Hot weather continues to bake the Owens Valley and keep temperatures above freezing in the upper elevations. The snow pack above 9,000 feet continues to slowly melt. Some waters have stabilized at high flows. Other waters are increasing flows and pushing outside of their banks. Pale morning duns, blue wing olives and callibaetis mayflies are hatching and the trout are feeding on the nymphs and a few trout are coming to the surface for the adults. Mosquitoes are in force throughout most of the Eastern Sierra and in particular in Long Valley. Still waters are a great alternative to fly fishing the moving waters. Backcountry streams and lakes are slowly opening up. A lot of these waters still have considerable amounts of snow around them. All of the freestone creeks draining the east side of the Sierra are at abnormally high flows and should be approached with the utmost caution.
Rock Creek should be approached with the utmost caution as only the slower water flats are safe to fish at this point in the fishing season.
Lower Owens River
Wild Trout Section:
Flows in the lower Owens River have stabilized at 550 CFS. The flows here could go up over 1,000 CFS depending on how much snow is melting at higher elevations with temperatures in the Owens Valley in the upper 90’s to low 100’s. Banks are unstable and fly fishers should use extreme caution when fly fishing from the banks. There are a few caddis hatching in the evening providing action for fly fishers if you can put up with the mosquitoes. Nymphing is the most productive method of fly fishing the river. The only access is from Five Bridges as there is no parking beyond the gravel plant off of Chalk Bluff Road. Pleasant Valley Campground continues to be closed.
A few fly fishers are fly fishing the lower Owens River particularly in the evenings for the caddis hatch.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
Flows have stabilized over the last 10 days. Water is clear, high and running fast. There are a few select spots where the trout are coming to the surface to feed on hatching adults. Nymphing with lots of weight on the tippet or heavy tungsten beads on the Euro flies is needed to get the nymphs down on the substrate where the trout are feeding. This has become a quality fishery not it’s normal quantity fishery. Fly fishers are working hard for a few trout, but the trout that are taking flies are in the 16 to 20 inch range. The trout are taking blue wing olive nymphs, midges, gray caddis and scuds. Mosquitoes are letting up a bit and are worse at twilight.
This is the highest flows I’ve seen in the canyon since I’ve been fishing it in the mid-70’s.
Hot Creek
Canyon Section:
With the steeper gradient in the canyon it’s tough to find spots to drift nymphs that the trout can take. Fishing behind obstacles like weed beds and rocks is going to result in fish. Fishing the slow water sections at the top and bottom of the canyon is the other spot that is producing trout. I’ve been using my Euro rod with a hot spot pheasant tail nymph, stoner and gold ribbed hare’s ear with success. The fish are few and far between making it necessary to cover lots of water for that one or two trophy trout.
Steven Needham from Thousand Oaks fooled this 12 inch wild brown trout with a hot spot pheasant tail nymph.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Armed with Cutters repellant and head nets I fended off the mosquitoes on the upper Owens River. Hatches of pale morning duns, callibaetis nymphs and midges have the cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout feeding on nymphs. A bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph fished six feet below an indicator with a BB shot or a hot spot pheasant tail nymph on the point of a three fly Euro nymph rig is producing six to 18 inch wild trout. The trout are in the deep holes and margins of the fast water. A lot of the trout are in the shallow water next to the runs that they normally inhabit. I’m catching rainbows, browns and cutthroats.
Trout are spread out all over Crowley Lake from the Owens River arm of the lake to McGee Bay and in the Crooked Cree arm of the lake.
Crowley Lake:
Fishing has slowed down as the lake is filling up from the record snow fall in the Eastern Sierra. With the increase in the lakes size the trout have spread out in search of food. Midges are the primary food source of the Crowley Lake trout. Key to success is moving around looking for feeding trout. Boat electronics is what is making the difference between catching trout and just staring at a bobber. Tiger midges, zebra midges, gray midges and albino Barron’s in size 18 are the productive flies. Fly fishers in boats, kayaks and float tubes are searching the lake for todays hot spot. Successful anglers are trying multiple spots before finding that one productive location. As they say in real estate location, location and location.
Elsie Minichiello from Ventura is nymphing a pheasant tail nymph under an indicator for the wild brown trout that inhabit the canal.
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Old Ford Dealer:
It’s hot middle of the day making it uncomfortable for anglers to be on the water fly fishing. If you can put up with the heat the trout are feeding all day. The canal has had lots of fishing pressure and successful fly fishers are covering lots of water with bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs and bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears. There is not a selective hatch going on at the canal, but there is a fish here and there taking adult aquatic insects of the surface. Wild brown trout are averaging eight to 12 inches. Stocked rainbows have been up to 18 inches.