Fish’N Conditions
The monsoon thundershowers have returned to the high country this week, with the late afternoons and evenings bringing nice amounts of rainfall to the area. Pleasant days are still the norm here, but we will see a little bit of a more summer-like warm up going into the weekend. Bridgeport Reservoir still giving up fish along the weed lines in the channels. East Walker River settling into nice levels and cooler water triggering the fish to start feeding again. Upper Owens River giving up decent numbers in the deeper pools. Hot Creek still fishing best with dry flies along the open channels and pockets. Crowley Lake seeing big fish in the channels and on the flats early in the day attacking perch fry. Middle Owens River now down to drift-able levels on most sections.

Crowley Lake
It can be punk perch one day, Assassins the next, and midges later in the day. It’s a day to day menu for the fish here, although one constant are the large fish rolling tight against the weeds in the mornings. This has been a fun period to fish a floating line with a long leader and a punk perch. We have been getting some real quality trout this way when they are feeding just under the surface. Later in the day, switching to indicators and hanging perch fry, assassins, and midges has been doing the trick. Not every spot along the creek channels are holding fish, and using a good sonar to mark the concentrations has been the key. If you are not getting into fish but others around you are, it may be time to move the boat. Best depths have been from 6-14′ along Green Banks, Leighton Springs, Sandy Point, McGee Bay, and Crooked Creek.

Middle Owens River (Bishop Area)
Flows now around 112 cfs and very fishable. We will now be running drift trips here unless some major flow changes take place. These trips are a lot of fun and the best way to catch trout with our techniques and drift boats that get you into the inaccessible areas. The deeper pools are holding the most fish right now. Streamer patterns like Loeberg’s and Spruce-a-bu’s with some flash in them are getting grabs.

Hot Creek
Flows at 8 cfs now with weed growth prevalent. Target the open lanes between them for the best success. Different day to day here as more weeds hit the surface and begin to choke up the open water. Dry fly fishing along the open stretches has been productive. Still fun with hoppers fished on a 9′ leader. #18 mayflies, #18-22 midges, #20 Brassies, and egg and SD worm patterns have been getting some serious looks and takes from the resident trout.

East Walker River
Flows down again to 167 cfs. Warmer water has the fish spread out into the deeper sections but cooler nights are now prevailing and this will bring things back to normal living conditions for the trout sooner than later. You’ll find cooler water the closer you get to the dam, and fishing in the deep sections can produce some nice fish. Take care when landing these fish after you play them for an extended period. The sooner you can land them the better. Try to minimize the trout’s “out of the water” time by having everything set up in advance for a photo if you choose to do so. A few seconds too long out of the water at these temps can be a death sentence to a trout.   Crawdad patterns work great this time of year, along with #18 Copper Tiger Midges, #14-16 Parallel Perch, #14-16 Level Leeches, and Assassins dark and light both Parallel and normal.