Fly Fishing Report 4/17/2025
SPECIAL OPENING DAY EDITION (April 26th) MERRY FISHMAS
Welcome to my Fly Fishing Report for April here on the beautiful Eastern Sierra! It has been an incredible Spring with some of the best fly fishing I’ve seen in the last few years. Things have slowed down over this last week as we transition into the warmer season and prepare for opening day. The prolific hatches of caddis and mayflies have subsided for now, with smaller shorter hatch periods, creating quality nymphing opportunities and the occasional dry fly action. We have just wrapped up our 2025 Spring Fly Fishing Clinic, it was a perfect weekend of weather, learning, and community. Shoutout to everyone who came out to join us for this years Spring Clinic. We will announce our fall fly fishing clinic dates in the next few months, to get on the waitlist email email me HERE and I will keep you posted.
As we move into the peak of spring preparing for summer our available water and opportunities will open up tremendously. We are one of very few outfits that have permits to guide a variety of water’s , helping us to get into areas less traveled, into a diversity of fish species, and during the hottest months of summer we have plenty of options to fly fish at higher elevations. Opening day for general trout season is April 26th (fishmas) running through Nov 15th. Our main areas of guiding for Summer will include Crowley Lake, Owens River, East Walker and McGee Creek. We also have permits to fish and guide the Southern Inyo for Golden Trout, Bishop Creek, Rock Creek, Convict Lake, and the Mammoth Lakes Basin. Reach out to book a date with us this summer and find the right fit for you, your family, and friends. Fly fishing is fun, let’s get out there. -Luke Kinney, Owner and Guide. Read Trip Reviews
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Call me to chat more in detail (858) 750 9820
Crowley Lake host some of the best still water fly fishing in the Country. It’s one of the only places where you can potentially catch trophy Brown, Cutthroat, and Rainbow Trout all in one day! Enjoy an epic day of fly fishing with incredible scenic views of the Eastern Sierra. Fun for all level of anglers BOOK CROWLEY LAKE
Angler; Bill the fish Doc Lewis, having a banner day on the lake.
Events and Programs
2025 Spring Fly Fishing Clinic
This year’s Spring Fly Fishing Clinic was a blast! We had a great crew coming from all over the state to learn more about fly fishing and what it takes to find success on the water. We spent two full days together starting in the classroom and applying those skills on the water. Our clinics cover the foundation’s of fly fishing, from entomology 101, casting clinic, and rigging and reading the water, the goal of the weekend is to build a more confident angler and have fun as a group. This year we had perfect weather for all of our activities, great flows on the river, and a group willing to help net each others fish. Here are some pics and highlights of our weekend together. We will be hosting our fall clinic this October and announcing those dates soon. Our clinics sell out quickly, to get on the waiting list for this years fall clinic send us and email HERE. Those on the waiting list will be offered available positions first.
2025 Golden Trout Excursion (July 27th-Aug 3rd)
We. are gearing up for our 2025 all inclusive Golden Trout Backcountry Trip! We have only 2 spots left for this trip. Join us for a week of some of the best small stream fly fishing pursuing the purest strain of Golden Trout on the planet. The only tough decision you need to make for the day is which fly your gonna start the morning with and how many cups of coffee at camp you want before heading out to fish for the day. To check out the full trip Itinerary or sign up for the 2025 Golden Trout Trip visit the link
Full Itinerary/Pricing > GOLDEN TROUT TRIP 2025
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New Zealand 2026
Do you day dream of casting dry flies to trophy brown trout in gin clear water in some of the most beautiful water on the planet? Me too, which is why we have put together an incredible week long New Zealand adventure for 2026. NZ is bucket list for any serious angler, and unlike any other fly fishing destination as far as sheer beauty and potential fish sizes. We have 1 Spot left for our trip pack… Just one spot left!! Who is coming with? Reach out to reserve it for yourself. This trip is hosted by myself and guided by two of New Zealand’s finest fly fishing guides, Simon Chu and Charles Smith.
Full Trip Itinerary/Pricing> New Zealand 2026
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Eastern Sierra Fly Fishing Report
Lower Owens- The Lower Owens is currently flowing around 95 CFS and has been fluctuating between 70-100 CFS for the last few days. This flux and the potential overall flow increase has the water off color and fish a little shy to eat. I’m actually impressed the flows have stayed this low this late into the season as any day the flows can get above 300 CFS-500 CFS and be up all summer. As long as the flows stay low the Lower is absolutely worth fishing and spending some time on. I will get in and wade any water that is below 250 CFS, any higher than that and you need to move with caution. Wading the Lower at high flows is dangerous. Another reason I give the Lower Owens a rest other then the high flows is the warm water temperatures that will come around July-September. The water around peak summer will easily get around 70+ degrees making it hard for the trout to survive, so giving them a break is recommended. There is plenty of water peak summer at higher elevations to get into, so take heart! The Lower Owens this spring was exceptionally good. March had an incredible dry fly bite with hatching caddis and mayflies, and april the nymphing was solid. Right now nymphing and streamer fishing the Lower Owens seems to be the most productive and efficient way to spend your time on the water. With the increasing temps fish have moved into the more oxygenated pools and riffles. Tight lining or fishing under a strike indicator in that faster water with the right flies and a good drift will lead into some eats. The bite seems to be more productive earlier in the morning before the heat of the day, 9am-noon. The bite is almost completely dying in the afternoon and picking up once again around 5-sunset. Recommended nymphs for the Lower Owens as off now, Perdigon Olive with Orange Hot Spot (16-18), Perdigon Blue Body with Orange Hotspot (16-18), Purple or Olive Duracell (16-18), Flashback Pheasant Tail (14-18), Gold Bead Head Hare’s Ears (16-18), Gold Bead Head Frenchie (16-18) and various Czech Nymphs. When it comes to fishing dry flies I have been seeing more mayflies then caddis, your classic Blue Wing Olive (14-18) or Parachute Adams (16-20) will get the fired up trout to come to the surface and take an adult. Now is the time to get on the Lower Owens while the flows are down, you can check the flows HERE on my website before making a trip. If it gets blown out there is still plenty of water to get on. We love the Lower Owens, this season was so so good! We are incredibly lucky to have such an excellent winter and shoulder season fly fishing destination in CA. Keeps us guides busy all year. Have fun out there and be safe.
Teamwork makes the dream work! Anglers Tom and Mark helping each other out by netting fish and covering water. Well done crew!
Lead guide Rob Hrabik and Angler Alan hooked up while Euro Nymphing a deep pool drop off on the Lower Owens. No better feeling!
Janina keping this beautiful 15” Wild Brown Trout wet while displaying its epic coloration before the release. Fantastic!
Bishop Creek/Rock Creek- Bishop Creek and Rock Creek are about to be in play big time, especially when the road opens to the top lakes. Right now Bishop Creek is available to fish and rock creek will be open on April 26th. River access is limited on Bishop Creek but is expected to be fully open come early to mid may, Rock Creek will follow shortly behind. The big thing to keep an eye on is spring melt on these creeks, if it gets hot quick the stream will come up substantially. Be careful as we head into summer while wading these small streams although it may seem mellow you can easily slip and get swept away during spring melt. Look for those areas with slower water during spring and early summer, bigger pools, deeper runs, back eddies. Right now it is still fairly cold to freezing at night time above 9,000ft so fish have not woken up just yet. If fishing Bishop Creek try the Lower Elevations just above bishop or below Intake 2. Running a single nymph like a small prince nymph (18), copper john (18), small baetis nymph (18-20) with no indicator is a great way to be stealthy. The flows are still low and the water is clear, fish are spooky. Once things heat up and the hatches pick up trout will go out of their way to take a dry fly or dry dropper set up, usually around late May. If you want to find success on these smaller and pressured streams move upstream working every seam and current lane possible. Fish will hold in zones you would never imagine, including fast seams and small waterfalls. Bishop and Rock Creek are great streams to practice you’re stealthy dry fly fishing and technical casting skills. To fish these spots well it takes patience and skill, it’s a wonderful way to spend the day. I will keep you all posted on the conditions of our higher elevations streams as we get closer to summer. If you would like to book a day on either Bishop Creek or Rock Creek reach out soon and we can line a day up together. I recommend these areas for those who like to fish dry flies, enjoy smaller streams, and higher elevation adventures. They beauty of these zones is hard to match, it will be 105 in Bishop and 75 Degrees on Bishop Creek. Magic.
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Rock Creek is Magical, this is peak summer last season!
Angler Wendy fishing Bishop Creek last summer, working a dry dropper behind a boulder where the current breaks.
PVR/Central Gorge- Now is a great time to break out that float tube and get some practice for Crowley Lake by fishing Pleasant Valley Reservoir. The midge bite on PVR has already started and is producing some numbers and quality. The flows from power plant one will be greatly increasing any moment so be very careful while float tubing as they can come up while you are in the water, which has happened to me a few times haha. Fishing balanced leeches, black or olive (8-12) and zebra midges (16-18) 7-12ft deep is working well, especially when the hatch picks up in the morning around 10am. Stripping streamers near the rocks while slow trolling is also picking up some nice fish. Its good to see PVR waking up, and one of my favorite spots to fish in spring before its gets too warm. The Central Gorge flows have come up a bit and so has the stinging nettle and rattlesnakes. Still totally fishable but getting HOT midday. This is about the time I stop heading down to the central gorge and let is rest till fall/winter. If you head down to the central gorge use caution and travel with a buddy. Look for rising trout this time of year down there. The two best ways to fish the gorge is either tight lining or fishing a dry dropper, keep an eye on the fish and they will tell you what to throw at em. My go to dry dropper set up in the central gorge is and Elk Hair Caddis (14) to a small baetis nymph (18) or copper john (18) Can’t beat that combo! Have fun and get it in while you can.
Anglers Anthony an Heather Euro Nymphing for some wild brown trout in the Central Gorge.
Crowley Lake- Opening day for Crowley Lake is April 26th! I am fired up to get back on Crowley and dial in the Lake, I am really hoping to get more days on Crowley this coming season as last year was freaking good. Like really good. I am currently booking for Crowley Lake into October. Crowley can turn on at any moment, and is an absolute blast to fish. I can take two anglers out on my boat and would love show you around California’s finest still water fishery. Trophy Brown, Cutthroat and Rainbow are all on the menu at Crowley!
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Who’s Ready For some of this? Monster rainbow trout from Crowley Lake, caught and safely released to get even bigger.
Shoulders on this Cutthroat! What a fight this fish put up. Now is the time to book Crowley and get into some epic fish.
Crowley Lake Brown Trout! Caught opening week last season. Crowley gives you a shot at the best of all three species, sometimes getting all of them in one day!
Angler Constance got the grand slam! Check out the snow capped mountains behind her. Enjoy epic fishing from the comfort of my 17ft Tracker, fun for all levels of anglers. Hard fighting fish and big smiles.
Upper Owens- The Upper Owens is currently flowing around 86 CFS below the Hot Creek confluence and 70 CFS above. These are good flows for the Upper Owens, expect them to come up slightly as things warm up and we head into peak spring and early summer. Right now the fishing is decent but nothing to ride home about. Early spring is always a transition period for our Spring Fed tributaries. The migratory rainbows from winter have moved back. towards the lake, with a few holdovers to be had. The Upper Owens is exposed and sees a lot of pressure everyday all year, so be patient while fishing the Upper and don’t expect numbers. As the air and water temperatures increase we should be seeing more fish rising to the surface for small dry flies. Pale Morning Dun Mayflies will start to arrive heading into May, mixed in with Blue Wing Olive, and the occasional caddis. I like fishing dries on the Upper this time of year, mostly juvenile smaller trout rising for those adults as they have to feed as much as possible to survive, at times every 30 Seconds- 1 Minute. Watch the river while moving upstream and watch the trout! What are they doing? Are they slowly sipping? Are they flying out of the water to grab an adult hovering above the surface? Are they eating just below the surface and rolling (emergers)? All of these factors will help you in fooling a fish to take your fly. Most folks move way to fast and are unwilling to try new things, get creative, or change presentation over and over again to find success. To me that is the joy of fly fishing, and comes with time and experience. Sure you can fish your perdigon under a bobber and catch a few fish with some time and energy, nothing wrong with that, but learning the breath of the river keeps me excited to fish. Mid morning is a great time to start as the hatch picks up around 9am. Look for the seams and the slow pools for sipping trout, look for the flat sandbars and wide sections for active feeding trout. When targeting the trophy trout stick to the cutbanks, and deeper pools where they can take shelter. When fishing nymphs I like running 3 or 4X, when fishing dry flies I like running 5X. Recommended nymphs for the Upper Owens right now, Prince Nymph (16), Olive Zebra Midge (16-18), Assassin (16), Bead Head Hares Ears (14-18), Rainbow Warrior (16), Perdigon in various colors (16-18), Olive Baetis Nymph (16-18) are all good options. Recommended dry flies for the Upper Owens and heading into may, Parachute PMD (14-18), Blue Wing Olive (18-20), Parachute Adams (18-20), Elk Hair Caddis (18), Stimulator (12-16). Every spring the cutthroat start heading into the Upper Owens and will be showing up any minute, this is a short and timely spawn typically kicking up around end of April into May. 2-4 weeks MAX. PLEASE DO NOT FISH REDDS (trout on their spawning beds) Honestly this is my least favorite season on the Upper as these trout pile up and expose themselves becoming extremely vulnerable to anglers. It’s pretty hard if not impossible for most anglers to walk past a group of 20+ inch cutthroat on their beds and not throw a fly at em. If you see cutthroats in shallow water, paired up in groups of 2-7 fish, let them be! Stick to the deeper pools and cut banks as they move between spawning locations to limit pressure on active spawners. I love just watching the spawners as they fight for position and for the females, its is wild, violent, and beautiful. Im happy to take folks out for trophy cutthroat this season, now is the time to book a trip, but we will do it responsibly, which means we might not catch many fish :) But the ones we do catch will be fired up and healthy.
BOOK THE UPPER OWENS
Nice trophy Cutthroat caught and safely released on the Upper Owens last spring.
Upper Owens During Spring is incredibly beautiful, fishing may be slower but it’s always worth the time spent!
Hot Creek- Hot Creek is currently flowing around 16 CFS and has been wonderful and fun the last few weeks. Spring is a great time to fish Hot Creek as the melt brings flows up for the early season and in my opinion the higher the better. The weed beds are still low enough to fish the shallower water and lanes between weed sections with a nymph, and the fish are rising for a well presented dry fly. Some days are better than others, Hot Creek is fickle and the slightest change in water temps and air temps can profoundly increase the bite or shut it totally down. Hot Creek is a blast when you can dial in a fly that the fish are keying in on and matching the hatch down there will make or break you. Tightlining or Euro Nymphing the small challens and lanes between weed beds with thin tippit (5x) and a few flies is a great way to start the day off down there. We have been getting into fun sized fish (8-12”) and the occasional (14-16”) brown or rainbow trout. As the day warms up, look for rising trout in the shallower water, behind those boulders, and on the seams. Trout in Hot Creek will go out of their way to munch on an adult when they are actively feeding. Size down those dry flies to (18-20) and start their, fishing a single dry is the way right now. Once the water gets a little deeper with spring melt running a dry dropper will be a great option as well. You can run a dry dropper now, but I tend to get a better drift and presentation on a single dry fly. Expect crowds down in the Canyon, the word is out! People are pretty friendly down there, allow room for anglers, I like at least a bend, or an entire straight between parties. If the party closest to you is down to be intimate and fish closer that’s also rad, communicate and don’t assume. Everyone has a different level of spatial comfort. Recommended nymphs for Hot Creek as of now, Quildigon (16-18), Perdigon (16-18), Duracell in Olive or Purple (16-18), Mini Prince Nymphs (18), Various Czech Nymphs (16-18) are all solid options. Recommended dry flies for Hot Creek, Parachute Adams (18-20) has been slaying***, Blue Wing Olive (18-20), Pale Morning Dun (16-20), Elk Hair Caddis (18-20). Have fun down in Hot Creek this year, take your time, move slow, there are more fish then you would assume within a 30ft section of that river. Give me a call to spend the day at Hot Creek its one of my personal favorite creeks.
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Angler Todd Euro Nymphing the pocket water on Hot Creek! What a beautiful day.
This is Hot Creek as of last week, looking healthy. The Eastern Sierra is a magical place.
Convict Lake/Mammoth Lakes Basin- Convict lake is mostly melted out and will be ready to go for opening day, which is exciting. Not a bad Idea to join the party at convict on the float tube and strip some streamers on the drop offs or inlets/outlets of the lake. I like fishing the classic Black Wolly Bugger (8-10) either under a bobber or while slow trolling closer to the banks. Plan on seeing a wild amount of people at convict, so if Isolation is your thing, you won’t want to be there. I love convict lake, the energy, the beauty, and the occasional monster stocker! You heard me say it I’ll catch big stockers all day, it’s fun! You can also fish nymphs under a bobber, Convict id DEEP in the middle so try to find zones where you are 12-15 feet deep MAX and you will have the best luck there. I like small Zebra Midges, black red or olive (18), Albino Wino (16-20), or Copper Tiger (16-18). All great midges and options to put under a bobber while sipping a beer or la croix in the tube waiting for that bobber to drop! I LOVE FLOAT TUBING and I have enough tubes and gear to take out two other anglers if you ever want. to give it a shot. Float tubing is relaxing, exciting, and epic way to fly fish. Hit me up to book a day on one of our Alpine Lakes. You wont regret it! As far as the mammoth lakes basin, still plenty of snow and ice higher up so we will need a little more time to get into some of these lakes. If you can find a place to put it or a break in the ice you might be able to get into some fish opening weekend. It will melt quick!
BOOK A FLOAT TUBE DAY WITH ME
Angler Kelsey checking out the views while fishing the Mammoth Lakes Basin during summer.
Angler Matt hooked up on a streamer eat while trolling the Mammoth Lakes Basin. Fun Day!
East Walker- As of now flows are decent on the East Walker at 86 CFS and should be good to go for opening weekend. We will keep an eye on flows and fishing as we get closer to fishmas. Stay tuned for more reports on the EW.
Thanks for stopping by for my Eastern Sierra Fly Fishing Report and Newsletter! My monthly report is a blast to write and recap, I hope you find it helpful, encouraging, and something that leads you into more fish. Fly fishing is a great community and we are blessed every time we get a chance to spend the day on the water. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions on the report, are looking to book a trip, or just want to share your fish story.
-Luke Kinney
If you feel lost, broken, or like giving up. Jesus loves you, and wants to be your friend. He died for your sins, and will give you a new life. He did it for me, I was lost, suicidal, and defeated and he gave me the most valuable thing in this life HOPE. Call upon him, he will come to you. You are so loved, Happy Easter!
(Luke 23: 39-43) “One of the criminals hanging beside him (Jesus) scoffed, “so you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself-and us, too, while you’re at it! “ But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
This is God’s promise to anyone who calls upon the Lord and proclaims in their heart and with their mouth (Romans 10:9) Lord I give my life to you, I will follow you, lead me, teach me, help me to carry my cross, you are my king.
Peace and Hope be upon you.
