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Eastern Sierras
Capt. Tom Loe
May 12, 2004
Eastern Sierras - Freshwater Fishing Report
Mothers Day 2004 Fly Fishing Report
May 11, 2004
Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Happy belated Mom’s day to all you mothers in waders.
We need to give you a quick update on some areas that have changed since last weeks fish report. The weather has been a factor in regards to some real “ear flapping” winds that have buffeted the Eastern Sierra off and on over the last 8 days and they are forecast to continue until the weeks end.
Unseasonably warm air temperatures this month have been the cause for some of the freestone and spring creeks to prematurely begin rising from the snowmelt. Although daytime highs will become more seasonable over the next several days look for this trend to continue and anticipate high off-colored water in some areas, with all regions being affected in the near future.
Crowley Lake: EPIC
There have only been a couple of times over the years we have reported the “catching” here to be this good. If you have an opportunity to fish Crowley in the near future you will not be disappointed. This epic bite will not hold up forever, although we do anticipate an above average season overall. The fish are running on average about 13 inches, with many 2 and 3 year olds in the mix that will size out around 20 inches.
The Mothers Day hatch of chironomids is no surprise as it has been very consistent over the years on Crowley. This year it has been tremendous and combined with the warm daytime temperatures we have been experiencing over 100 fish per day to the net (love and left all of them for sure) last week, with many anglers netting 30 or more individually each day on average.
Sandy Point has been best in 10-15 feet, but the North Arm and Leighton Springs have also been good for those who want some space. It has been tight at times especially on the weekends.
Drifter’s crystal tiger and zebra midges in #16-18 are best in the mornings, with our gilled chironomids or “gillies” #18-20 kicking major caboose during the emergence late mornings. The wind has only made fishing better most days if you can put up with it and the direction does not muddy the water coming off the shoreline.
Lots of veteran Sierra Drifters fished with us the last 8 days and they all had big scores. Wally Sinner from Rancho Cucamonga, CA and his fly fishing nemesis Steve Long from Corona, CA did a couple days on Crowley and between the three of us netted 177 rainbows to 21 inches, with 102 being caught and released in a single 8 hour day. Very impressive stats for any fishery. Steve got big fish honors with a gorgeous 21 inch Eagle Lake rainbow and Wally got ten bucks from me…I will take my 5th amendment rights at this point. Check out the paint jobs on these rainbows. If you cannot view the pictures in this email please click on www.sierradrifters.com
Lower Owens River: Good
Flows came down some this week (190 cfs) and combined with some real nice weather the rainbows and browns responded well especially in the wild trout section for those fishing later in the afternoon and early mornings with caddis imitations both on the surface and nymphing. Stick to zebra midges and caddis pupa with a dash-o-flash built into them #16-20. Mid-days pretty much sucked this week here.
We also had some good days on the drift boat sections tugging streamers like the Loeberg and punk perch #10. Wally and Steve (the guys that whacked em on Crowley) had 40 to the net down here also. The bigs are becoming more timid however as the sun gets higher in the sky during the afternoons. Keep those rod tips way down if you choose to dip and strip. A heavy sinking tip line will really help; 200 grs and 24 feet long is a good choice with a 6 wt rod.
Hit the Lower “O” soon. Flows will be rising in the near future and it will be tough down here.
Hot Creek: Fair
The water turned high and muddy for a time this week and combined with the wind this area was not as good as advertised. Conditions should improve by this weekend. If it does not go to chocolate milk here off colored water can sometimes work to your advantage for the larger browns. They become less weary and will hit streamer patterns and soft hackles in the larger pools and channels when the flows rise here. Loebergs and our punk perch imitations #10-12 are solid choices when cast with a light sink tip line of 8-12 feet. Use nymph patterns#18-22 with some flash incorporated into them while fishing under a small indicator or larger dry fly.
East Walker River: Fair-good
The numbers of fish you will hook here are still not great, but a 15 inch fish is pretty common according to Norb Spitzer after spending the day here, with some huge browns being reported. Sierra Drifters regular Scott Linkletter from San Pedro stuck a 22 inch “football shaped” brown that he estimated weighed 6 lbs. on a Drifters crystal tiger #16. The numbers improve the further downstream you wade, but the fish average a little smaller. Flows are still low this week and wading is good with most of the fish concentrated in the larger pools below the riffle water.
Upper Owens, Big Springs, McGee Creek, Hilton Creek
The rising water adversely affected most areas although there are still good numbers of fish spawning in all the tributaries. McGee was hot early last week but the high water made fishing tough by mid-week and it has not rebounded at this time. There are still some 20 inch class slugs lurking in the big pools on the Upper “O” but the clock is ticking here and it will really thin out by next week as the fish begin to migrate downstream back into Crowley. We have already seen several of these “down streamers” show up after taking our midge patterns on the lake recently. They kinda look like they’ve been on the Atkins diet all winter!
Streamers on the larger waters, dry/dropper combos for the creeks and short water sections.
Looks like Tioga and Sonora Passes will open early this year due to the warm spring weather and could be open well before Memorial Day Weekend. The road into the San Joaquin is still slated to open in early June.
The ice is coming off rapidly on many of the lakes at the 9000 foot level and most shore anglers and tubers willing to walk can find open water everywhere along the edges and inlets in the Mammoth Lakes, Rock Creek Lake, Virginia Lakes and South Lake regions.
The Alpers trout stocking program implemented by local Chambers of Commerce, resorts and business’s in Inyo and Mono counties is still in limbo due to the wretched NZMS. The DFG is working with Alpers to work out “risk assessment” programs in snail negative fisheries and testing penstocks for rainbows that may not be hosting the NZMS. Alpers trout are not being planted anywhere at this time in the Eastern Sierra, although they could be released in NZMS positive fisheries. For more information on the snail go to www.flyline.com/NZ_mudsnail.htm
The “save Hot Creek hatchery initiative” is moving along at “glacial speeds” thanks to the dynamic governmental machine we have in California. There are all green lights and a lot of positive feedback coming from Sacramento, lets hope it goes through in time. This link was sent to us by Brad Willis. He is the elected representative of all rank and file state hatchery workers. He has been helping Assemblyman Dave Cogdill get the word out about AB 2280 www.stormsource.org
You may purchase our RED HOT midge patterns at the following fine fly shops:
Stroud’s Tackle in San Diego, The Troutfitter in Mammoth Lakes, The San Diego Fly Shop, The Crowley Lake Fish Camp, and Malibu Fish’N Tackle in Thousand Oaks. There are links to all shops at www.sierradrifters.com
If you wish to view our website please type the correct URL address in exactly as listed below. Once again a loser/local competitor has purchased similar URL’S (minus the ‘s’ in drifters) and is attempting to cause confusion. Our apology if this causes any inconvenience. www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/results.jhtml;jsessionid=JIUGHPWLEVARYCWLEALSFEQ?_requestid=178131
Sierra Drifters Guide Service advocates “fishing for fun” catch & release!
Be the fly…Tom Loe
Sierra Drifters Guide Service
Email [email protected]
www.sierradrifters.com
Phone 760-935-4250
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