July 20, 2005
Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Best
fishes to all for this July fish report update.
The extremely warm weather pattern that has
settled on the Eastern Sierra over the last two weeks has melted off the
snow pack immensely and the conditions have improved rapidly the last
several days. The freestone creeks are still running very high;
however you will notice a huge improvement in water clarity in most areas.
The summer and fall fly fishing in the Sierra is shaping up to be a
memorable one after a medium to slow start.
GUIDE TIP:
If you do lose your balance while wading in fast moving water; immediately
flip over on your back and do your best to get your feet pointing
downstream and your head up. Keep your arms out wide and use a
backstroke to gain control. You should have about a minute of good
floatation provided by the air trapped in your waders. Try to work
yourself across and downstream at an angle to slower water and the easiest
and safest bank; do not waste a lot of energy in fast water attempting to
swim upstream. By all means wear a tightly cinched wading belt
especially if you are wearing Gortex or breathable type waders.
Water will fill these type waders and not drain out making it virtually
impossible to move or swim.
I suggest you practice your Brad Pitt “River runs
through it” fish chase in a calm area or swimming pool for your first
couple of times.
Look for the runoff to begin receding by August
and the conditions should be excellent by Labor Day.
The Cogdill Inland Fisheries Bill (AB 7) has
passed another hurdle by making it through the Senate uncontested.
It is looking good for the continuation of the hatcheries fiscal budget
and wild trout funding by mandating one third of fishing license revenue
to these sections of the DFG.
Click these links for DFG news and how to help out
the Hot Creek Hatchery Foundation.
http://www.sierradrifters.com/reports2/DFG.News.htm
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/
www.FriendsofCaliforniaHatcheries.org
Crowley Lake: Like the
Phoenix-rising from the ashes!
Conditions have improved greatly here and you can
bank on them to get only better in the near future. McGee Bay is a
tad late this year in the flood of rainbows that migrate to the cooler
more oxygenated water, but they have arrived in solid numbers over the
last few days. This is perhaps my favorite time of year to “catch”
big rainbows on this lake as they stack up near the inlet and feed with
what appears to be an almost reckless abandon. Check out your drags
and your backing as you will need both of them here.
Be the trout… Do you want to feed on an almost
microscopic aquatic snack like daphnia (fresh water fleas)? Or would
you prefer to feast on a more substantial protein source. The
rascals are moving into shallow water from the deeps in waves to feed.
The damsel fly and perch fry arrival into the bay
have added all the components for a sensational day of fly fishing.
Couple this with the ever increasing numbers of chironomids hatching in
the late mornings and you have a snap that is ever changing. Have a
diverse selection of bugs to keep those “Drifters Sunjicators” going down
while stillwater nymphing.
#18-22 Drifters Gilled Chironomids (gillies).
Are a must pattern. Punk Perch #14-16-have them for sure.
Crystal Tiger and Zebras #16-18 are always deadly. Use these as a
bottom fly on a tandem rig.
Sierra Drifters guides Mickey the “turtle” Baron
and Fill “Bu” Therrien took a rare day off guiding today to go--- fly
fishing! Check out the average sized bows these guys caught and
released while goofing around recently. These fish are trophies
elsewhere. Crowley is coming on strong folks, book a trip or get up
here soon.
Mickey Baron
Fill Therrien
Bridgeport Reservoir: A
sure thing!
I do not recall a fishery that has remained so
consistent in “catching” in quite a while. The conditions remain
excellent and if you want to explore different water this is your
huckleberry. I urge you to take the extra hour to drive up here from
So-Cal. Streamer patterns like our Crystal Leech, Punk Perch, and
Loebergs #10-12 will get grabs while trolling with a medium sinking tip
line in Buckeye Bay along the weed lines. You will also find an
incredible amount of chironomids here. Gillies and larva patterns
like zebras and tigers will get takes during the off hatch periods #16-18.
You may experience some slow periods here from
late morning until the breeze picks up around noonish. Stick with
it, the fly fishing gets better as the day rolls on. The sundown
bite is the best and if you have your own boat or means to travel into
Buckeye Bay this is an excellent choice for the late snap.
Use sheep or goat fur patterns (inside joke).
Baaaaah!
Seriously. The Drifters Crystal Leech #10-14
or Loebergs #10 are sticking some huge fish while trolling from a tube
with a light to moderate sinking tip line. Our most consistent
fishing comes while stillwater nymphing with a tandem rig setup using a
#18 gillie and a #18 copper crystal tiger as the lower. Switch to twin
gillies #18-20 around noon or when the wind picks up.
Bridgeport Marina owner Jeffery “GB” (inside
joke) Wenger and the awesome team of friendly folks will be happy to point
you in the right direction and set you up with the hot flies. They
also offer an excellent custom shuttle service and reliable rental boats
for tubers not wishing to kick out to Buckeye.
Check out the hog rainbow Sierra Drifters veteran
Larry Matsui from Yorba Linda, CA caught and released a while back on the
“Bridge” while stillwater nymphing with a dual “gillie” setup. Nice
fish pal!
Larry Matsui
Bill Amans from
Lakewood, CA has punished a lot of fish on Bridgeport Reservoir the last
couple of weeks. Pictured is a good sized Eagle Lake strain of rainbow you
will hook in Buckeye Bay while stillwater nymphing.
Bill Amans
We are pleased to announce the addition of the Bridgeport Lake
Marina as a new location to purchase our time tested guide flies and
merchandise. Stop by the marina and talk to the super friendly staff
here headed by “fearless leader” Jeffery Wenger. You can get the
accurate scoop on the lake and East Walker by speaking with the folks
here. Click on
http://www.bridgeportreservoir.com/ for their contact numbers.
If you need a place to stay there are some
excellent choices and some real nice folk’s to help you out here.
Click on one of these links for info. All of these businesses are
involved in the fisheries enhancement program for the lake and the EW.
http://www.bigmeadowlodge.com
http://www.calparadise.com
The air temps on the lake are warmer than Crowley
as it is situated at a lower elevation (6480’). Bring plenty of
fluids and warm weather clothes. Jeeesh, I never thought I would say
this after the winter we had! Check this place out; we are having a
blast here.
East Walker River: High
Flows are between 600-700cfs. Tough to
koo-koo wading at these releases. Hit the big slow pools if you must
fish here. Streamers on a moderate sink tip and nymphing with a
semi-truck tire rim for weight will get you down.
Lower Owens River: Good
The catching has been good in the wild trout
section with the release rates being unseasonably low-250cfs this week.
This will change in the near future and the flows will be up well into
fall I dare say. Click on the tab above for the current flows. There
is a noticeable lack of caddis here and this may be attributed to the high
populations of NZMS. The midges and smaller mayflies are still
present and these will be your go to patterns. The weather is very
hot in the afternoons here and you can plan on several offensive assaults
from the blood suckers so put the deet on thick if you are wet wading.
The drift boat sections are not fairing as well as
they are for the most part downstream of numerous springs and the
confluence of the Bishop Creek which is flowing high. Late fall will
be the time to begin the “dip and strip” here.
Upper Owens River: Fair
There are still a few lake holdovers hanging
around in the Long Years section which has better conditions and much less
water than the area below the Benton Crossing Bridge and the confluence of
Hot Creek. Nymphing dry/dropper style here with Crystal Olive
Zebra’s #18-20 below a stimulator as the indicator is a solid rig here.
You will find no lack of weed as the flows are high in both areas making
clean presentations difficult. The section downstream of the bridge
is well planted with DFG and Alpers fish and reports are good from the
streamer fishers here. Loebergs and Spruce-a-bus will get em’.
Hot Creek: Fair-good
The creek is running high as the flows from
Mammoth Creek are adding a lot of water these days. Clarity is not
bad however and I had a local “high line” angler and turbo tube troller
(Two Bug Doug) show me a self portrait of a 23 inch rainbow he took while
nymphing. The thing was a beast and he took several other large fish
that day during the high flows. The fish counts are down here for
everybody, but you can expect better quality for sure this season.
Make certain you have some sort of attractor
pattern as the upper fly on a tandem rig. San Juan Worms, flashback
hares ears or PT’s, stick to crystal zebras as the lower #18-22.
There are some stone flies around so if you have the opportunity to use a
dry/dropper rig keep this in mind.
Virginia Lakes: Hot!
Great reports from this area. Both still
water fly fishers and tubers trolling sinking tips or full sinks with
streamer patterns are doing well here. You can escape the heat of
the valleys in the afternoons and stay into some solid action by moving up
two-four thousand feet or so in elevation this time of year.
The Alpine Lakes-June
Lake Loop and Mammoth Lakes Basin, Lundy, Convict, South Lake and
Bishop Creek: Good
These areas are sanctuary from the high water and
heat of summer. Have a full or heavy sinking line to get those
Drifters Crystal Leeches, Loebergs and Spruce-a-bu’s down to 10-15 feet.
The planting has been heavy this year with both DFG and Alpers rainbows so
you should have no problem getting into some nice hatchery fish while
tubing near the inlets. Bishop Creek is high but clear and well
planted. Intake 2 is kicking out mixed stockers of Alpers and DFG’s.
I hear North Lake is good for tubers trolling buggers and leeches with
some flash down around 10 feet. The weather has been better this
week here.
Rock Creek: Very Good
Flows are way high for this area but the water is
clear and you will find plenty of eager wild and DFG fish near the
campgrounds. Check out the ponds below the lake after a short hike
or hit Tuff campground east of Tom’s Place Resort for a good time with the
stockers and an occasional wild brown or brookie. Drifters Crystal
Tigers whack em’ in this area #16-18. Use the copper heads in the
sun, switch to the dark bead heads in the shadows and lower light
periods.
The lake continues to be very good for stockers
around the inlet and cove south of the outlet. We do well with
Crystal Leeches and Loebergs here #10-12 used with a full or heavy sinking
tip line.
West Walker:
Bring a white water raft or kayak. Leave the fly rod behind for a
while.
San Joaquin: Very High
Be cautious when wading. This place is
ripping. The campgrounds will be planted this season by the DFG we
are told so this may spare some wild fish for sure. It will be a
while before the flows subside and make wading possible in other than the
flats.
The hot ticket down here is tubing Sotcher and
Starkweather Lakes. The Alpers truck has dumped some fatties here as
well as a double shot of DFG rainbows. Most streamer patterns will
take these fish with a moderate full sinking or sinking tip line.
Keep moving until you locate the “herd” These fish have a tendency to pod
up and school together. Hatchery fish have “softer mouths” try to
strip set when you get a grab by pulling your line until you load the rod.
Keep your tip slightly under the water for better feel to the fly.
You can pick up our guide flies at the following
stand out locations: The Crowley Lake Fish Camp and the Crowley Lake
General Store and Deli in Crowley, The Troutfitter/Trout Fly in Mammoth
Lakes, Bridgeport Reservoir Marina in Bridgeport, Malibu Fish’N Tackle in Thousand Oaks, The San Diego Fly Shop and
Stroud’s Tackle in San Diego. There are links to these locations at the
resources tab above.
Looking forward to fishing with you soon.
Be the fly…Tom Loe
Sierra Drifters Guide Service
