Looks like another round of thunder storms particularly at upper elevation waters with a chance of clearing up and seasonal temperatures for the weekend. The overcast skies sure are nice for cooling of fly fishers out on the water. The winds associated with these storms can make for tough afternoon fly casting. Be on the water early and get off when you’ve had enough of trying to punch your flies through the wind. Time to be casting that five weight rod. Midges, caddisflies and mayflies are providing the catalyst for the trout to feed on nymphs and dries. This is the time of year to be out on the water early looking for the trico hatches on several Eastern Sierra waters.
Fall colors will soon be visible in upper elevation waters as the sunflowers in the Owens Valley disappear and the brown trout and brook trout start to spawn.
Owens River Gorge
Upper Gorge Powerplant:
Like most canyon fishing the hike in is easy, but the hike out takes some effort. On the hot days make sure you have lots of water to drink. With the afternoon thunder storms moving through the Eastern Sierra it makes the hike out of the gorge enjoyable. The gorge is a great place to fish a dry and dropper rig on a nine foot five weight or with a Tenkara rod. For the dry fly use a size 16 Adams parachute and a size 16 stimulator. For the nymphs fish with size 16 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 18 olive quilldigons, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 16 two tone brassies in green/gold, tiger and zebra colorations. Using the nymph as an anchor allows the fly fisher to bounce the dry fly off the surface initiating the trout to take the dry fly.
Wet wading fishing upstream with a dry and dropper rig in the pools and pockets is producing lots of wild brown trout in the Owens River Gorge.
Hot Creek
Interpretive Site:
The consistency of the morning trico hatch is producing wild brown and rainbow trout on the surface. Start the morning with a size 22 trico female parachute. The male trico’s hatch the night before at sunset or the morning of at sunrise. When the trout quit feeding on your parachute pattern it’s time to switch to a size 22 trico spinner pattern. Mayflies go through two stages as the adult. The nymph hatches into the dun. The dun then becomes the sexually mature spinner through a post emergence molt. The females mate with the males and then lay their eggs on the water. The amount of energy required during ovipositing wipes out the spinners and they fall dead on the water. The trout feed on the dead spinners as an easy meal since the spinners cannot fly away. The hatch is over by 11:00 A.M. and so is the fishing. Throwing beetles, ants and hoppers will extend the time on the water by proving a few fish that will come to the surface looking for more calories.
Afternoon thunderstorms are making fly fishers wet and casting into the wind is no fun.
Hot Creek
Canyon Section:
Hot Creek Canyon is the easiest to fly fish hard water in the Eastern Sierra. Succes comes from having the right fly, a drag free drift, being able to see your small, size 20 to 24, dry fly on the surface and being able to set the hook when the trout rises to the surface to take your imitation. In the canyon with all the weed beds it is the ability to get a drag free drift that is the hardest thing to accomplish. Getting your fly to drift in a two to four inch lane between the weed beds is how you are going to fool the trout into taking your fly. Precession casting is a must to get the fly to land in such a tight target area on the water. A trick to see your dry fly on the water is to use a bigger fly, size 16, as an indicator. This bigger fly will help you locate your tiny imitation on the water and any movement in the bigger dry requires the fly fisher to set the hook. Start the morning fishing with a size 22 female trico parachute. When the trout quit taking you parachute pattern it’s time to switch to a size 22 trico spinner pattern. After the hatch nymphing the open shallows and deeper pools with a size 18 tiger or zebra midge pattern, size 18 olive quilldigon and size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph will produce a few more fish and extend the fly fishers time on the water.
Six to 12 inch trout are feeding in the mornings on the hatching female trico mayflies.
Upper Owens River
Above Benton Crossing Bridge:
The upper Owens River has a good morning hatch of tricos. This hatch is short lived and over by 10:00 A.M. Start the morning with a size 20 female trico pattern. When the trout quit feeding on the parachute it’s time to switch to a size 20 trico spinner pattern. After the trico hatch the trout are feeding on caddis. Fish with a size 16 or 18 elk hair caddis, X-caddis and parachute caddis drifted with a drag free drift. Trophy brown trout are not in the upper Owens River yet. Fishing with a size 12 stoner nymph and size 12 green/gold Prince nymph will produce trophy brown trout when they’re in the system. Now these flies are producing a few trophy rainbow trout.
The early morning trico hatch on Bishop Creek Canal is just starting and the hatch is done by 10:00 A.M at the latest.
Bishop Creek Canal
Behind Bishop Veterinary Hospital:
Now is the time to fish the trico hatch on Bishop Creek Canal. This hatch is short lived starting by 8:30 A.M. and finished by 10:00 A.M. at the very latest. The canal trout don’t seem to be interested in the hatching duns, but wait for the spinner fall to start feeding on the surface. Observing the water and looking for rising trout is how you want to fish this hatch on the canal. Once the fish start rising cast a size 20 trico spinner pattern above the trout on a 5X tippet and let it float down to the rising trout with a drag free drift. In the heat of the hatch fly fishers will have to match the timing of rising trout. If your spinner pattern drifts to the trout to soon they will not rise for your spinner pattern. If your spinner pattern drifts to the trout to late they will have already taken a natural off the surface. It can take up to 10 drifts to get the timing down to hook a canal trout feeding on trico spinners. After the trico hatch fish with zebra and tiger colored midges in size 18, bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 18 olive quilldigons and size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears. Fishing a size 18 elk hair caddis, size 18 parachute caddis and size 18 X-caddis will produce a few surface feeding trout in the afternoons.
Working upstream of Weir Pond after covering the inlet into the pond is a fun way to extend the fly fishing to pools and pockets looking for wild brown trout and brook trout
Bishop Creek Canyon
Weir Pond:
Brown trout and brook trout are willing to take dry flies and nymphs where south fork of Bishop Creek flows into Weir Pond. Using a dry and dropper is a great way to fish in Weir Pond with both a dry fly and nymph. For dry flies fish with size 16 stimulators, Adams parachutes, elk hair caddis and Royal Wulff’s. For nymphs fish with size 16 tiger and zebra midges, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears and size 16 Prince nymphs. Be sure to apply descant or flotant to your dry fly to keep them floating high on the surface of the water. Most of the trout will be taking your dry fly. Rember that movement in the dry fly means a trout is taking your nymph. When you see movement in the dry fly be sure to set the hook.