Hot Creek Bow taken on a #22 BWO Dry Fly

Hot Creek is experiencing a great BWO hatch from around 10:30am to 1:00pm. The small river comes alive in most parts of the stream around this time, forcing  the fly angler to lose oneself in the multitude of rising rainbow and brown trout in the clear water right in front of them. The normal baetis patterns and poly wing emergers will get you into fish before and after this great Baetis hatch. Caddis are also present with some response. Flies to tryare #20-22 Thorax BWOs, #18-22 Standard BWO, #20 Comparaduns and #20-22 Ext.Body BWO patters. Fertile Caddis #20 and Henrys Fork Caddis #20 are also goodpattern to have in your fly arsenal. Loop Wing BWO emergers #18-20, Thorax BWO emergers #18-20 and Poly Wing emergers #18-22 will all help you take fish at Hot Creek. Look for great hatches here throughout the winter!

Large Crowley Lake Trout caught up river Oct. 2011

It is a great thing that the Upper Owens is connected to Crowley Lake! Large fish can migrate up the river and hold in the many large holes the Upper Owens has to offer down low and up high. These fish are starting to show up from the lake  up into the river making for a very exciting day when you know that each cast could be a very large fish! Flowing at a nice low flow rate of around 80 cfs you must look for the obvious large holes and holding water where a large fish would feel safe and sheltered. Streamers and nymphs are the best ways to extract these large fish from the water of the Upper O. Prince nymphs, Pheastant tails, Sparkle Trigger Nymphs, The Ticket Czech Nymph in green and large Zebra and T-midges all in sizes #16-20 are some of the flies getting attention now.  Small hares ears in olive and natural trailed behind a larger nymph can also solicit a strike this time of year. Have some flashy patterns on hand as well if you have a problem getting their attention.. Large streamers of your choice fished correctly will also bring success this time of year. Look forward for this to get better and better as fall continues and temperatures slowly drop.

Large Rainbow migrating up river Oct. 2011

Prime East Walker Cutt Bow Colors

 The East Walker water level is down to a very fishable flow rate of 170cfs. Fish are starting to move around and up the river to participate in yearly rituals. The river is slightly off colour as usual allowing big specimens to move about the river undisturbed for the most part. Up towards the dam there seems to be an influx of small rainbow stockers that have been sucked in from the reservoir. These are easy prey for fly anglers for a few minutes and will hopefully serve as food for some large brown trout. Streamers are getting hit, but one has to be accurate and precise by picking out trout lies and casting well past them and retrieving the fly through them.  Fish your favorite double bunny, clouser patterns, or large Matukas in sizes #2-8. We have been throwing a few mouse patterns to the opposite banks and always getting some kind of movement on the rodents… hooking up with them is another lesson though! Small perch fry, crayfish and SJ worms in sizes #6-12 above a small nymph/midge is the most common way to take most East Walker Residents. Biot Midges #16-20,  Pearl or Olive T-Midge emergers #18-20, Miracle Nymphs #18, Serenstupity #18, and varias other similar patterns will get you success here. Look for flows to drop more soon as there is only a couple weeks of irrigation left in the Nevada season.

The Lower Owens is flowing at a very high rate of over 500cfs! Few spots are fishable if you know where and how to enter the water. Slow foam lines will yield fish when nymphed deep off an indicator or with a tight line czech style. Trico clouds are seen early morning with little response from the fish on top. Under the water the fish are gorging on the emerging nymphs. RS2 Tricos, and Grey RS2s are being eaten in sizes #18-22. Hares Ears, PT’s, Trigger nymphs and Robo PT’s will also get fish. Extreme caution when wading here!

Jim C. Proudly displays his first wild brown on the fly!

The East Walker is flowing at a modest 356 cubic feet a second. Water is in the low 60’s and fish are hungry and selective! Fishing early pays off as there is less traffic and fish are more willing. Fish will come up to large attractor patterns in the right spots depending on the mood of the fish. Streamers thrown in the correct holes with the right action will take aggressive browns, though, it has not been consistent on the big meat. Nymphing deep seems to be where it is at this point. Cool nights will quickly move the river to consistent streamer action which will be reflected in this report immediately! Poly wing Emergers #18-20, T-Midge Emergers #18-22, Grey Biot Midges #16-20, Miracle Nymphs #18, Ticket in Green #18, Ascending Caddis #16-20 and RS2 Trico Emergers #20 -22. Also WD-40’s in Olive and Greys in #’s 18-20 are also great flies to have in your East Walker arsenal. Stay tuned and this fishery cools down and the fishing heats up!

Early Sept. LO Brown

The Lower Owens is flowing at 400cfs and  continues to be a producer of very fine and wild brown trout. Hatches continue in the evening time after the sun goes down and gets thick in the last 1/2 hour right before dark with fish responding well! The same patterns have been taking fish as in my last report with a few less PMD’s making an appearance over the water. A few tricos can be seen emerging with the caddis throughout the day with the caddis getting thicker during the evening and on cloudy days.  Attractor patterns are always good to have as the larger fly on your nymph setups on this river. The same flies are still taking fish as the last report with the green caddis patterns taking many trout. Sparkle Caddis pupa Olive #16-18, SerenStupity Char. #18,Partridge Caddis Emergers #16-18, Bubbleback emergers #16-18, Poly wings #18-20, Purple and standard Prince Nymphs #14-18,Copper Jons in Green and Brass #16-18 and the like will take fish when put in the front of a fishes face.. On the surface in the evenings try Light Cahills, Para PMD’s, and Ext. Body Mayfly patterns sizes #16-20 depending on the size of the bugs you see out that particular evening.