Crowley lake is open and already living up to its reputation! Water at this moment is very clear for Crowley with low water levels, yet higher leveles than the closing time last year of mid- November. Fish are healthy, scrappy, and fat and  appear to be near their same hidouts as last year. Lots of Perch are also being caught of good size. The  Sac Perch always welcome to mix things up with a decent tug for their size. The channels, points, and spring areas will always be the things to look for here, its just which one at what time… Different configurations of Crowley style Chironomids in #10-14 are working well. Blacks and Greys with Gold, Red and Silver wrap combinations are working with various colours of bead heads. The majority of the fish tend to be in around 9-14 feet of water consistently.  Crowley will prove to be a great fishery that every angler should try when visiting the Eastern Sierra.   Stay tuned for many more surprises from this Eastern Sierra Fishery.

The Lower Owens River is flowing at a low-medium clear flow of 230 cfs at the time of this writing. A couple of things have changed since the last report;  there is more dry fly action to be found on BWO’s and a few Caddis in the evenings,  and fish are hitting more on the Caddis under the water as well as they see them moving around more. Be sure to have those patterns on hand in 16 -18 on Caddis worms and dries as well sizes 16-18 For all BWO Baetis patterns. We look for these to get thicker and river-wide as the water might stay fishable low for some time to come.

The Upper Owens is a dynamic system, with flows just over 100cfs and great water clarity the Upper O is a fine place to pass a day! Most of the 20″plus fish seem to be hiding or have gone back down to their origin of Crowley lake. What is swimming in the Upper Owens is a full finned, good sized 12-18″ trout that wants a finely placed fly in the proper pattern. A BWO hatch comes off in the afternoon with good responses from the resident trout! Thorax, Parachute and Cut-Wing BWO patterns in #16-20 will serve the fly angler well at this time. Nymphing will take most fish throughout the entire day. SJ Worms #12-16, All sorts of Caddis Worms #14-18, Flash Back PT’s, Robo and Poxy Back PT’s and various Pheasant Tail patterns and Baetis Emerger patterns in #16-20 are some designs that have served us well recently.  Pick your favorite streamer, sink it down and give It a strip to change it up a bit!

The Lower Owens is flowing at a great rate of 220 cfs at the writing on this report. Water temps are rising and fish are very active. The entire system seems to be fishing well but the dry fly fishing in the first couple of miles below the dam is very strong somedays. There are still BWO’s of a larger variety, usually #16-#18. Most well placed traditional Baetis patterns will fool these fish, although it may take quite a few fasts before the trout takes your fly over another. This is where is pays off to be very accurate! Accuracy to pick out an individual trout in his lane will yield more fish with fewer casts. Midges and Caddis have been out as well and have been being eaten on the surface by the trout, but they are not as predictable as the early afternoon BWO hatch.  Nymphs are taking fish all day long in good numbers when the trout are not rising. CDC case BWO emergers, Bubble backs, Trigger BWO nymph patterns,  RS’ S and the like in numbers #16-18 will all take fish.. T-Midges and various midge patterns in #18-20 are also patterns one must have in the Lower Owens Box at the moment.

The East Walker is still flowing low yet appears to be quite healthy and in good shape. Fish are nice sized and the average size of the fish is definitely up a bit from a few months ago. The same flies are still in play such as ; Flashbang Midges, T-Midges, Disco Midges and Emerging Midge patterns in sizes #18-20. Small Mayfly patterns such as WD-40’s and Thorax Baetis and similar patterns in #’s 18-20 will all get you in the game. For the upper fly the good old SJ Worm, Big green caddis worm or Large Frenchy type worms  in #6-14 are just a few suggestions for the East Walker. Of course streamer patterns of all sorts fish tight and true will get some big fish moving here. This stream should only get better as springtime rolls in! I will leave you all with this photo to remind you how East Walker Trout can be!! Stay tuned

My dream of catching a Golden Dorado out of the freshwater streams of Northern Argentina was fulfilled! These fish are absolutely incredible.  Hundreds of casts per day in the right spots was what it took to get these beasts to give some interest.. a cast a few feet off the shore or structure, nope, not going to happen. One must be a couple inches if not on the absolute very edge of the shoreline and structure.  Based on a very good recommendation we got a great guide Cesar Neme who commands you to fish the entire day! My best fish was a 6.5kg 14.5 lb of pure leaping fury.. I will let the photos do the talking…

Dorado Structure

Chile has been great to us as always… great people and great atmosphere!. The first two days we arrived a heavy weather system was just leaving making the fishing very tough… after that things picked up.. I am short on time so I will let the photos do the talking. I will have more photos when Jon is able to send me what we took on his camera..Stay tuned!!