Hot weather continues to heat up the Owens Valley with the occasional afternoon rain shower. Upper elevations are feeling the heat too. I’m thinking we’ve turned the corner on runoff, but I’m going to wait one more week to be sure we’ve seen the peak of runoff. Moving water is still raging and fly fishers need to be careful when fly fishing around the streams, creeks and canal in the Eastern Sierra. Mosquitoes are everywhere and fly fishers should be using lots of repellent if they don’t want to be scratching bites days after they were fly fishing their favorite water. Nymphing continues to be the most productive method of fly fishing in the Eastern Sierra. Midges, pale morning dun mayflies, blue wing olive mayflies, scuds and stoneflies are what the trout are feeding on. Hatches are taking place on a number of waters, but few trout are coming to the surface to feed on the newly hatched adults.
Weir Pond on the south fork of Bishop Creek is one of the few safe places fly fishers can fish on Bishop Creek.
Lower Owens River
Wild Trout Section:
Looking at the flows on the Department of Water and Power Los Angeles Aqueduct webpage show flows are down to 450 CFS coming out of Pleasant Valley Reservoir. At these levels fly fishers can work the banks looking for the wild brown trout that call the wild trout section home. Access is from Five Bridges upstream by foot. There is no parking allowed off of Chalk Bluff Road at this time. Nymphing is the most productive way of fly fishing the river at these flows. Fly fishers should be cautious as the banks are still unstable from the high flows during runoff.
At 450 CFS the lower Owens River is fishable from the banks, but eroded banks should be avoided.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
This continues to be the spot to be nymphing on Hot Creek. Working the slower shallower spots, and behind instream obstacles like boulders and weed beds is producing wild trout up to 18 inches. This has become a quality fishery as fly fishers are working hard for a few trout. The good news is the few fish being landed are trophy sized trout in the 16 to 20 inch range. These fish are taking bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, midge pupae and scuds. Be sure to fish with enough weight to bounce the flies of the substrate. I’m fishing an indicator six feet above the bottom nymph with on to two BB shot on the line. Water is flowing high and clear.
Hot Creek Canyon with it steeper gradient is a hard place to fish in the high flows that are moving through Hot Creek right now.
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.
Philip Gold from Redlands hooked up to a trophy brown trout on the Upper Owens River that took a well drifted bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ear.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Horse flies and mosquitoes are the negative factor to an otherwise great fly fishing experience on the upper Owens River. I’m seeing nesting mallard ducks, hatching mayflies, flower, clouds and lots of green grass. Every once in a while, I just look up from my fly fishing to enjoy the scenery around me. The trout are feeding throughout the river despite the high off color water running in the river. The fish are primarily taking blue wing olive mayfly nymphs, pale morning dun mayfly nymphs, midge pupae and stonefly nymphs. I’ve had my best success with the Euro rod fishing with a hot spot pheasant tail nymph, stoner nymph and gold ribbed hare’s ears. Under an indicator I’m fishing with bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs and bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears. I’m finding fish in the shallow riffles and the slow deep holes. I’m making sure I’m covering all the water with my nymphs.
I seem to only check the hook points of my Crowley midges when I’ve missed several trout.
Crowley Lake:
As lake levels stabilize and water begins to warm up the midges are hatching again. Fly fishing on the lake from boats, kayaks and float tubes is picking up as fly fishers are able to take advantage of a predictable trout feeding pattern. Finding a weed free bottom is where you will have your best success. Trout are being caught in 15 to 25 feet of water. McGee Bay, Sandy Point and the north arm of the lake are seeing concentrations of fly fishers. While the standard patterns of tiger midges, zebra midges, gray midges and albino Barron’s are producing fish, a few anglers are have success with bright colored midge patterns.
Bishop Creek Canal swollen from an afternoon rain shower that came through the Eastern Sierra.
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Old Ford Dealer:
Afternoon rains have swollen an already full Bishop Creek Canal. As the flows subside the fishing will pick back up. Though the river is high and off color the trout continue to take bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, olive quilldigons, stoner nymphs and green/gold Prince nymphs. I’m methodically covering the water moving three steps upstream once I’ve thoroughly worked each spot. This tactic is producing lots of trout for me. I’m finding trout in all but the fastest sections of the canal. This continues to be a very productive spot for me to fish when I only have an hour or two to fly fish. Starting to see a few trout feeding on the surface.