Guided fly fishing trips for Crowley Lake, Grant & Silver Lakes, the San Joaquin, Upper and Middle Owens Rivers, East Walker River, McGee Creek, Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Hot Creek, & the Gorge located near Mammoth and Bishop Ca. will give you opportunities to catch trophy rainbows and browns while being guided by expert fly fishing pros. Sierra Drifters guides utilize top of the line center console bay boats, drift boats, float tubes, and high quality fly fishing tackle to guide you on these blue ribbon trout waters.

 Quick Look Fish Report 8/16/17

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The month of August is turning out to be a great month here in the Eastern Sierra. Areas which were hit hard by the trout are now fishable again with plenty of water everywhere. A short taste of fall-like weather came through bringing some wind and cooler temps. This month looks to be dry until the 3rd week and will be warming back up to sierra summer conditions. Bridgeport Reservoir good along the channels with perch fry imitations, midges, and assassins. East Walker around 343 cfs with multiple fishable areas and some bigger fish on the chew. Lots of small rainbows have been showing up that have been washed down from the reservoir. June Lake area good in Rush Creek and most of the lakes with nymphs and streamers. San Joaquin at perfect flows now for wading and throwing dry flies. Hot Creek now clear and in prime condition. Good with a light weight rod and a dry dropper setup. Upper Owens good to excellent on the surface with hopper patterns, mayflys, caddis, and small midges. Crowley Lake kicking out some real beasts on most days. Some slow periods on others. Gorge flows trickling in the upper area, PVR good pulling streamers by float tube, and Middle Owens giving up some wild browns along the slower deeper sections and edges of the river.

 Crowley Lake 8/16/17

Some days “on fire” and some days you’ll have to move around. Fish searching all over McGee Bay for perch fry and damselfly nymphs. They can be caught in water as short as 5′ and all the way out to 20′ if fishing excessively long leaders in your thing. Our Parallel Punk Perch and Parallel Assassin Light have been fooling many large trout recently. You can pick these flies up in the area at Reagan’s Sporting Goods in Bishop and at the Crowley Lake General Store in Crowley. Crooked Creek, Little and Big Hilton, and McGee Bay have been good areas lately. Fish have been sinking back into the channel when the south wind comes up in the afternoon on some days and the catching can be phenomenal. 

Check out some recent catches from our clients here:

San Joaquin River 8/16/17

Flows dropping rapidly here daily. Currently at 124 cfs and trending downward. Excellent water conditions with fish taking most dry flies in the right size presented properly. Fishing has been good from the campgrounds down and upstream. Stimulators, Caddis, Mayflies, and small hoppers have been great flies for the area on a 3-weight rod. We are now guiding this area and you can click herefor our trip request form.

Upper Owens River 8/16/17

River now at an excellent flow rate at 67 cfs. Water is crystal clear above the Hot Creek confluence and the further up you travel. Fish are readily taking dry flies and droppers in the clear water above the bridge. The fish are scattered along the river in this section and you may have to do a bit of run and gun fishing. 3 or 4 weight rods are a great set up for these fish. They are very aggressive when taking a dry fly presented to them properly. Mosquitoes are still around in good numbers so juicing the skin up with bug spray wouldn’t hurt. 

The section upstream from the Benton Bridge is open year around with special regulations. Seasonal closures, and angling restrictions apply downstream from the bridge, check regulations before fishing in this section.
 

Middle Owens River/PVR/Wild Trout section (Bishop Area) 8/16/17

447 cfs on the river currently with 175 cfs coming through from Bishop Creek. The reservoir is fishing good while pulling full sink and sink tip lines from a tube. Go with dark streamer colors on the overcast thunderstorm days and lighter colors when the sun is high in the sky and bright. Wild Trout area is high for wading but targeting the deeper slower pools and softer edges of the water will get you some grabs with nymphs and plenty of weight.

This fishery remains open year around. Special regs from the footbridge at Pleasant Valley campground to the fishing monument 4.7 miles downstream.

Hot Creek 8/16/17

Flows now at 48 cfs.  Water looking really good now. Try dry fly and dropper combos along the far edges of the banks. Fish are eager to jump on whatever offering falls from the banks.

This is a year around fishery with special regs in place.

*Tom Loe, Doug Rodricks, and Doug Dolan are under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide Hot Creek.

The Gorge 8/16/17

LADWP has been doing a lot of work in this area and have lowered flows. It is better fishing from the power plant down to PVR currently.

Season open year around

 East Walker River 8/16/17

River now at 343 cfs. Near perfect flows at this release and great fishing in all areas of the river. Good quality rainbows and browns showing up and biting on heavily weighted nymph rigs. San Juan worms, Parallel Punk Perch, midges, PT’s, and Copper John’s are all good flies right now. We are now taking trip reservations for the East Walker. Book your trip here.

This fishery is open year around below the Bridgeport Reservoir dam to Nevada State line. Open year around in Nevada also.

Bridgeport Reservoir 8/16/17

The lake is in the best condition we have seen in several seasons. As water temps climb, the migration of trout towards the cooler inlets in Buckeye Bay, & the Walker area will increase. The submerged channels are well defined if you have a good sonar. The Bridge fishes best for fly fishers when the trout “channel up” in these locations. Damsel flies, callibaetis, perch fry, and midges are all on the menu now. Hang a Parallel Perch or Parallel Assassin in the channel proper and you will get grabs.

For those of you looking for a unique, and profitable business opportunity here in the Sierra, the Bridgeport Lake Marina is for sale. This facility is pretty much a turn key recreational business that has an established RV Park, small general store, and boat marina. Here is the listing informationlink. 

Jurassic Pond 8/16/17

The big fish here just won’t stop biting! Did I mention that these are all wild fish with some of the hottest paint jobs you’ll find in the sierra? We offer half day guided trips here and can fish up to 3 anglers at a time. Call or fill out one of our trip request forms here to get on the pond!

Check out some of the recent fish we’ve had the pleasure of netting:

***New for 2017! I have limited quantities of some new patterns that will guarantee advantage in your quest for trophy trout. Balanced patterns are the new rage for nymphing, & streamer fishing. Parallel Punk Perch has been the hottest fly on Crowley Lake recently. We have been guide testing these patterns for several years, & I can honestly say they are the most significant improvement in fly design in over a decade. They are truly superior to conventional fly designs. The flies ride “parallel”; or “level” to the bottom giving them a far more realistic profile. The jig style hook becomes more effective as it seldom gets snagged on the bottom, & sets efficiently in the fishes mouth. These flies are intended to fish as your bottom fly in a multi fly; or tandem rig. They are deadly fished solo as a streamer. Add these patterns to your quiver for all fisheries that you still water nymph; or cast streamers. Click on “fly sales” on the nav bar above, hit “menu” first from a mobile device to access the nav bar.