Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Best fishes to all in 2009 from the guide staff at Sierra Drifters. Remember to get a new license! Your 2007 expired on December 31, 2007.

The brutal cold of December is over for the time being and we are experiencing milder temperatures that look to hold for a while. Access to the Upper/ Lower Owens River, and Hot Creek on the river front dirt roads remains limited by snow and ice or deep mud. The ground will be frozen in the mornings most days but will thaw after lunch making for some difficult driving. Walking in is way easier than the digging out!

Road Trips!!!

Sierra Drifters founder Tom Loe will be doing Power Point assisted seminars on fly fishing and the techniques used to ply the waters of the Sierra this winter. He will be speaking for the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers on 1-13-09, and then the San Jose Fly Fishers on 1-14-09. Tom will head down to So-Cal and greet the Deep Creek Fly Fishers on 1-28-09, and then again for the Fly Fishers of Orange County on the evening of 1-29-09. These seminars are loaded with seldom published information, Tom's special guide tips, combined with plenty of instruction and are formatted as "off the water" guide trips. If you fish the Sierra you will find these seminars very rewarding. Tom has been professionally guiding for over a decade and has logged over 2700 guide trips to date. The public is welcome to attend. Please contact the clubs for information, start times, and directions.

Diablo Valley - www.diablovalleyflyfish.org

San Jose ??? www.flycasters.org

Orange County ??? www.ffcoc.org

Deep Creek - www.deepcreekflyfishers.org

Sierra Drifters Guide Service implemented a "Fishing Relief Stimulus" program effective October 31st. If you have had it with politics and market watching and wish to get away and debate with a huge brown or watch a BWO mayfly drift into a brightly colored rainbows mouth we have several guided fishing programs to campaign about. For a limited time we have rolled back our guide rates to 2005 prices! When is the last time you saw a guide service lower prices? Gas prices are coming down and the fishing is great.

Guide Tip:

Wading boots that have rubber soles are far superior in freezing conditions than felts. The felt soles absorb water and freeze when walking on ice or snow. You can find yourself spending a lot of time chipping off "boot bergs" after only a short distance on a snowy path. In addition; they are very slippery on hard packed snow or frozen ground. Rubber soles will make for a more enjoyable and safe experience under winter wading conditions. I gave up felts along time ago and have been pleased with the versatility and light design that these newer wading boots offer.

We have a bunch of great pictures to show you of recent trips on the Lower Owens and other areas. Click on www.sierradrifters.com/fish.htm to view them please.

Hot Creek
The section just below the hatchery (Interpretive Site) has been getting spanked pretty hard. For those who can turn a leader over fifty feet -Nirvana! #18-22 midge or may fly patterns. Casting a dry into the "suds" on a 10 foot leader can be dynamite here.

The access road is sloppy but passable all the way to the gate above the HC Ranch and in far better shape than last year at this time. Conditions are excellent along the creek and most of the snow is gone in the floor of the canyon. The hike in is not bad but DO NOT wear felt soles for the drop in. This is another winner when it gets into the forties by late morning.

The weeds are just below the surface recently thanks to some increase in flows. This will make your drifts easier in some sections.