Dave Neal
04-02-2010, 12:54 PM
If you are planning a trip to the Eastside soon, feel free to call or email me for more specific information.
Winter refuses to relinquish its grip on the Eastside of the Sierra. This week we’ve had a brief return to winter with high winds, cold temps, and 20” of new snow on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area 3/30. Skiing in the BC and on Mammoth Mtn has been epic and the snow is staying COLD!!
For the next week we’ll experience on and off winter storms and cold weather. During warmer, windless, periods one could expect some decent fishing. Camping is going to be COLD at night!
A walk out to Hot Creek will be rewarded with trout noses on the bwo hatch 12-3 pm and midges throughout the day. The dry fly fishing has been spectacular. Even if you don’t notice a lot trout rising, they are definitely looking up and responding to the bwo duns.
I haven’t noticed any spawning trout on HC lately. However, please be sensitive to their plight if you notice fish on redds. There are plenty of non-spawning rainbows and browns in the creek to target.
Good fly patterns include: olive, black or grey WD-40’s, #20 black Zebra Midge, #18 bwo nymphs, Micro Mayfly, Hogan’s S&M, Poxyback baetis and olive scuds, #18 green Z-Wing Caddis, #20 Olive Fox’s Poopah etc… Dry fly patterns: mostly #18-20 bwo patterns like olive Comparadun, Hacklestackers, olive Parachute patterns, bwo extended body, etc... #18 Griffith Gnat is good for midge clusters. I’ve seen a few caddis and had fish rise to #18 EC Caddis and Hemmingway’s… this will get better with a return of warmer weather.
Hot Creek road is still closed at the HC Ranch entrance and the gate up the road will remain locked for quite some time. The snow on the road is melting very fast and will probably be down to dirt sometime this week. The walk into the canyon is about ¾ mile and relatively painless.
Crowley Lake and Bridgeport Res are still frozen, although B-Port is about 1/3 thawed out and should open up fast with a return of warm sunny days. Other mtn lakes may not be ice-free prior to the traditional Trout Opener April 24th… ice fishing may be in order on the higher elevation lakes!!
The East Walker has water!! Water releases have been fluctuating this week, which is normal this time of year. Releases are around 250-300 cfs. Water temps are still on the cold side - the Reservoir has plenty of ice. Hatches consist mostly of midge and bwo mayflies. Some days the bug activity has been on the weak side. All in all the fishing has been good, especially for those who persist, don’t give up, and keep moving around changing flies… Classic EW!! This river will leave a lot of folks scratching their heads, but on any given drift you can hook a spectacular trout! Warmer weather and water will only improve conditions here in the near future. Stop by Ken’s in B-Port as they always have good advice and great flies to try.
Upper Owens has seen some big fish up from the lake, but #'s are still few. It's worth a walk above Benton Crossing Bridge... same bugs as Hot Creek. Throw some general attractor nymphs in there and pull a few streamers and see what pulls back!
If you are planning a high country golden trout trip this summer, you may need to look into August timeframe, although it may be too early to predict. If it gets smoking hot in June/July snow may melt faster? We have a great snowpack in the high country with decent water content, too. The lower elevations have been holding snow as well; the snowline is the lowest I have seen it in many years but a few warm days and it dries up fast at this time of year.
Have fun, and get out and fish (or ski). There are a lot of great destinations right now all over the State!!!
Winter refuses to relinquish its grip on the Eastside of the Sierra. This week we’ve had a brief return to winter with high winds, cold temps, and 20” of new snow on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area 3/30. Skiing in the BC and on Mammoth Mtn has been epic and the snow is staying COLD!!
For the next week we’ll experience on and off winter storms and cold weather. During warmer, windless, periods one could expect some decent fishing. Camping is going to be COLD at night!
A walk out to Hot Creek will be rewarded with trout noses on the bwo hatch 12-3 pm and midges throughout the day. The dry fly fishing has been spectacular. Even if you don’t notice a lot trout rising, they are definitely looking up and responding to the bwo duns.
I haven’t noticed any spawning trout on HC lately. However, please be sensitive to their plight if you notice fish on redds. There are plenty of non-spawning rainbows and browns in the creek to target.
Good fly patterns include: olive, black or grey WD-40’s, #20 black Zebra Midge, #18 bwo nymphs, Micro Mayfly, Hogan’s S&M, Poxyback baetis and olive scuds, #18 green Z-Wing Caddis, #20 Olive Fox’s Poopah etc… Dry fly patterns: mostly #18-20 bwo patterns like olive Comparadun, Hacklestackers, olive Parachute patterns, bwo extended body, etc... #18 Griffith Gnat is good for midge clusters. I’ve seen a few caddis and had fish rise to #18 EC Caddis and Hemmingway’s… this will get better with a return of warmer weather.
Hot Creek road is still closed at the HC Ranch entrance and the gate up the road will remain locked for quite some time. The snow on the road is melting very fast and will probably be down to dirt sometime this week. The walk into the canyon is about ¾ mile and relatively painless.
Crowley Lake and Bridgeport Res are still frozen, although B-Port is about 1/3 thawed out and should open up fast with a return of warm sunny days. Other mtn lakes may not be ice-free prior to the traditional Trout Opener April 24th… ice fishing may be in order on the higher elevation lakes!!
The East Walker has water!! Water releases have been fluctuating this week, which is normal this time of year. Releases are around 250-300 cfs. Water temps are still on the cold side - the Reservoir has plenty of ice. Hatches consist mostly of midge and bwo mayflies. Some days the bug activity has been on the weak side. All in all the fishing has been good, especially for those who persist, don’t give up, and keep moving around changing flies… Classic EW!! This river will leave a lot of folks scratching their heads, but on any given drift you can hook a spectacular trout! Warmer weather and water will only improve conditions here in the near future. Stop by Ken’s in B-Port as they always have good advice and great flies to try.
Upper Owens has seen some big fish up from the lake, but #'s are still few. It's worth a walk above Benton Crossing Bridge... same bugs as Hot Creek. Throw some general attractor nymphs in there and pull a few streamers and see what pulls back!
If you are planning a high country golden trout trip this summer, you may need to look into August timeframe, although it may be too early to predict. If it gets smoking hot in June/July snow may melt faster? We have a great snowpack in the high country with decent water content, too. The lower elevations have been holding snow as well; the snowline is the lowest I have seen it in many years but a few warm days and it dries up fast at this time of year.
Have fun, and get out and fish (or ski). There are a lot of great destinations right now all over the State!!!