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