Bishop Fly Fishing: Lower Owens River 5/12/09

May 12, 2009
Fishing Reports

The Lower Owens has had some interesting flow rates recently.. One day it was up to 300cfs and now it is back down to a perfect floating flow rate of 150cfs… Fishing has been hot here as warm spring weather descends upon the ownes valley.. Midges, Baetis, and Caddis are coming off here and usually daily and in that order. Casting to these off the front of my drift boat is addicting! Adams patterns, cut-wing caddis and Elk Hair Caddis are bringing the fish up! The nymphing remains very strong with Tiger midges, Hares ears, PT’s, Robo PT’s, RS 2’s, and a special chinchilla nymph that I have developed and have been absolutely killing them with it.. use all of these nymphs in sizes #16-20… Streamers are also seeing more action with the warmer temps around. Most colours of streamers fished properly seem to really get hammered.. Look for the dry fly hatches to be strongest around mid-day and prepare for some unforgettable fishing.

Mammoth Fly Fishing: The Gorge 5/12/09

May 12, 2009
Fishing Reports

The Gorge is doing what is usually does.. it fishes great as long as you can make the cast without spooking everything around.. Dries eaten are small midges, BWO’s and stimulator patterns seem to bring them up no matter what.. Buggers kill them here and sight fishing is very visual on this water.. Dry dropper setups will get you into a lot of fish, but will added possibility of being out of the water more.. Be careful on your way down in and especially in the rocks coverend in vegetation along the stream itself.. The brown trout down here are as beautiful as any you will see..

Mammoth Fly Fishing: Hot Creek 5/12/09

May 12, 2009
Fishing Reports

Hot Creek is fishing great with more consistent hatches coming off every day! I have been seeing midges earlier, followed by some baetis action, and on some days later on the small amiocentrus caddis make an appearance…. Water is in great shape and the Hot Creek residents seem to know winter in over and the spring feed is on. Up in the flat water near the hatchery some absolute BEASTS are roaming.. Dawn and dusk with a large streamer. That is all I will say about that… Use the same flies as in my previous reports..try the usual small midges and WD 40’s ,as well as a variety of small PT’s, hares ears, and small caddis worms usually imitated by a green midge larva, z-wing caddis, or a small soft hackle. For the dries a P. Adams #18-20 or CDC imitations work great for the mayfly hatch. Various caddis patterns will fool the fish here but I prefer some cut wing life like patterns for this stream. Small EHCaddis will also get you into trout here.. Accurate casting and short drag free drifts will be the method here.. I recently teamed up wth another popular fishng guide and acquired my permits for Hot Creek!!

Mammoth Fly Fishing: Upper Owens 5/12/09

May 12, 2009
Fishing Reports

The Upper Owens is fishing pretty decent with midges coming off in the AM hours and a decent BWO hatch appears on the surface of the water as the temperature warms up… Both hatches have come off every time I have been there in the past couple of weeks. Streamers fished with a strip and stop fashion will catch fish all day.. Above the Hot Creek confluence water remains gin clear and dries, or dry droppers seem to be the best technique here.. Below Hot Creek one can go a bit deeper and use some sort of an indicator or a high sticking technique depending on how you like to fish… WD-40’s, various styles of PT’s, Tiger midges, hares ears and small trigger nymphs will get you into some fine looking fish…try them all in a sizes #16-18s.. CDC BWO patterns and griffiths gnats will bring up fish on the dries… Using a large foam hopper or club sandwich over the nymphs will also get some attention.

Bridgeport Fly Fishing: East Walker River 4/03/09

April 4, 2009
Fishing Reports


EW is fishing great right now.. Weather is nice and flows are very fishable.. I believe it is up to 80 cfs as I type this. The meadows section crowds a bit as the days roll on, but, one can find more solitude below the bridge where the trout seem to be just as big, just farther in between where they live.. San Juan worms of any style fished properly will take fish.. Small disco style midges are also a must on this water… Fishing seems to be good all day.. Expect some large fish amoung the smaller ones while nymphing and keep the flies on the bottom or just suspended above the bottom.. Put on as large of a Streamer as you want and watch what comes to the end of your line!! It will shock you! I fished this water with clients and family six days out of the last week and we landed many many fish over 20′, some much larger than that….

Dont discount any possible holding water of having fish… The EW is healthy this year beyond other years I have seen it…The fish have been eating lots and lots of carne and showing it! I look forward to hitting this water days in advance.. If you have not tried the EW now is the time as it has been featured in two very popular fly fishing magazing very recently.. Time to book!

Bishop Fly Fishing: Lower Owens River 4/03/09

April 4, 2009
Fishing Reports



The Lower Owens is a place one can count on some solid dry action for a good few hours.. Bring your EHC’s and BWO’s with a lightweight rod and prepare to lose yourself amoung the masses of bugs and splashes of wild brown trout.. Weather has been perfect and the flows have stabalized at 150cfs, this is really perfect for floating the sections I prefer.. Under the surface try soft hackle PT’s and SH caddis will get you into fish consistently and all day.. Also for the underwater nymphing, the trusty hares ear and robo PT’s shoud also be players in your fly box.. Tiger type midges also work all day here..

For the streamer Tug is the Drug addicts these have been good days.. Whites and lighter coloured streamers seem to attract more fish recently.. Use smaller streamers than on the Upper Owens.. For the nymphs and drys stick to #’s 14 – 18…

Mammoth Fly Fishing : Hot Creek 4/3/2009

April 4, 2009
Fishing Reports

The gate has been open and Hot Creek canyon has been seeing some slightly increased pressure. The kiosk area seems to usually have a few cars around with fly fishers scattered everywhere. The tokyo hole has some of the most educated trout on the Continent.. In spite of it all Hot Creek continues to be one of the greatest places a fly fisher can practice his art.. Small caddis and BWO’s are coming off as the day warms up with Midges coming off in the AM.. Some very exciting and challenging dry fly activity can be found on Hot Creek in most spots on most days.. Be prepared for a lot of casting and short precise drifts.. For the underwater menu.. try the usual small midges and WD 40’s ,as well as a variety of small PT’s, hares ears, and small caddis worms usually imitated by a green midge larva or a small soft hackle.. Dean Endress’s Robo PT in a #18 really got us into a ton of fish one afternoon.. Be prepared for a great experience on this stream!

Mammoth Fly Fishing : Upper Owens 4/3/2009

April 3, 2009
Fishing Reports

The Upper O continues to be a well visited area.. And for good reason, its still fishing well! The fish are slow moving cold creatures until the sun hits the water then the bite is on until it cools down or the sun sets.. Midges and baetis continue to be the active bugs on the Upper O.. Small parachute patterns with long casts to unspooked fish will find an angler action topwater.. Small klinks and griffiths knats will also bring fish up off the bottom… Disco type midges and really getting some great action as well as a variety of small PT’s, hares ears, and small caddis worms.. Streamers as always are eaten on the Upper Owens, pick your streamer of choice, find the deeper holes, and get it down there..think larger on the streamers.., …. Everything else around a size #16 – #18 in colours from black to olives..

Bishop Fly Fishing: Lower Owens River 2/24/09

February 25, 2009
Fishing Reports

The Lower Owens has some of the best wild brown trout fishing an angler could ask for. Consistent dry fly action tops it off to make for a day that passes you by far too quickly.. Weather has been up past 65 degrees here recently on the Lower O mixed with sun and overcast, though the last few days have been more on the sunny side.. Flows have stabilized for the moment at around 100cfs.

Streamers and nymphs continue to produce fish with choice streamers being in colours of green and blacks… Some whites can also create trout interest..Use smaller streamers here than those of the Upper O.. Nymphs are still PT’s and baetis emergers, hares eares also do good as an emerging baetis as their colour lightens as they emerge.. Trigger nymphs and all sorts of midge larva and emergers still take fish.. Green caddis worms tied in soft hackle patterns seems to be a fish favorite as well. Soft hackels in general seem to be fine choices. Sizes are #14-18

The dry fly hatch comes off like clockwork every afternoon and it is a blast to fish out of my driftboat.. Size 14 Bwo’s casted in the path of rising brown trout will be eaten .. Parachutes and classic hackle patterns both take fish.. 6x seems to get more attention to the fly instead of the usual 5x… Here is an example of a BWO on my Winston IIx… About a size #14

Putting a bend on the bamboo during a hatch…

The hatch dies off after around 3:00 pm and then back to your nymphs to continue your fish count for the day.. Around dark the river slows down a bit but the avid nympher will contine to feed his need for trout.. Great weather and 7000-11000 fish per mile @ 100cfs with reliable dry fly hatches and drift boats make the Lower O a great winter destination…

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