Mid elevation blue lines

[PV_Premier]

The mid elevation blue lines are starting to fire up nicely. I fished one of my favorites for two hours today and was pleasantly surprised by the willingness of the resident small browns and bows to attack dry fly presentations. While it wasn’t as absent of others as I would like I also did not make much effort to get away from the road as I didn’t figure it would be needed for successful fishing and I was right.

[EricO]

That’s great to hear PV. Stoked to fish soon.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

June, on average, is the top month for mid-elevation trout streams.

During a drought it can be May.

On a heavy snow pack it might be July.



Each stream has it's own slightly different average timing though.

[PV_Premier]

Each stream has it's own slightly different average timing though.

This is very true and in my experience it depends largely on 1) how much snow melt the drainage sees and 2) how many/how big the springs are that feed in, if any.

Case in point, the stream I fished on Saturday was at 5200' elevation but doesn't have much upstream snow pack and very few springs. It gets real warm by mid-July even in a good year especially as you go a few miles further downstream.

Another creek I like is at about 3500' but takes a ton of snow melt and has abundant springs that keep it icy all year long. I find it fishes best between mid-July and early August most years, and will fish all the way until October 1st if you can get into the really isolated parts where no one else goes.

Getting deep into the "backwoods" of creek fishing in the Sierras takes many summers of trial and error, a lot of hiking and a decent dose of craziness. The hiking and descent into some of the streams can be a real pain in the neck, there are a lot of snakes, the wading can be pretty sketchy. The fish are not big, but there are a lot of them and they are very beautiful, and the simplicity of the fishing is a really nice diversion every now and then versus the shenanigans you have to go through to catch valley trout and steelhead sometimes.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Be sure to have a thermometer with you.

Trout seem to bite better between 55 and 65.

Under 50 is tough and over 70 is not healthy.


Again my information is just average advise to give everyone some basic info.

[Ed Wahl]

Those mid elevation blue lines are my all time favorites. I've been fishing the canyons for over 30 years and still not bored of smallish but exceptionally beautiful trout. The Golden Stones should be peaking on most of them right about now.

PV, I'd bet money that we've walked across each others footprints on occasion.