Every once in a while even Bishop gets a good dump of snow. Once the sun comes out the snow will melt fast. Mono County got buried and there were a few avalanches across HWY 395. Give the town of Mammoth Lakes, Cal Trans and Mono County plow crews a chance to get the snow cleaned up off the roads. I would wait until early to middle of next week to check out upper elevation waters to fly fish.
Bishop covered in a blanket of white from the latest storm..
Lower Owens River
Wild Trout Section:
The river is up to 330 CFS and then will be down to 250 the weekend of March 11th for the Blake Jones Tournament. After the tournament expect to see the flows increase to 350 CFS. Fishing in the river is very limited right now and tough. Even getting nymphs down on the substrate is no guarantee of catching trout. Work your fly patterns in the seams and slower shallow sections. Now is a good time to throw black streamers like a wooly bugger.
Lower Owens River at 300 CFS and with snow on the banks.
Hot Creek:
Interpretive Site:
This area got hammered from the last series of storms. I would give Mono County plow drivers at least three or four days to clean up Hot Creek Hatchery road before driving out to fish the Interpretive site.
No vehicle access beyond the intersection of Airport Road and Hot Creek Hatchery Road .
Hot Creek:
Canyon Section:
This area got hammered from the last series of storms that went through the Eastern Sierra. I would give Mono County plow drivers at least three or four days to clean up Hot Creek Hatchery Road before trying to park and access the canyon section of Hot Creek. Fly fishers will need snowshoes to access this area. Fishing with nymphs will produce fish for the few fly fishers willing to exert the effort.
Benton Crossing Road is closed to vehicle traffic at the Green Church.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
This area got hammered from the last series of storms that went through the Eastern Sierra. I would give Mono County plow drivers at least three or four days to clean up. Don’t be the like the 17 people that got trapped in their cars during the storm on Saturday February 25, 2023. Trophy trout are in the river, but I would wait tell access to the river via vehicles is open. Nymphing with the Euro rig is my preferred method of fly fishing the river. At times streamers can be very effective.
Dirty high flows are what fly fishers can expect in Bishop Creek Canal until the flows stabilize in four to six days..
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Ford Dealer:
When the river flows increase over 300 CFS it’s time for me to fly fish the canal. From its start at gate 13, the Happy Boulders area, to Big Pine Canal offers good fly fishing with dries, nymphs and streamers. I like fishing my Euro rod or Tenkara rod with euro nymphs. I’ve been fishing the deep holes and the riffle water into the deeper holes with fair success. It’s going to take a few more days for the canal to stabilize. I’m fishing olive quilldigons, stoner nymphs and hot spot pheasant tail nymphs on the Euro rod.
Fly fishers will have to wait for the snow to melt to gain access to Owens River Gorge brown trout.
Owens River Gorge
Upper and Middle Gorge:
Like the rest of the Eastern Sierra the Owens River Gorge got snow and it’s tough to access right now. It will be awhile before fly fishers can access this area through Gorge Road. For now I would take this off the list of accessible fly fishing spots until the snow melts in the next week or so.