January 27, 2007
Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Best fishes
to all for the late January 2007 fish report from the Eastern High Sierra.
Tom Loe is on the road again and will be visiting
Buz’s Fly Shop Too in Bakersfield on Saturday February 24th
2007 for their “Grand Opening” at the new location. Loe will be doing a
Power Point presentation on fishing the waters of the Eastern Sierra as
well as some major BS-ing with all in attendance. Owner Larry Goates will
be inviting other pro fly fishing personalities to attend this party.
Come on by and shoot the breeze, win some door prizes and get some free
guidance on fishing the waters of the Eastern Sierra. The shop opens at
nine and will close at 4 in the afternoon. The Power Point show starts
around eleven and will be about an hour in length. Contact Buzs at
661-395-0032 or email them at
buzsflyshop@yahoo.com
Sierra Drifters guide Tom Loe will be heading
down to So-Cal to visit with his great friends at the San Diego Fly
Fishers meeting on the evening of February 5th 2007. Tom will
be doing a Power Point presentation on innovative fly fishing techniques
for the Eastern Sierra. The public is welcome and sincerely invited to
attend. You can get details by calling Stroud’s Tackle (619-276-4822) ask
for the “mighty Osprey”, or by visiting the SDFF website at……
http://www.sandiegoflyfishers.com/
Tom will also be doing a Power Point seminar on
March 31st 2007 at Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Store in
Fullerton. This show will be in conjunction with Bob’s Sierra preview and
there will be other industry pros and great gear on sale to get you ready
for the new Sierra trout season. Put this one on your calendar and come
by and talk trout, pick up guide tips and pointers on fly fishing trout in
the Sierra. Contact Marriott’s at 800-535-6633 and ask for Kevin Bell, or
visit Bob’s web at
http://www.bobmarriotts.net
This winter is shaping up to be in sharp contrast
to last season’s deluge of snow. We are experiencing a very dry pattern
thus far and the long range does not show a significant change. The
extremely cold weather we had previously has been replaced with spring
like days and mild winds in the Owens Valley. This current condition has
warmed the water up about five degrees and the fishing has picked up
considerably the last several days. Flows have finally stabilized at
125cfs on the Lower Owens R. although you will currently see different
data on the LADWP real time web link out flow at Pleasant Valley
Reservoir. This is what we have been waiting for all winter, come and get
em’!
Lower Owens River: Very
Good-fair
The LADWP is doing extensive repair and upgrades
to the generation facility located at Pleasant Valley Reservoir and we
have seen some very unstable water releases this month. We are told that
things will stay “pretty much the same” for the remainder of this month
and into the later part of February in which the flows are expected to
drop even lower as a major repair is scheduled to be performed on the
aqueduct pipeline.
This is good news for a change and the last few
days of lower flows and stable releases have proven this to be true for
all sections of the Lower “O”. The wild trout section is very wadeable
and those who enjoy nymphing under an indicator are having fair- good
success using #16-20 mayfly nymph imitations like PT’s, birds nest’s and
poxy back hares ear with and without beads. Midges are always a good bet
this time of year and you will find that crystal zebras and tigers #16-22
(I like the olive bodies best) will get you grabs in the deeper pools. I
have observed the midge hatches are smaller this year and this could be
attributed to the lack of silt and mud that was washed away by the long
period of flushing flows through December of last year. The channel has
been etched out and there is more gravel and additional riffle water in
all sections of the Owens this year. The baetis hatches are still small
but increasing and if the water continues to warm (36-41 degrees on
1-26-07) we should begin to see some significant bwo emergences by early
February if not sooner.
The drift boat sections have been getting better
day by day as the water warms and the flows level off. The fish are
settling into predictable lairs and this is making life a whole bunch
easier for the Drifters guides these days! Some quality rainbows are
beginning to show each drift as well as a spike in the brown trout
counts. The “dip and strip” is our preferred method of casting streamers
with Loebergs and light Punk Perch patterns being the fly’s d’jour.
We have had the pleasure of welcoming some new
faces to the Sierra Drifters family of clients and they have caught and
released some really nice fish on recent floats.
The “Chief” with his colorful Owens Brown
Nancy Thouvenall
Marty “the Chief” Thouvenell and his fly fish’n
bride Nancy from Upland, CA took their first drift with us and spanked
over thirty rainbows and browns with Nancy taking a chunky rainbow in the
morning to get big fish honors in a heated contest of dueling six
weights! The couple enjoyed a seventy degree afternoon for the icing on
their cake!
Drifters guide “Fill” Therrien hosted first time
clients Bobby Manoukian and son Garrett from Burbank, CA with Bobby
fooling a very large rainbow on a Loeberg pattern towards the end of the
float as the sun went behind the Sierra’s crest. Sweet finish guys, way
to go!
Rick
Mintzlaff and Chuck Bodie (fish)
Chuck Bodie made his first casts with a fly rod
recently on a drift boat trip accompanied by veteran Drifter, Rick
Mintzlaff both from Northridge, CA. Chuck has seen the light and
become a “brother of the fly” after he caught and released a bunch of fine
trout on his two day float. These guys also had back to back seventy
degree air temps in the afternoon!!!
Pleasant Valley Reservoir:
Fair-Good
It truly was freeze tubing a week ago and few fly
fishers ventured out to test the waters as the air temps seldom got above
the forty degree mark down in the canyon at the “Rez”. Conditions have
improved and the dam section is fishing best right now on the far side
using heavy sinking tips or full sink lines and streamer patterns fished
around ten feet. Some large rainbows are being taken in this section. I
suggest you troll until you get a grab or solid hookup, then cast while
remaining stationary if possible. Work the edge of the rims shadow in the
afternoon as it makes a great transition area.
The inlet is still on the slow side as the Rez’s
water level remains high in the small river section making access and
presentations difficult. You can still get into some decent dry/dropper
bead nymphing in the riffle water located just below the powerhouse,
however there are not the historical concentrations of fish here as in
seasons past. Look for this area to improve in the near future.
The Gorge: Good
Some effort will get you into some eager wild
browns that are partial to dry dropper combos. Have mayfly and midge
patterns in the #16-18 range. A 1-4wt. rig is best. The warmer weather
has made for some pleasant conditions down here and this is the start of
the optimum period to fish this area. We have been told that the flows
will drop substantially (they are currently about 35cfs) in late February
and that the LADWP is seeking an exclusion permit from the DFG in order to
do so. Not good news for this section; we will keep you posted as we get
information.
You can pick up our Authentic & Improved Sierra
Drifters Guide Flies, Sungicators & Killer Kits only at the
following stand out locations (don’t be fooled by any of the imitations
out there!): Kittredge Sports in Mammoth Lakes, Malibu Fish’n Tackle
in Thousand Oaks, The San Diego Fly Shop and Stroud’s Tackle in San Diego,
The Fishermen’s Spot in Van Nuys, Bob Marriott’s in Fullerton, Buz's Fly
Shop Too in Bakersfield and online at
www.bigfishhappen.com. There are links to these locations at
www.sierradrifters.com/resources.htm. We pride our Guide Service &
Products on Innovation not Imitation!
FISH ON BABY!!! Now
that I have your undivided attention we need you all to write the Cal DFG
Commissioners and express your approval of the new regulations opening
sections of the Upper Owens River, Hot Creek and the tailwater section of
the East Walker River to year round fishing beginning on March 1st
2007. We have included a link to the new regulations and as usual you can
click on the button providing important DFG news by visiting our website
at
www.sierradrifters.com. DFG commission info at
http://www.fgc.ca.gov/
We at Sierra Drifters Guide Service support the
new regulations and feel the additional year round water will benefit all
catch and release fisherman with little impact on the fisheries,
enforcement or search and rescue organizations. Get the word out friends
we need to make our opinions heard.
Be the fly friends…
Tom Loe
Sierra Drifters Guide Service
760-935-4250
Driftfish@qnet.com
