These photos all taken a couple of hours ago 1/24/2010

The Lower Owens has been fishing great all through the storm and today it was on fire! I made it out of the shop to the river without clients this morning to some unbelievable dry fly action on the river! Around 10am a good cloud of midges come off to bring the trout to the surface for a few hours.. A #20-24 Hi Vis midge is one pattern that was working great! After the hatch died down the fish kept on eating below the surface with baetis imitations and emerging midge patters getting hammered! #18-20 PT’s or WD-40 getting eaten.. T-midges (emerging midge patterns)in light colours #18-22 for the dropper worked like a charm…

The Lower Owens is flowing a very low and fishable 82 cfs according to the flow chart at the top of this page. This low flow tends to really hold the fish up in larger areas of water on the river.. And the Lower O is full of places like that! Dry fly activity becomes more prevelant as you get closer up to the PV Dam and the more stable water temps exiting there. Nymphing has been good to great for most fisherman depending on the day and fisherman. Flies that will extract wild brown trout from the Lower O are: #16-20 Miracle Nymphs, Tiger and Zebra Midges of various colours, #18-20 Robo PT’s & BH P-Tails of various sorts and Coppers Johns in Reds and greens, Have a #14-16 Cased or Crawling caddis imitation as one of the flies on your Czech Nymph(I now have a great selection of Bottom Roller Czech nymphs in the Shop! Get your flies down!) or indicator setup. For Dries the fish are taking BWO’s and Midges. Baetis Comparaduns, CDC patterns, Para BWO, and good old adams #18-22 for the BWO’s and #20-24 for the midges…

Hot Creek is a gem of a stream and only gets better in the Winter with limited access leaving the creek to those who have no fear of uphill snow hikes. A 4×4 vehicle will be needed to make it up to the locked gate which is about 3/4 mile from where the plow stops. This puts you at the top of the canyon section at the FS locked gate. You can also walk this 3/4 mile section of unplowed road. From the locked gate it is about 1/4 mile of snowy downhill to fly fishing utopia. Dry fly eating activity can be found with midges in the morning and BWO action happening later morning in certain pools and runs of the creek. Hi-Vis Midge patterns and Griffiths Gnats cover it in sizes #20-24.. For the Baetis(BWO’s) try a #20-22 Para Adams, CDC and comparadun patters or just a Para BWO pattern. I have been fishing these off the RIO suppleflex 6x (nonflouro)with great results. As far as nymphs go it is small as usual. Thin bodied #18-22 Zebra and Tiger patterns get eaten with proper presentations frequently on Hot Creek this time of year. Try small PT’s and Baetis patterns in the same sizes as the midges. Some egg patters are still getting eaten by trout not willing to let anothers genes live on. Fish it light with little or no weight shorter than usual. A dry dropper setup is also a great method for extracting trout on Hot Creek right now.

The Lower Owens is now flowing at an even 90 cfs. These are low flows that make for some very decent fly fishing! It can be a little slow in the mornings but things really start happening around 9:30-10:30 am.. I have been seeing more dry fly action every day out there with the fish responding accordingly. Drift trips have been yielding good numbers of fish depending on the day and fishermans skills. Look to the slower deeper water once again in this winter wonderland for holding trout. The usual suspect are; Tiger and Zebras #18-20 in colours of olive with copper or black/silver or gold and also the red/silver combo has been taking fish. #18-20 Copper Bobs in red and copper, Trigger Nymphs, Robos and PT all in like sizes are taking fish as well. What a great river to fish in the winter!

Since my last post the Lower Owens has dropped to a perfect flow of 126cfs. The drift boat has been out and roaming the waters of the Lower O. Fish have been more than responsive with many holes holding incredible numbers of fish and some holes having a few.. Overall the fishing has been great! Small baetis and midges are bringing fish up to the surface for some dry fly action. Nymphing small PT’s, Tiger and Zebra Midges and small Soft Hackles will get you into fish all day long #’s 16-20.!! Streamers are also on the menu.. Fish your favorite streamer pattern here to feel many 30+ft handshakes…Also getting many good reports from anglers coming in the shop off the water here… A++ winter trout river!