This great tributary to the legendary fly fishing Crowley Lake has a ton of fish! Out of the last four consecutive days of guiding I have been visiting the Upper Owens quite a bit. The flows and temperatures remain constant with a little more water flow and a little colour shade given to the river by the Hot Creek confluence. So below that point I would say the fishing is a little less technical than the very clear upper parts.

The somewhat cooler nights and shorter days will continue and the Upper Owens well continue to load up with fish. The caddis fly hatch continues to come off early morning and somewhat perstist in parts of the river throughout the day. The elk hair caddis, and goddard caddis patterns are doing well during the stronger parts of the hatch. Hoppers fished properly as well as popular attractor patterns are getting smacked. Do not let the fish see you when fishing topwater attractor patterns, remember, they utilize a 45 degree conical vision. Stay back and stay accurate.

Nymphs are getting great results all day long! A small San Juan worm or large red midle larva above a # 20 pt or dark soft hackle will score fish all day. Others to try are #18-20 robo pt’s, hares ears, z-wing and other pupas, and midge emergers to name a few. Pull some streamers off the bank while applying the same rules as the topwater attractor patterns and enjoy success! Here you will see some different fish as we see more browns willing to come up and sample the larger protein snack imitations we throw at them. And dont forget, The Tug is the Drug!