Fly Fishing Report 11/7/2023
Welcome to my Eastern Sierra fly fishing report and newsletter for the beginning of November. Our fall colors are hanging on down in the valley but have already dropped to the ground up in the higher elevations. For the most part this fall has been substantial with nice cool mornings heading into warmer afternoons/evenings. Solid hatches of Caddis and Mayflies kept us busy throughout October and continue to provide some quality fly fishing throughout the Owens. We are moving into our winter season here which means big fish, subtle takes, and beautiful settings. Winter fly fishing on the Eastern Sierra is a blast and for those who love solitude and spending time looking for a fish of a lifetime, this is our season. Rob and I are currently booking Now-March, with prime trophy season on the Upper Owens being Jan-March. Our snow-bow trips are multi sport days which include snowshoeing to our location with the right conditions and are unlike any other experience throughout the entire year. Down near bishop we will be running trips for wild brown and rainbow trout. Point is, plenty of options and water to get on. We look forward to putting something excellent together with you! Give us a call or email to start planning something today.
-Luke Kinney, Orvis Endorsed Guide
Phone; (858) 750 9820
Email; goldentroutguiding@gmail.com
An incredible weekend and group of anglers for our 2023 Fall Fly Fishing Clinic!
We had an epic weekend with our 2023 Fall Fly Fishing attendees. Our goal is to help anglers approach the stream with confidence and feel prepared for whatever the river has to offer them. Huge thanks to everyone who came out this year, it was a blast getting to know you all and watching everyone improve throughout the weekend. We will announce our 2024 Spring Clinic Dates soon, we wait patiently to see what winter brings us. Stay tuned!
Head Guide for G.T.G.C Rob Hrabik (Left) and one of our attendees Dean (Right) caught and released this Immaculate trophy Brown Trout while Euro Nymphing with 10ft, 3W on 5X Tippit. Dean is an experienced still water angler and was looking to improve his skills on the river throughout the weekend. Nicely done Dean!
We start out each morning with various presentations and enjoy some breakfast together before we hit the water. Heres Rob presenting on “Nymphing” and why it is so effective.
Our knot tying portion of the class is essential to learning how to rig and make sure you are prepared for the day. Here MIcheal (Middle) and Daniel (Right) spend some time learning how to attach two pieces of line with a blood knot.
Our casting clinic at Bishop City Park goes over the dynamics of the Fly Rod. We work with each angler and do our best to help them improve their presentation.
Angler and attendee Tom brought his passion for fly fishing to the clinic and wanted to dial in his technique in particular while fishing nymphs. Here’s Tom with a classic Lower Owens wild brown trout caught while working a small pool in a long run, just big enough to hold a nice trout. Fish are everywhere is you know where to look!
Local conservationist and founder of Valley Outdoors Micheal Leuders with a beautiful wild brown trout caught while Nymphing under an Indicator. Micheal re-discovered his love for fishing and wanted to increase his knowledge and skills on the fly rod over the weekend. He did a fantastic job, catching fish without even knowing it at times!
Eastern Sierra Fly Fishing Report
Lower Owens- The Lower Owens is going up in CFS by the day (Currently 375 CFS) and will be maxing out to around 600CFS by the end of the month. DWP is pumping flows in preparation for the oncoming winter season. If we have a mellow snow/rain season they will potentially lower flows back down to fishable levels around January. If we have a big season they will be pumping high flows all the way into spring. It is an unfortunate but necessary scenario for us anglers. We were all excited about a long and epic season on the home waters this year. Theres a lot of factors at work here so we will have to wait and see what mother nature hands down. For now, I would recommend looking for other water to fly fish. Increasing flows above 300 CFS are dangerous, not good fishing, and not worth the risk.
We were able to sneak in a few solid trips with clients before the flows got too high. The fly fishing was phenomenal in that small window and were averaging 20+ fish a day. Crossing our fingers for a normal winter so we can return to the Lower Owens safely.
View of the Lower Owens with high flows from the top of the Chalk Bluff Mesa.
Bishop Canal- A local favorite place to get your line wet might be the best option for a quick session on the water for the time being. The canal that runs behind the town of Bishop holds a variety of beautiful stocked and wild trout. It is surprisingly good and a perfect place to learn how to fly fish. We will be offering discounted half day trips on the Canal starting in December. Hatches of baetis and some caddis are sporadic throughout the day and we are fishing with nymphs and dry flies when the hatch gets started. The canal is a perfect place to work on your top water game as there is little to no obstructions to get caught in while false casting. The canal will have high water as flows increase but with the diversions its much safer and productive to fly fish than the Lower Owens. I recommend nymphing the canal either under an Indicator or Euro Style. A trouts diet is over 80% sub-surface so with the right flies and presentation you can usually manage to pick off a few while working the stream. The canal is similar to the Upper Owens in the fact that it sees a lot of anglers and fish can spook easily as it is a wide open section. That being said approach the canal slowly and get low when targeting fish, start your drift close to you and work your way across the stream. For nymphs I recommend, flash back pheasant tail (size 16), zebra midge (size 16-20), perdigon (size 16-18), hares ears (size 16-18), red rainbow warrior (size 16-18) and the Duracell (size 16-18). For dry flies the classic elk or deer hair caddis is hard to beat! (size 14-20) Small BWO or parachute adam’s will also fool em’ (size 14-20). If you are brand new to fly fishing, I recommend booking a half day on the canal with us! It’s a fun, beautiful and perfect place to start your fly fishing journey. Our canal trips start Dec 1st and are affordable for most anglers. All levels of experience are welcomed and all gear is provided.
Half Day single angler $250 (4hrs)
Any additional angler is $100
We welcome groups from 4-6 people maximum.
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The Bishop Canal holds trout from 6-20 inches, and is a great place to spend a day learning how to fly fish!
Angler Ethan fishing streamers for largemouth bass on the canal! We have a variety of fish to target on the canal including bass, carp, and bluegill.
Winter time guiding new angler John on the bishop Canal! He learned how to Euro Nymph, and Nymph under an indicator and managed some nice brown and rainbow trout to the net.
Bishop Creek/Rock Creek- Our higher elevation streams are slowing down substantially and we are preparing for winter. Many of the shallower lakes above 10,000ft. are freezing already and the flows are low. Pretty soon the roads will close for higher access and we will be waiting until next season to get after the trout up there. Bishop Creek, and Rock Creek have special regulations starting NOV 15th. November 16 through the Friday preceding the last Saturday in April, 0 trout bag limit, artificial lures with barbless hooks only and trout must be released unharmed and not removed from the water. It is important to remember when fishing in freezing temperatures to keep the fish wet and in the net from catch to release, as their gill plates can freeze. A photo of that special fish in the net looks just as good! The Lower elevations parts of the creeks can be a blast to fish throughout the late fall and winter when accessible. I would recommend fishing a real light set up, I like bringing out my 7ft 2 or 3 weight and nymphing with a single copper john (size 18) or mini prince nymph (size 18). Even a dry dropper can spook these trout in the gin clear water so you got to be sneaky. Small creek enthusiast love these conditions and challenges as it can be some of the toughest fly fishing around. One really nice thing of late season is the lack of crowds or practically no one on the stream, that alone is worth the shot. Good luck out there and check for conditions before heading out, winter storms come quick!
Central Gorge (Canyon Section) - The Central Gorge might be my favorite place to fly fish during winter as it involves some hiking, possible scrambling, nice healthy trout and little crowds. It is a great place for the adventurous angler! Once the stinging nettle and overgrowth from spring dies down around mid December much of the water becomes accessible and fishes well. The central canyon has 13 miles+ of fishable water, some of the entries are easier than others which will hold potentially more crowds when accessing those areas. The Central Gorge is one of the only places in Bishop where I can fish dry flies year round, especially when the sun is directly above the canyon. USE CAUTION while moving around and wading the Central Gorge as there is loose rock, and unstable footing in most of the canyon, having a guide is highly recommended and there is no service. The canyon is COLD during the winter when the sun isn’t around and can greatly effect the bite, but it doesn’t mean you wont have a nice adventurous day. As the flows increase the Central Gorge will also come up in water levels but is generally more fishable than the Lower Owens at high flows. The best time to fish the Central Gorge is mid day when the sun is directly above the canyon form 10am-3pm. I have already been fishing the Central Gorge and getting into some insane hook ups. The other day we netted over 30 fish in a couple of hours. Trout from 8-20 Inches roam the canyon and you would be surprised by some of the fish you get into down there. The CG is a perfect place to learn how to Euro Nymph as it is about as technical as it gets. Lots of navigating pocket water, submerged boulder, tight pools, and heavy vegetation. Hooking up is usually never the issue, its playing the fish in a 6ft. wide pool before it goes over a mini water fall or under a log, especially when you got a solid brown trout on the line. Lots of small caddis down there right now so emerging patterns are killer. Duracell (size 16-18) CDC soft hackles (size 16-18) are great options. Heavier Czech Nymphs (size 16-18) are solid flies, especially in the faster moving water. As far as dry flies Ive doing well on the Olive Foam Caddis (size 16-18) and the Purple Haze (size 16-18). Rob and I would love to show you around the Central Gorge! Reach out to line up a trip today.
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New Fly Anglers Allissa and Max put the hammer down on some wild brown trout, here they are doubled up while Euro Nymphing. As good as it gets!
Local angler Nate showing off a very well fed wild brown trout, while Rob is hooked up in the background. Look at the belly on that guy! haha
Classic fall colors on full display.
Angler Allissa catching the last bit on sunlight and fishing for rising trout on the seam of the foam line.
Upper Owens- The Upper Owens is at perfect flows for late fall. CFS above the Hot Creek confluence is 76 and below somewhere between 90-100. We have had a few cold snaps over the last few weeks and some heavy winds over the last few days. These cold snaps should help push some of the migrating trophy trout upstream. We are getting towards to end of the fall brown trout run and closer to our winter rainbow migration. Right now there are both in the system and having some local knowledge, patience, and covering water will help you hook up on these fish. There are plenty of juvenile trout in the Upper Owens which is a fantastic sign of a healthy fishery, that means spawning has been productive and water/oxygen is staying at solid levels. Ive been using various techniques while working the Upper Owens, dry dropper, euro eymphing, streamer fishing, and nymphing under and indicator. It really depends of the time of day, conditions, and area that Im fishing. The trophy trout like to hide under the cut-banks and in the deep pools so I would recommend looking for those deeper runs to target in on. Trout on the Upper Owens are not very leader shy so I like running 3X or 4-6lb fluorocarbon so I can make sure I wont break off and land some of the bigger ones quickly and efficiently. With this colder weather moving in the top water game has slowed down but fishing a small Caddis (size 16-18) or BWO (size 16-18) will fool some trout, especially the juveniles. For nymphs I recommend, Prince Nymph (size 10-16), Gummy San Juan Worm (size 16-18), Hares Ears (size 14-18), beadhead pheasant tails (size 16-18), and perdigon (size 16-18). Fishing with streamers is a fantastic way to target trout especially when the wind picks up! Wolly Buggers in black, olive, or brown (size 6-12), and Leech Patterns (size 6-14). The Upper Owens is not an easy fishery and having a guide with local knowledge will absolutely increase you chances on some nice fish and maximize your time on the water. As temps cool down keep those trophy trout wet, especially in the morning if it’s freezing. Catch and release only works when its done well, so lets make an effort to doing our best! Reach out to book a trip on the Upper Owens today!
Hooked Up on the Upper Owens. These fish will challenge even the best angler as they love to tuck themselves in the bank and break you off. Its always the ones that get away…..
Angler Micheal learning how to find the right depth and maintain a tight line while Euro Nymphing a deep cut-bank.
This beautiful rainbow was caught on a hopper, while fishing during a nice mid day hatch!
East Walker River- The East Walker closes on NOV 15th. and flows are drastically low, at one point it was 11CFS. I stop fishing the East Walker anytime is gets below 100CFS.
Thanks for stopping by for my Eastern Sierra Fly Fishing Report for early November! I would love to get out on the water with you and show you around some amazing locations. Fly fishing is a lifetime endeavor and it only gets better with time. We are all a community of anglers so let’s be kind to each other and help each other out on and off the water.
-Luke Kinney (858) 750 9820
