The river has been moved up to around 300 cfs as of today. Blue Winged Olives and Midges are still coming off setting off some topwater action in select spots around 12:00pm to more or less around 2:00pm, depending on weather and day. The grannom caddis cases are sealed and they will all pop soon for another round of dry fly action. Some of these small caddis are already starting to make an appearance. The nymph fishing is what takes a downside turn with this suprise spike in flows. However, fish can still be caught; get away from the fast riffles and find the slower moving sections with a slower moving foam line to tell you fish are holding under there for food and sanctuary from the faster water. Brighter patterns such as Robo PT’s #16-20’s, prince nymphs and bubble back emergers #16-18 can be easier for fish to find under water. San juan worms in sizes #6-10 also will bag fish with these higher levels moving new life around in the water. Streamers definitely shine at these higher flows. Yellow and white or dark and white combinations have been taking fish. Put on your sink tip (Airflo depthfinder 22′ sink tip 190gr)at these flows for streamer success.

Made it out for another couple of hours on Friday the 12th to see if it was as good as the day before and we were not let down! The BWO hatch sustained itself until pretty much sunset, with parts of the river producing more emerging insects than others. The hatch has now stretched down the river past Hwy. 6 bridge and beyond. Small groups of risers can be seen as far down as E. Line Street Bridge and down. In the morning hours we noted more midge activity as the fish were feeding on the surface midges until the BWO’s come out mid-morning as the day gets going. As before the midge emerger (T-Midges and other emerging midge patterns) are getting hammered under the surface as well. RS2’s and Loop-Wing emergers in #16-20’s are also good patterns to go with during the baetis emergence. The usual Pheasant Tail and Midge Zebra patterns are also getting business done. Some very satisfying fishing! Walk it Wade it or Float it!
Tip: Move around to new water if what you are standing over is not producting and think outside the box!

These photos all taken a couple of hours ago 1/24/2010

The Lower Owens has been fishing great all through the storm and today it was on fire! I made it out of the shop to the river without clients this morning to some unbelievable dry fly action on the river! Around 10am a good cloud of midges come off to bring the trout to the surface for a few hours.. A #20-24 Hi Vis midge is one pattern that was working great! After the hatch died down the fish kept on eating below the surface with baetis imitations and emerging midge patters getting hammered! #18-20 PT’s or WD-40 getting eaten.. T-midges (emerging midge patterns)in light colours #18-22 for the dropper worked like a charm…

The Lower Owens is flowing a very low and fishable 82 cfs according to the flow chart at the top of this page. This low flow tends to really hold the fish up in larger areas of water on the river.. And the Lower O is full of places like that! Dry fly activity becomes more prevelant as you get closer up to the PV Dam and the more stable water temps exiting there. Nymphing has been good to great for most fisherman depending on the day and fisherman. Flies that will extract wild brown trout from the Lower O are: #16-20 Miracle Nymphs, Tiger and Zebra Midges of various colours, #18-20 Robo PT’s & BH P-Tails of various sorts and Coppers Johns in Reds and greens, Have a #14-16 Cased or Crawling caddis imitation as one of the flies on your Czech Nymph(I now have a great selection of Bottom Roller Czech nymphs in the Shop! Get your flies down!) or indicator setup. For Dries the fish are taking BWO’s and Midges. Baetis Comparaduns, CDC patterns, Para BWO, and good old adams #18-22 for the BWO’s and #20-24 for the midges…

Hot Creek is a gem of a stream and only gets better in the Winter with limited access leaving the creek to those who have no fear of uphill snow hikes. A 4×4 vehicle will be needed to make it up to the locked gate which is about 3/4 mile from where the plow stops. This puts you at the top of the canyon section at the FS locked gate. You can also walk this 3/4 mile section of unplowed road. From the locked gate it is about 1/4 mile of snowy downhill to fly fishing utopia. Dry fly eating activity can be found with midges in the morning and BWO action happening later morning in certain pools and runs of the creek. Hi-Vis Midge patterns and Griffiths Gnats cover it in sizes #20-24.. For the Baetis(BWO’s) try a #20-22 Para Adams, CDC and comparadun patters or just a Para BWO pattern. I have been fishing these off the RIO suppleflex 6x (nonflouro)with great results. As far as nymphs go it is small as usual. Thin bodied #18-22 Zebra and Tiger patterns get eaten with proper presentations frequently on Hot Creek this time of year. Try small PT’s and Baetis patterns in the same sizes as the midges. Some egg patters are still getting eaten by trout not willing to let anothers genes live on. Fish it light with little or no weight shorter than usual. A dry dropper setup is also a great method for extracting trout on Hot Creek right now.

The Lower Owens is now flowing at an even 90 cfs. These are low flows that make for some very decent fly fishing! It can be a little slow in the mornings but things really start happening around 9:30-10:30 am.. I have been seeing more dry fly action every day out there with the fish responding accordingly. Drift trips have been yielding good numbers of fish depending on the day and fishermans skills. Look to the slower deeper water once again in this winter wonderland for holding trout. The usual suspect are; Tiger and Zebras #18-20 in colours of olive with copper or black/silver or gold and also the red/silver combo has been taking fish. #18-20 Copper Bobs in red and copper, Trigger Nymphs, Robos and PT all in like sizes are taking fish as well. What a great river to fish in the winter!