Hooked Up!!! Snow runoff has peaked and trout are taking flies. Fly fishers are finally consistently hooking up with trout. Freestone creeks should still be fly fished with caution as they are still flowing at high levels. My clients and I are finding trout willing to bend are rods as they take nymphs and dries. Mayflies, caddis and midges are hatching and bringing trout to the surface. Mosquitoes are receding as the water around the creeks and rivers are drying up.
With peak runoff behind us, fly fishers are hooking up on Eastern Sierra waters like Scott Carlson from Eugene, Oregon on the upper Owens River.
Lower Owens River
Wild Trout Section:
With the peak of snow runoff behind us the flows in the lower Owens River are down to 350 CFS. I will wade clients in the river when the flows drop below 300 CFS. I fished the river at 450 CFS from the bank with my Euro rig. I caught brown trout up to 14 inches with hot spot pheasant tail nymphs and stoner nymphs. The banks are unstable from the high runoff and fly fishers should be aware of where they are standing on the rivers banks. Access is limited as Chalk Bluff Road is closed at the bluff and at Pleasant Valley Campground.
With flows of 350 CFS fly fishers are catching wild brown trout from the banks of the lower Owens River.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
Water levels are receding, water clarity is good and the trout are feeding. Euro nymphing with a hot spot pheasant tail nymph, stoner nymph and green/gold Prince nymph produced trout during the morning mayfly hatch. Once the hatch was over the fishing shut down. Some trout were taking the mayflies off the surface, but the nymphs were producing big trout. Fly fishing here will just get better as waterflows recede. Now is the time to learn how to fly fish the creek. Key to success here is imitating the stage of the aquatic insect the trout are feeding on and getting a drag free drift.
Bob Rusitto hooked up to a trophy brown trout on Hot Creek while nymphing with a Euro rig.
Hot Creek
Canyon Section:
With receding water levels fly fishers can fish sections of the canyon and find trout willing to take their flies. Nymphing is the most productive methods of fly fishing the canyon right now. There are a few spots in the canyon where trout are feeding on the hatching mayflies on the surface. Best flies are bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, copper John’s, scuds, burlap caddis and olive quilldigons. Key to success is having the right amount of weight on the line.
Twenty one inch wild brown trout caught by Eugene, Oregon fly fisher Scott Carlson on a hot spot pheasant tail nymph. Photo by Scott Carlson..
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Water levels are dropping and the upper Owens River is fishing as good as I’ve seen. Nymphing is producing trophy rainbow trout and brown trout. The pale morning dun hatch is pretty much over. The caddis hatch is just starting. Nymphing with hot spot pheasant tail nymph, stoner nymphs, green/gold Prince nymphs, bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs and bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears are fooling pan sized trout and trophy trout Mosquitoes and black flies are still present, but are not out of control like they have been,
Hooked up on Crowley lake while fishing a midge under an indicator in 15 feet of water.
Crowley Lake:
Lake is pretty much at full level. The fishing has stabilized as the trout are now on a feeding pattern fly fishers can anticipate. The north west corner of McGee Bay is where the bulk of the boat flotilla is fly fishing. The trout have been feeding mid-morning in five to 15 feet of water. Fly fishers are using zebra midges, tiger midges, gray midges and albino Barron’s.
Patricia Souza from Winters hooked up to the first trout she’s landed all by herself while Euro nymphing on Bishop Creek Canal.
Bishop Creek Canal:
Behind the Old Ford Dealer:
With mid-day temperatures in the high 90’s fly fishers are finding it most comfortable to fish early or late in the day. Trout are feeding all day long for those fly fishers willing to brave the heat. Fly fishers are catching wild brown trout and stocker rainbows on nymphs under an indicator or with a Euro rig. Bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, stoner nymphs and green/gold Prince nymphs are what the trout are taking.