middle of the day there are blue wing olive mayflies hatching and the trout are coming to the surface to feed on the emerging mayflies. Size 20 blue wing olive parachutes and Adams parachutes are producing fish on drag free drifts.
Hot Creek has some big browns willing to take your nymph fished under an indicator or with a Euro rig.
Hot Creek
Canyon Section:
Nymphing with mayfly nymphs and midges is producing trout for fly fishers fishing under an indicator or with a Euro rig. Size 16 olive quilldigons, hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, Frenchie’s, bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, tiger midges and zebra midges are producing wild trout to 14 inches.
Trophy trout like this rainbow are what fall fly fishers are looking to catch out of the upper Owens River.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
This section of the river is open to year round fishing with barbless lures or flies. The trophy trout have started to show up. They are scattered throughout the upper Owens River and fly fishers need to put some distance on their wading boots to find the few pods of trophy trout that are in this area. Fishing with stoner nymphs, green/gold Prince nymphs, gold ribbed hare’s ears and copper John’s in copper, red or green/gold in the deep holes, deep runs and cutbanks are fooling the trophy trout.
Brent Johnson from Camarillo with a rainbow trout he caught on the upper Owens River while being guide by Richard Lancaster.
Upper Owens River
Below Benton Crossing Bridge:
This section of the river closed to fishing for the season on Wednesday November 15, 2023. Water levels were perfect for fly fishing with the Euro rig and the deep holes were producing trophy trout. Gold ribbed hare’s ears, stoner nymphs and green/gold wire prince nymphs were the flies that were producing the trophy trout.
Whiskey Bay on Crowley Lake is as full as I’ve seen it in my 45 years of visiting and living in the Eastern Sierra.
Crowley Lake:
Crowley Lake closed to fishing on Wednesday November 15, 2023. With the lake so full the trout are not concentrated like they have been in recent years. Fly fishing with streamers from the shore was tough. Already looking forward to fly fishing the lake next year.
Weekends have been busy with fly fishers and spin fishers vying for the wild brown trout in the canal.
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Old Ford Dealer:
Bishop Creek Canal went to winter fly fishing regulations on Thursday November 16, 2023. The canal is now catch and release fishing with barbless lures or flies. This area got a lot of nonfly fishing pressure the last six weeks of the regular season. It will be a few weeks to a month before this section produces consistently good fly fishing. Nymphing with size 12 stoner nymphs, green/gold Prince nymphs, and size 16 hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, Frenchie’s and olive quilldigons are fooling the trout. Thoroughly covering the water and moving upstream overlapping your casts is the technique that is going to produce trout.