Fishing Conditions and Hatches: Fair-Good

 Parking is once again at the bridge. If you plan on making it several gates or more upstream it hasn't been too crowded but if you plan on fishing near the bridge you better be real lucky or expect it to be very crowded. Fishing is still good and should remain decent until mid January when the fall run starts moving back to the lake. There now seems to be more lake fish above the bridge and they tend to be concentrated in certain spots. Water temperatures have dropped to the point that the smaller fish aren't  active early and it might be best to start fishing below Hot Creek in the morning. The BWO and midges are it for hatches and the BWO are pretty much done until next spring. It's almost all attractor patterns from here until spring.

It's good to remember that there aren't a lot of "resident" fish in the Upper Owens, it's basically a nursery for Crowley Lake and as they get bigger most of them will move down to the lake. The fish that haven't gone to the lake yet tend to be pickier because it's their natural environment. So much for the temperature gage, it lost its funding and has been shut down. Scratch that, it may be shut down but it's still functional. There was a temperature gage on Hot Creek right above the Owens River Road bridge. Right now, the water temperature ranges between the low 80s and high 90s.  If you're not familiar with it, to get to the upper most branch of Hot Creek, go through the first drive through gate on the main road and immediately turn left. The confluence is between the first and second walk-thru gates.