East Side Road Trip coming up.

[Bob Loblaw]

I'm planning a road trip to the eastern Sierra next week to fish some water I've never fished before. Got nothing against the Owens Valley, I've just never been patient enough to drive past good water to get to other water, so the years have gone by and the Owens, and the Walker and Hot Creek have remained mysteries!

Planning on making Mammoth base camp and making day trips from there. Hot Creek and the Owens are top of list so any pointers there would be appreciated. Any good fishing friendly motel recommendations appreciated also.

Looks like there's lots of access on both stretches of water, but from what I understand anyone in Southern California who owns a fly rod hits these rivers regularly so it gets crowded.

Also planning on hitting Lyell and Dana Forks for half a day on the way home.

[Woodman]

The San Joaquin is worth spending some time as well, even though it's not technically the "eastern" Sierra.

[HSano]

Regarding Hot Creek, if you go to the Hot Creek Ranch website you find a tab for the latest fishing report. It will describe what flies are currently hatching and this should give you some idea of what flies to use. Remember, however, that the ranch is basically the meadow section of the stream so the hatches on the ranch may be different from the public section (it is also dry fly only). Also, if you go into one of the fly shops in Mammoth Lakes, you'll probably see a LOT of flies that are different from what you'd use on other streams. At least, that was my impression and I've done a lot of spring creek fishing.