Very technical and shallow short drifts here.. Weed lanes are your targets. If water is off colour fish brighter Nymphs with some flash to provide a strike. Fish Midge patterns, Baetis and Small Caddis Dries in #18-22. The same things are under the water as well. Small Baetis, Green Caddis Worms, and Midge Emerger patterns in #18-22 will get you action when correctly places on Hot Creek.
Courtesy of STM shop guide Ben Blankenhorn…
Flows through the canyon from Hirschdale to Verdi are fine and running at 90cfs. Fishing is OK in the mornings and into the afternoon. Czech Nyping 16-20 Mayflies, PTs, Copper Johns and Beatis under a rubber legs works well in the pocket water. Dead drifting the same flies works in the runs, riffles and tailouts. But get down to them.
High numbers are outweighing the size of the fish. The big guys are a bit more rare than usual.
Most Big fish have been caught on Clousers and buggers however the action has been slower.
Video from yesterday of the Lower Owens River lunchtime Baetis hatch!!
The last few days around noon a great BWO hatch has come off in the Wild Trout Barbless area of the Lower Owens River. In the foam lines and riffles of this quality water expect to find weary Trout gently plucking #18-20 Baetis dunns off the surface. I will keep updating as much as possible. This is one of the best Fly fishing experiences we have here. Especially when done with a 2-3wt or bamboo…
The Lower Owens River is flowing low and clear with lots of hungry wild trout ready to eat only the best placed flies. Wading is extremely easy and enjoyable. Hatches continue to come off but as usual they are isolated in only certain areas that change throughout the week. A buddy can have dry Fly action just around the bend while you were fishing nymphs and only saw a couple risers. The main hatches are Baetis and some Midge action. Fish emerging midges and Baetis patterns in #16-20. We should be seeing more consistent dry Fly action very soon on this beautiful river.
Still about the same.. Been thru a few storms and the water flow continues to stay low and clear… Crowley Lake fish should be heading up at any time. Small resident fish can be caught with standard nymphs and drys.. Lower Owens River still preferred.
The Lower Owens River dropped to a low flow of around 100 cfs recently. This makes for clear water and spooky fish. The system is running clean and healthy. Choose your approach and stalk holes wisely or you will only see fish darting away from you. Sporadic Dry Fly activity can be found throughout the quality water section.. Small mayflies, Caddis and Midges are on the menu. Fishing a small-medium sized streamer correctly will also give you success. Stay tuned for more action as dry Fly season rolls in.
The Lower is up to 200 cfs and fishing great. Baetis hatches can be found throughout the day on certain days providing some great action for the dry Fly enthusiast. Some large Caddis are noted popping around the water and are randomly eaten by the opportunistic Trout. Water is clear and many consider this the prime flow rate of the Lower Owens River for extracting it’s wild fish. Refer to my last report for Fly patterns to use.
The Lower Owens River was down to 150 cfs of clear fishy flow and now back up to around 200 cfs once again. Both these flow rates are extremely fishy and make for a very healthy river system.
The Upper Owens River continues to be super low yet clear and cool! Very few large specimens have made their way up the river at this time.. This is due to the Indian summer we just experienced, as well as low flows not pushing a good column out into the lake triggering the Trout instincts to swim upstream this time of year. Stay tuned here for updates on this. If I have not updated, nothing has changed. The pic below is what’s coming!
