A Fish Report for 9/23/14
Capt. Tom Loe
September 25, 2014
Eastern Sierras - Freshwater Fishing Report
The fall fly fishing season is in high gear around Mammoth and Bishop. Fly fishing guide trips on Crowley Lake are proving to be the best we have seen in years. Guided drift boat trips on the Owens River will be fantastic this fall for fly fishers. The Upper Owens River will soon have large migratory rainbows and browns moving up to spawn from Crowley and we can put you on these trophy trout on the fly.
Quick look fish report 9/23/14
Upper Owens really picking up for numbers, a few nice ones in the mix. Crowley starting to cool down, fish moving deeper by late morning. Middle Owens flows hanging around 270cfs. Hot Creek, East Walker, San Joaquin all have poor conditions due to low water levels. Local wilderness fires all contained, smoke no longer an issue.
Welcome back full time into the guide rotation Two Bug Doug Dolan! Two Bug is back with a vengeance, and aims to shatter big fish records for his clients this fall/winter.
Crowley Lake 9/23/14
The fish are beginning to move deeper as the significant weed lines are vanishing. You will find fish concentrations in the north end & McGee Bay in 10-12 feet in the mornings, look for more consistency in 15-18 feet by late morning. There are solid chironomid hatches (midges); however the larger fish prefer small TUI CHUBS, perch fry and last of the damsel nymphs. Use an assassin, drifters punk perch, or damsel nymph as the upper fly for perch or damsel imitations. There are also a few callibaetis mayflies emerging in the north end. My killa-baetis is a great trail fly behind a Loeberg or punk perch. Try a broken back gillie, crystal emerger, midge pupa, or standard gillie for your upper fly during chironomid emergences. Hang a broken back tiger or zebra, dark or copper crystal tiger or crystal zebra as the larva/lower fly. Give those flies some action if the surface is calm. You are competing with swimming/wiggling critters, and the movement of your flies is crucial to getting grabs. Streamer fishing using perch fry and damsel nymphs is very good currently. Loebergs and #12/10 Punk Perch, Crystal leeches are great patterns for streamer fishers here. The fish have begun to spread out so there is ample room for tubers to work the perimeters of the boat parking lots. The perch fry are perfectly sized for still water nymphing right now. CDFW has been planting sub-catchable sized fish all month. They have also tossed in some brood fish. Special angling restrictions now in place. Pinch those barbs down, love them and leave them, no scented or live bait please.
Upper Owens River 9/23/14
Numbers have really picked up this week. Two Bug reports steady action while nymphing the deeper holes above the bridge. There are good numbers of grasshoppers around, try a hopper & a dropper combo in the afternoon. Water conditions are very good, although flows are very low. You will find the river choked with weed in many sections down from the bridge. River conditions are better above the confluence of Hot Creek. Tandem nymph rigs in the deeper pools are doing the trick. You can also dead drift broken back midges & egg patterns without an Under-cator. Flows consistent at 49 cfs. Short water tactics are necessary to fool the wild fish here. Look for the deeper pools and runs during off hatch periods. Caddis (#18 or smaller dark bodies) and mayfly adults are good choices for the open riffle water. Hi-vis para bwo and caddis # 16-18 will get grabs. Some hoppers showing up now. Use a Stimulator or larger hi-vis pattern with a bead head nymph as the dropper 2 feet beneath the dry for a deadly tanden rig. Nymphing with SJ worms, crystal egg patterns, flashback PT's, Assassin bird's nest, broken back midges, crystal olive caddis & zebra larva patterns near the bottom. I prefer to use a clear or yellow Under-cator on moving water as they are less conspicuous. The pink & orange work better on the still waters like Crowley and Bridgeport. Think about streamers in the stiff afternoon winds. You will have to hunt down pools large; or deep enough to cast a streamer-they are very limited under current conditions. Patterns like Loebergs, Punk Perch, Crystal Leeches, & Agent Orange will get takes when used with a light sinking tip line.
Middle Owens River (Bishop area) 9/23/14
Game on! Flows are trending down. 270-280cfs currently. Drift boat trips are the best way to fish the river with flows above 125cfs. Water clarity has improved over the last week & conditions are great. We just need the air temps to cool down into the low 80′s & it will rock. Birds nest patterns like Assassins, flashback PT's, and hares ears for good profiles of a mayfly nymph and caddis pupa. Crystal olive caddis larva & olive zebra midges are also good choices for a lower fly imitation of caddis larvae or midge larva. Have some hi-vis caddis adults & hi-vis para mayfly adults for the morning hatch. Drifting has been very good when the flows come down below 300cfs. The chub and sucker spawn was epic this summer, and we are seeing "balls" of these small baitfish in the pillow water and along the weeds. Streamer fishing is the best way to imitate these small forage fish by using heavy sinking tip lines and Loebergs, Punk Perch, & Crystal leech, & Spruce-a-bu's.
Hot Creek 9/23/14
Hot Creek is suffering from low water and extensive weed growth. This limits the available water you can fish. Dry flies are the most effective patterns to use. I suggest a 10 foot leader and rod to keep the fly line off the weeds. This is hopper time in our region. Windy periods are best to toss terrestrial patterns. My hi-vis caddis & hi-vis para BWO are good choices to fish the faster slot water that has less weed. Hopper imitations are good call in the early fall-use a stimulator or grass hopper imitation if the wind comes up. Para ant patterns are also a good choice if the wind is gusting in the canyon. There are a few sections that can be fished with a dry dropper nymph rig. Broken back zebras or assassin birds nest bead heads in #18 are good calls for the dropper.
*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide Hot Creek.
San Joaquin River 9/23/14
Please be extra, extra, careful with cigs and campfires. It is a tinderbox in our forests currently. Flows are at winter levels-very, very low. The wading easy in all sections. Fly fishing has become more difficult due to very low flows. The fish are holding in the limited pools and deeper slots. Attractor dry patterns like Stimulators, hi-vis para bwo's & caddis are good choices that are easier to see in the plentiful pocket water that defines the SJR. Use a bead head flashback PT or assassin birds nest as a dropper in the limited deeper pools and runs. Sotcher and Starkweather Lakes were planted this summer and have decent conditions for tubing.
*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide the San Joaquin.
East Walker River 9/23/14
Flows currently at 22cfs. We are not guiding here currently.
At prolonged lower flows the EW has a tendency to fill in with aquatic weeds-thus limiting the water you can dead drift flies. It is currently very warm & green with some surface action late day.
Bridgeport Reservoir 9/23/14
The RV Parks are open. Call for information on launching, the lake is exceptionally low. Water is cooling and the large browns should be an easy target for tubers this month.
West Walker River 9/23/14
Flows are very low but the water is clear. You will be hard pressed to find a pool that is 3 feet in depth. Hit the canyon and Pikel meadows sections. Dry/dropper bead head nymphs like crystal olive caddis, tiger midges, broken back tigers, assassin birds nest, & flashback PT's are all good calls fished below a Stimulator or hi vis caddis or BWO adult as your indicator. If you can find a deeper pool around stocking points the LOEBERG is a deadly fly here. Light sinking tip or just let it settle with a floating line.
Alpine Lakes 9/23/14
Some of the "hike in" lakes like Kirman, Parker, & McCloud can be excellent during the fall. The scenery alone is worth the walk! Packing a tube in is the best means of getting into consistent fish. Bring both floating, and full sinking lines to cover the water more effectively as the fish go deeper when the sun climbs. Tubing the inlets & drop-offs on the "drive to" alpine lakes with full sinking lines and streamer patterns is a good way to locate "pods" of planted fish. The holdover, or wild browns and brookies in some areas are better fished using the still water nymphing method below an Under-cator. You can also try dry/dropper bead head combos with flashback PT's as the nymph & hi-vis para BWO's as the dry on the calm sun down bite days. Still water nymphing with scuds, assassin bird's nest, flashback PT's, & broken back midge patterns will work near inlets and along tulles or drop-offs. Streamers like Spruce-A-Bu's, Agent Orange, Loebergs, & Crystal Leeches used with a heavy sinking tip, or full sinking line will get you into them. Keep those streamers in the 10-15 foot range working the steep ledges or deeper sections near the inlets. Callibaetis or pheasant tail trailers can be deadly in some locations tied to a streamer.
Pleasant Valley Reservoir 9/23/14
Intermittent power generation now occurring. The level is currently very low. Fly fishing can be excellent near the transition to the inlet section, or in the small river directly below the powerhouse when the flows are low, or stable. Forget fishing the river, or inlet if the hydro station is ramped up. The quiet water at the inlet can be great for tubers during this period. Dry dropper combos using Stimulators, hi-vis para BWO's or hi-vis caddis, may be used as the upper fly-use crystal olive caddis larva, flashback PT's, Assassins, broken back or crystal tiger & zebra midges as your dropper bead head nymph. Streamers like Loebergs, Agent Orange, Crystal leeches, & Spruce-A-Bu's will get you into some nice browns in the rez proper. Use a full sinking line to get down to 10-15 feet quickly. You can also fish "Crowley midge style" in the rez near the drop-offs. Fish the same chironomid patterns below an Under-cator. Gillies, broken back midges, crystal emergers & pupa patterns. Tiger & zebra midges are always a solid choice for your larva pattern.
We have a fully stocked fly box and Under-cators in Reagan's Sporting Goods in Bishop. The Drifters fly box will carry all the guide tested patterns you see on the fish report including patterns for Pyramid Lake, Eagle Lake, Lake Almanor, & other great trout fisheries in the west. This is a great shop with knowledgeable and super friendly people that is open 7 days a week. They open early, so you can get flies and tackle and still be on the water for the hatch! They are located on Main St. with easy access and parking. This store has everything you need for fishing, hunting, camping. They sell licenses too!
I have added a picture gallery to the website this year. You can click on it at the top of any page of this website. My apologies to any of our wonderful clients who have been with Sierra Drifters for the last seventeen seasons and do not have a picture posted. I just can't post the 30,000 pics we have taken! I will make an effort over time to post what I have. Click on the "gallery" button and do a search for your name, or scroll through the pages. You can double click on the picture to enlarge it once it is located.
Thanks for reading my report.
Be the fly….Tom Loe
Sierra Drifters Guide Service
www.sierradrifters.com
760-935-4250
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