Guided fly fishing trips for Crowley Lake, Grant & Silver Lakes, the San Joaquin, Upper and Middle Owens Rivers, Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Hot Creek, & the Gorge located near Mammoth and Bishop Ca. will give you opportunities to catch trophy rainbows and browns while being guided by expert fly fishing pros. Sierra Drifters guides utilize top of the line center console bay boats, drift boats, float tubes, and high quality fly fishing tackle to guide you on these blue ribbon trout waters.
Quick look fish report 7/30/16
San Joaquin River is very good for dry fly fishing, water conditions excellent. Crowley Lake algae bloom on the decline, catching picking up as water levels drop. Special angling regulations/access to marina begin on 8/1/16 here. Middle Owens flows blown out at 480cfs. East Walker fair/good, flows down to 140cfs. Hot Creek continues to be on the slow side. Upper Owens fair. Water levels very low in Long Years section. Planted rainbows can be found in deeper pools. Heavy aquatic weeds below the Benton Bridge. Alpine Lakes a good place to escape the summer heat. Tubers fishing full sinking lines can get into planted rainbows.
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Crowley Lake 7/30/16
The lake level has come down two feet recently. The submerged aquatic weeds are now protruding making the deeper weed lines easy to identify. This condition will set the stage for some great fly fishing in August as the perch fry, & damsel nymphs hide along the edges. The algae bloom has tapered off, & is not causing presentation issues currently. Sandy Pt. & Hilton have had decent snaps recently; but McGee Bay is the best overall. Tubers should be looking to troll some damsel nymphs along the weed lines in McGee, Sandy Pt. and Hilton Bay. As the lake level drops, the leader length will decrease for still water nymphers. 16-19 feet is now the norm. The trout are concentrating in the cooler, more oxygenated water emanating from McGee Creeks influence, & the insulation that deeper water provides. The damsel nymph emergence is also triggering aggressive feeding behavior as the trout follow the nymphs towards the submerged aquatic weed lines. Hang your flies above a clean mud bottom in close proximity to a hard weed line for consistent action. We are having good fortune at times near the inlet to McGee in 4-7 feet. Locating a weed free area large enough to work is not easy, & the spots are limited. Gillies, broken back midges, crystal zebra, or tiger midges (big ones), and damsel nymphs are all good calls while fishing below an “sliding” Under-cator. My go to rig the last few days has been an Assassin #14/16 as the upper, with a dark crystal tiger midge (#14), or broken back copper tiger (#16) as the larva pattern. Keep the tigers 6-12 inches off the deck. ***Special angling regulations begin on 8/1/16 and will continue throughout the remainder of the season on Crowley. The entry gate to the marina opens at 7am instead of 6am also.
This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th.
Upper Owens River 7/30/16
Conditions are poor downstream from the Benton Bridge due to heavy aquatic weed growth. Upstream from the bridge special regulations apply, & the conditions are better above the confluence of Hot Creek inlets. Grasshoppers are prevalent currently. Use a stimulator with a bead head nymph like an Assassin, FB PT, olive crystal caddis; or olive zebra midge as a dropper. You will also see a solid caddis hatch. Hi-vis caddis adult patterns used with a dropper will also get grabs. The water levels are very low above HC, & the irrigation canal inlets. You will find most of the planted rainbows, and wild browns in the deepest pools and pockets. There are a few nicer rainbows hanging around that are best fooled by attractor patterns like the “Drifters Crawler” and crystal eggs. A strange thing this season are the migration of Sacramento Perch moving up the river. You may get into quite a few of them in the deeper pools.
The section upstream from the Benton Bridge is open year around with special regulations. Seasonal closures, and angling restrictions apply downstream from the bridge, check regulations before fishing in this section.
Middle Owens River (Bishop area) 7/30/16
Blown out. FLOWS ARE 480 cfs. and the highest in several years. Wading is not practical, or advisable in the wild trout section currently.
This fishery remains open year around. Special regs from the footbridge at Pleasant Valley campground to the fishing monument 4.7 miles downstream.
Hot Creek 7/30/16
The run-off from Mammoth Creek has dropped a bunch, and flows are coming down on the Crick. Fishing has been fair/slow this summer. The slower fishing can be directly attributed to the lack of planting from the HC hatchery. This is the primary reason HC is not kicking out the numbers it once did. HC is now being managed as a wild trout fishery only, and new practices are not allocating the planting of additional trout here. You can still get into some good bites on smaller fish using scuds, Assassins, and smaller olive crystal caddis, or dubbed olive caddis larva patterns while nymphing the deeper pockets that are weed free. Caddis adults and hoppers are best for surface action.
This is a year around fishery with special regs in place.
*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide Hot Creek.
Pleasant Valley Reservoir 7/30/16
Continuous hydro power generation, & fluctuating water levels are not conducive to consistently good fishing at this time. Pretty dang hot here after the sun gets up a little too. The higher flows will help clean out the aquatic weeds to improve conditions when it starts to cool down in the fall.
The Gorge 7/30/16
Best time to fish this area is mid-September, through May. Flows are great at 52cfs. ; but it is very warm here by late morning.
Season open year around.
Bridgeport Reservoir 7/30/16
Getting tougher as higher water temps are driving the fish down and slowing the bite. Still some decent fishing for planted rainbows during cooler periods of the day. Full sinking lines with Punk perch, or damsel nymphs will get you grabs.
This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th.
East Walker River 7/30/16
The EW is showing signs of life after a tough couple of years. The flows are now down to an ideal 1400cfs. There remain issues with aquatic weeds in the slower sections. Focus on the pocket water; or riffles for more consistent action. Heavily weighted nymph rigs fished in the faster riffle water downstream will get you a shot at a larger browns. Strong caddis, midge, mayfly, & damsel fly hatches are going off. Try larger Assassins, FB PT’s. and damsel nymphs. Hi-vis caddis, and hoppers are targets for surface feeders. Lob some Loebergs, Punk Perch, or damsel nymph streamers for a shot at bad LeRoy brown during low light periods.
This fishery is open year around below the Bridgeport Reservoir dam to Nevada State line. Open year a in Nevada also.
West Walker River 7/30/16
Water clarity/flows are good now. Fish the rifles, & pocket water near Pikel Meadows, or Chris Flats sections. A deadly rig for this area is a dry/dropper using Stimulators, or hi-vis caddis and mayfly imitations as the upper fly. Tie on bead head tiger midges, Assassins, or FB PT’s as your nymph about 2-4 feet below the dry.
This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th in some sections, open year around along HWY 395. Check regulations for specific info.
San Joaquin River 7/30/16
Conditions have greatly improved here and the SJ is in good shape. I like to fish hi-vis mayfly; or caddis patterns with a bead head dropper nymph like an Assassin, FB PT, or tiger midge. The riffles are best fished with high riding dries like stimulators, parachute ant patterns, foam beetles, & attractor adults. I suggest you have a stout wading staff even though the flows are down. The skeeters are ravenous down here this summer, don’t forget then deet.
*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.
This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th. Access is prone to weather/road closures, & may not allow entry during open periods of the season.
Jurassic Pond 7/30/16
Beautiful Jurassic Pond is a private trophy trout fishery that is exclusively guided by Sierra Drifters pros. It is situated near McGee Creek, and overlooks Crowley Lake. We fish with streamers, nymphs, & dry flies during warmer periods. You will not find larger trout anywhere in the Eastern Sierra. If you want a dance with a twenty pound rainbow, or double digit brown-this is the best private fishery in the region. Summer session are booking fast. Contact us for availability please.
This is private water, and access is by permission from Tom Loe of Sierra Drifters Guide Service.
Alpine Lakes 7/30/16
Fish those inlets and outlets this time of year. There are some good looking 1-4 lb. Oregon planted holdover rainbows making it interesting in some of the local alpine lakes. Blue skies and warm temps will get the trout on the chew. Tubers trolling streamers with full sinking lines can get into some fish while targeting drop-offs, inlets, & structure. Agent Orange, Crystal Leeches, Loebergs, Spruce-A-Bu’s, and Punk Perch patterns are good calls to use along drop-offs, structures like submerged stumps, and near inlets. Try dry dropper rigs using hi-vis mayfly patterns as your indicator/dry fly while suspending a small midge, Killa-baetis or Assassin nymph below it 2-3 feet during low light periods. The wild brookies and browns can be fooled using this technique during the warmer summer months.
These fisheries open the last Saturday in April & close November 15th. Weather related closures may prohibit access during otherwise open periods of the trout season.
