It’s summer time in the Eastern Sierra. Fly fishers are fishing at or above 8,000 feet to avoid the heat in the Owens Valley. Occasional summer rain showers are cooling of fly fishers. This time of the year the best fly fishing is early and late in the day when insects are the most active. Mayflies, caddisflies and midges are providing the food trout are feeding on. Afternoon winds keep the mosquitoes at bay and cool of fly fishing in the Eastern Sierra. If you can’t cast in the wind afternoons are not to be spent on the water. This is supposed to be hopper time in the Eastern Sierra. A few waters have a few hoppers landing on the water and trout feeding on them.
Summer is a great time in the Eastern Sierra to learn how to fly fish like the Snider family using their newly learned fly fishing skills on Glacier Pond..
Owens River Gorge:
With temperatures dropping just below average temperatures for this time of year it makes hiking in and out of the Owens River Gorge more reasonable. It’s still hot in the gorge and fly fishers should carry lots of water for the hike in and out of the gorge. This is the perfect time to be fly fishing with a dry and dropper rig and wet wading in the river. There is lots of streamside rose bushes and stinging nettles to be avoided. Easiest way to avoid these bushes is to wade right up the center of the river. Scouting up river before your start wading will let the fly fisher know if there is an out or they have to back track down river to the put in spot. For the dry fly in the dry and dropper rig use size 12 Chermobyl ants, size 16 elk hair caddis, size 16 stimulators and size 16 Adams parachutes which are high visible and high floatable patterns. Size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears, size 18 olive quilldigons, size 18 zebra midge and size 18 tiger midges are the nymphs to use in the dry and dropper rig in the Owens River Gorge.
Ryan showing off her mom Christine’s wild brown trout for Owens River Gorge.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
The Interpretive Site is getting lots of fly fishing pressure. Be on the creek by 8:30 A.M. to catch the morning trico action. As the trico action subsides look for blue wing olive mayflies and a smattering of pale morning dun mayflies scattered in with the blue wing olives. Start the morning fishing with size 22 female trico parachutes. Then switch to a size 22 trico spinner for the trico spinner fall. Next up is a size 20 blue wing olive parachute and size 20 blue wing olive sparkle dun. Have a few pale morning dun parachutes or pale morning dun sparkle duns to fish if the trout start keying in on the hatching pale morning duns. After a lunch break and siesta head back to the creek in the evening looking for the caddis hatch and the male trico hatch. For evening fly fishing fish with size 20 gray elk hair caddis, size 20 gray parachute caddis and size 22 male trico parachutes.
To fly fish Hot Creek in the summer time is to know how to drift your flies without getting hung up in the ever present weed beds.
Hot Creek
Canyon Section:
Full growth weed beds makes fly fishers target the few spots in the creek without weeds. A dry and dropper rig is good for the areas with little to no weed beds. For the areas with trout feeding in concentrated weed beds use a dry fly. For the dry fly in the dry and dropper rig use a size 12 parachute hopper, size 12 chubby Chernobyl, size 12 fat Albert, size 16 stimulator and size 16 Adams parachute. For the nymphs use a size 18 olive quilldigon, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph, size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ear and size 16 hot spot pheasant tail nymph. For dry flies use size 20 Adams parachutes, size 20 blue wing olive parachutes, size 22 female parachute tricos, size 16 pale morning dun parachutes and size 16 pale morning dun sparkle duns. When fishing with hoppers on Hot Creek be sure to land them softly on the water. If the hopper pattern splats it will spook trout.
Sometimes you just need to sit next to the river and enjoy it as it passes by you.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
Hot day time temperatures is forcing fly fishers to fish early in the morning and late in the day. A mid-day pale morning dun hatch is being blown off the water and ending any chance of a mid-day dry fly session. Hoppers have not shown up yet. Try using a hopper in the late afternoon winds. Cast the hoppers directly into the wind as this is where the naturals will be blown on to the river. Early morning nymphing with size 20 olive quilldigons, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears and size 18 tiger midges is fooling a few wild rainbows and brown trout. Fishing with size 16 elk hair caddis, size 16 stimulators and size 18 Adams parachutes is producing a few trout in the evenings. Low light times is mosquito time and be sure to carry insect repellant.
Sometime you need to change it up and fish Bishop Creek from the other side.
Bishop Creek Canal
Behind Bishop Veterinary Hospital:
Mid-day fly fishing on Bishop Creek Canal has come to a stop. Perseverance with a nymph is producing a few trout when fished under an indicator or with a Euro rig. Best canal fishing is sunrise to 9:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. to dark. The fish are taking both dries and nymphs. For dries fish with size 16 elk hair caddis, size 18 Adams parachutes and size 16 stimulators. For nymphs fish with size 18 tiger midges, size 18 zebra midges, size 18 olive quilldigons and size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs.