Crowley is red hot !

[DennisV]

Fished saturday from 8 to 11 am and absolutely slayed 'em.

Quality fish too. Zebra under a bobber. 10' of water at the north end.

Make haste.

It doesn't get any better than it is right now.

[catch&release]

Dennis is right!

It has been fishing as good at it gets, I have fished this lake over 10 years and have never seen as many big fish between 18" and up to 24"

Not only large fish but big numbers and it has been going on for over two weeks.

This is the time everyone waits for who has fished Crowley in the past. McGee Bay Madness as I talk about it in my presentations and its also going off in the North Arm.

My clients have been having some epic days at Crowley!

Get up here as fast as you can and don't miss out!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks for the heads up guys.....

I always hear about Crowley in September too.

I have heard that the fish are very hot.

[JAWallace]

Just returned from a Crowley/Mammoth trip. What was said above is true. I've been fishing Crowley for 20 years and have never seen this many large fish and they are 5x as hot as I've ever experienced. You can get into backing in 30 seconds. First fish I hooked did it.

It is literally ALL indicator fishing and the flies change daily. Make lots of fly changes and many of the common flies you know won't work. Stop at the fly shop. Sizes run 16-22 with 20 being the most common. Hatches are incredible--midges, mays, damsels. If you hit the indicator setup right you can have a 30 fish day. If you don't, you might get close to nothing.

For those that prefer stripping, wait a couple of weeks. The perch fry are just starting and the fish are not keying on anything but small flies under a bobber now.

If you get blown off, and you probably will in the PM, there are lots of other great lakes to fish, although they sure aren't Crowley trout. Nothing else is.

Fish McGee Bay and Green Bank. They are fishing the same now, but expect McGee to be better than GB soon as the lake starts to weed up.

I would not wait long because the drainage inflow is next to nothing and Crowley will probably weed up earlier than usual.

[DennisV]

Hey LC

I was at GB again this saturday until the wind chased me off at 11:00

Were you out there too?

It wasn't as wide open as the week before, but still exceptional by any standard.

[JAWallace]

Yes, and that "one more cast" thing about nailed us. Not much warning this time. We did better at McGee the day before and GB Sunday morning. We got some good action stripping the weed beds in 8' with damsels at GB--hardly anyone was doing that.

[catch&release]

Crowley lake is still fishing fantastic. I just got back from a 3 day trip guiding up there and the fishing is still exceptional.

The full moon phase has thrown the fish off there eating cycle alittle. Because they are eating at night you have a smaller window in the morning to catch these fish now but that will change when the moon starts getting darker.

Fishing in McGee is still great. You must be in the right spot to key on these fish when they run thru the area. You have these fish milling around and when they come in close your clients can hook up 5 or 10 fish in a row and then you have to wait for them to come back. Colors are very critical, blood midges 4" off the bottom for the first two hours then copper and black, after that your grey midges when you see the swarm comming off the water and the midges are around your head.

Monday, my clients fished a half day until 11am and landed to the net 31 fish including a 23" 6 pound super tanker of a rainbow. One of my clients could not make it on Sunday so I fished the first cycle until 11am with 21 fish to the net, went in and had lunch, picked up my buddy and we went out and from 1:30 to 5:30 landed 45 fish between the two of us. Great afternoon bite if the wind cooperates. We fished in 20mph winds, sometimes tapering down to 15mph but didnt affect the fish.

FISH ARE ON THE PERCH FRY RIGHT NOW! Hugh fish over 6 pounds are flying out of the water and it is quite the specticle to watch close to a hundred bowls every morning.

I will be up at Crowley guiding from 8/9 thru 8/19. If anyone would like to experience this fantastic bite, please contact me for a guided trip for some fish of a lifetime!

[catch&release]

Crowley is still fishing well, afternoon bite is fantastic all the way until dark. If you would like to experience a fantastic guided "stillwater" fly fishing experience please contact me by phone or my web site.

[fishdoc1]

I am the president of a fly club in Fairfield ,Ca. and am considering a outing in Sept. As most of our club is not familar with the lake, I want to know if you could guide a group of maybe 5 for a day, and what the charges would be.Thanks Elmer Ceder Solano Flyfishers, fishdoc1@juno.com 707-864-0345

[catch&release]

Elmer,

PM sent to you.

Please check your messages and I will call you tomorrow.

[Dave Neal]

Crowley Lake has always been an incredible fishery. This season it seems to be real consistent w/ plenty of strong big fish - a lot of people are having success this season which is good to see.

We are finding big numbers of large brown trout this year, which is nice. Credit DFG for having smart regulations and management of the put & grow program!!!

There are many traditional stillwater techniques that work on Crowley. But it seems the indicator techniques are really popular now. Stripping can still be a blast from a float tube the latter half of the season. If you are worried about afternoon winds, the Crowley Lake Marina and Fish Camp has tons of aluminum Jon boats for rent. They also have nice camping pads and 2 new log cabins for rent. Friendly staff and honest help.

I like to credit the early pioneers, Harry Blackburn and Mike Peters, for developing the modern indicator stillwater technique most of us use on Crowley today. These two guides were the first to do it on Crowley Lake after learning from others from the eastern Oregon stillwaters. Harry is one of the best guides I know and continues to evolve his game after some 20+ years of guiding (I think his CA Guide Lic # is in double digits?). He's forgotten more about fly fishing than I will ever learn.

If you never have fished Crowley Lake, this season may be a good time to try it.

[gene goss]

Does anyone know what the water temperature of Crowley is?.... I don't indicator fish, but i do like to strip a fly when the water cools down.

[betty]

according to "thetroutfly.com" -- see fishing report, water temps are getting pretty warm. However, now seems to be the time to be there for folks who like to strip flies, since the fish are keyed on the perch fry along the weed lines.

Last year, water temps didn't get down into the high 50's until well into October, and this year has been warmer.
Betty

[Dave Neal]

I've been on the lake a bit this week and temps are finally on the down turn. Where I've seen surface water temps of 71-73 in the recent past, now I'm seeing more 67-70's - the bottom of the lake in most places where trout are actually holding is in low 60's.

DFG recently did a big dump of dinkers. Lots of Lahontan CT have been put in, so you have to deal w/ the plentitude of little willies in between big fish. Great for kids right now!!

There are a lot of signs that trout are on the perch and other fry... as we speak :)

It has been noticeably colder at night recently, and fall is in the air. Hot Creek Ranch recorded a morning temp of 26 the other day. Mid day air temps in Mammoth have been high 70's for a daily high.

I'm not sure what the average has been but save a few weeks this summer, I don't believe we've had a particularly hot summer here in Mammoth...

Right now the weather is perfect.

[gene goss]

I've been on the lake a bit this week and temps are finally on the down turn. Where I've seen surface water temps of 71-73 in the recent past, now I'm seeing more 67-70's - the bottom of the lake in most places where trout are actually holding is in low 60's.

DFG recently did a big dump of dinkers. Lots of Lahontan CT have been put in, so you have to deal w/ the plentitude of little willies in between big fish. Great for kids right now!!

There are a lot of signs that trout are on the perch and other fry... as we speak :)

It has been noticeably colder at night recently, and fall is in the air. Hot Creek Ranch recorded a morning temp of 26 the other day. Mid day air temps in Mammoth have been high 70's for a daily high.

I'm not sure what the average has been but save a few weeks this summer, I don't believe we've had a particularly hot summer here in Mammoth...

Right now the weather is perfect.

Thanks Dave for the info. i think i give Crowley a couple of more weeks to cool down.
Do you know if the road into Leighton Springs is still closed ??

[Dave Neal]

Gene, float tube stripping should only get better and better over the next few weeks! Have fun on your trip.

I have not actually driven the road down to Leighton Sp, only been out on my boat driving by... but I've seen vehicles parked down near the lake at Leighton this summer? Many of the access roads to the lake now have those cement chicanes put up by DWP in order to block trailered boats from launching (directing all boats to the Marina a S Landing) in order to prevent spread of Quagga Mussels etc...

The chicanes can be navigated in a two axle vehicle, even a big truck...

Anyway, the chicane at Leighton is not too far a walk to lake access...

Next time I'm out there I will try and get a better idea of road access right to the water edge.

Also, Green Banks has up to the bank drive up access (be careful driving on the sand, seen many stuck vehicles) And w/ the lake so low it would not be hard to cross the lake between Leighton and Six Bays in a tube or pontoon.

BTW, I like your preference for spelling it Leighton Springs! LOL :)