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.

The Upper Owens still has a few areas with some snow, & ice on the access roads. 4 X 4 vehicles are fine, and 2 wheel drive vehicles can now get in with caution. Morning temps have been in the low teens to single digits this week. An approaching cold front may bring some light snowfall to the area this week, with mild temps and plenty of sunshine through the weekend. The weather pattern will return to cold temperatures and the possibility of more snow at least for the start of next week. There are some great migratory fish holding in select pools; but overall it is slow, with a significant decline in numbers this week. Middle Owens bite has been fair/slow; still producing some quality rainbows on drift trips. Flows are low, 75cfs. in the wild trout section. East Walker flows are still holding at winter releases at 28cfs. The catching has been slow. Pleasant Valley Reservoir fair/poor. Inlet, and river section spotty. Tubing best around launch ramp towards inlet. Hot Creek has been planted with small rainbows, & browns. Water conditions fair, bite can be good for smalls, and some larger fish are now showing up in the mix. The Gorge is open year around, and is fishing fair/good during warmer periods. Work being done in Lower Gorge. Dry/dropper rigs work well here.

It is not always possible to post all of our client pictures on this fish report page. I do my best to put them in our gallery. If we have previously posted your pictures on this page; or you have had a recent guide trip with us, you can always find them by going to the photo gallery and searching for your name.



The “catching” has been on the slow side in most sections. The name of the game currently is covering water to find these fish. There are some nice sized fish holding in some of the deeper pools currently. Cooler weather to settle in this week. Small mayflies, midges, & the last generation of caddis are still emerging daily, and it can be a blast with a 3-weight rod when you locate a pod of surface feeders. Hi-vis para mayflies, & caddis adults used as your upper fly; with dropper bead head nymphs like Assassins, flashback PT’s, olive dubbed crystal caddis, & tiger midges can be effective in the deeper tailouts, and brush lined slots. The bulk of the fish are holding in the deeper pits during the cooler periods of the day, so add some weight, & attach an Under-Cator to your nymph rigs to get down to the trout lying in these holes. At times you will find fish holding in some of the shallow gravel areas along the banks. We have had a consistent run of large rainbows this fall using streamer patterns like Spruce-A-Bu’s, Loebergs, & Seal Buggers, and Punk Perch. Light sinking tip lines are adequate to get your imitations down to these rascals that are staging up in the tailouts of the larger pools. Numbers have been down on recent drift boat trips due to a lack of fish stocking. Flows have dropped to 75cfs. forcing the trout to migrate into the deeper pools.





Access is ok with all wheel drive vehicles; but there are some ruts that might get a low ground clearance car stuck. There are some big Crowley Steelhead, but most of the browns are headed back to the lake. It is very similar to steelhead fishing currently. You must cover some ground to find the fish here. The big rainbows are relocating almost daily in some areas of the river, but once you find them they are willing to bite a proper presentation. Long casts are required at times to avoid spooking them, especially in the clear water areas above the confluence of Hot Creek. The numbers of migratory rainbows have thinned out, but we should begin to see a new push of fish once Crowley Lake begins its freeze. Single digit air temps will keep ice in the rod guides until 10/11am for an extended period. You can fish year around above the Benton Bridge with special angling restrictions. The sections below Hot Creeks inlets have some aquatic weed that makes nymphing difficult. The fish are spread out, & spooky. Make your stream side approaches quietly, & on their tails. Keeping a low profile is necessary to avoid spooking them. Flows have dropped considerably; with current levels being 50cfs. Attractor patterns, & streamers are good calls for migratory trout. Drifters Crawlers, crystal eggs, San Juan Worms, crystal leeches, & Assassins are my go to nymphs below an Under-Cator.





Some snow, & ice in the canyon. Very cold air temps predicted for this week. Fishing is pretty good for smaller rainbows, and dinky browns that have been recently planted. A few larger browns have shown up for the spawn recently with a good number of mediums sized ones. Please exercise good judgement if you choose to fish for them as these fish have really undergone stressful conditions over these past drought years. Remember, they are the future of this great fishery. The smaller fish have acclimated, & are eager to hit most nymphs and dries. Click on this link to read what the CDFW is now documenting as to how Hot Creek will be managed. HC has been recently planted with thousands of sub-catchable rainbows and browns.





Thanks to the CDFW, and passionate volunteers for their efforts to get fish planted in Hot Creek. Many 8-10 inch rainbows, & thousands of 4 inch browns have just been put into HC. If we can just get some help from mother nature on the water part…HC will comeback strong next summer. These are very small fish, and will have a long winter to face. Please take it easy on them if you choose to fish HC at all. Several public sections were planted. Here I am taking a moment to watch these young fish adapt to their new home.



Fishing has been slow due to lack of stocking. The reservoir level is up close to the tree line, making access difficult in the transition section. The small river section can kick out fair numbers of hold over trout using dry/dropper rigs, & streamers. Flows have dropped, & this fertile little river can be really fun if you work the harder to reach brush areas accessible when the powerhouse is not generating. I like dry/dropper combos like Stimulators, hi-vis mayfly, or caddis as the upper. Use smaller Assassins, FB PT’s, or crystal tiger midges as the nymphs. If you fish the mid-day/afternoon hatches, you can cut the dropper off and go straight to a dry fly when the fish are surface feeding. Tubers can get into some fish around the boat launch ramp towards the inlet. Use full sinking; or heavy sink tips to get down ten feet quickly. Loebergs, Crystal Leeches, Agent Orange, Spruce-A-Bu’s, & Punk Perch will get you grabs.





Work being done in the lower section near the powerhouse. Flows are low. Use Mayfly adults, Hi-vis caddis, or para hi-vis mayflies as your upper fly. Go to dropper nymphs are # 18 Assassin nymphs, or FB PT’s. It can be a hike to get down there, but there are many wild fish that will gladly rise to the occasion.





Fishing has been fair-slow. Flows are down and now at 28cfs. You will have to target the deepest pools in the river to get into the quality size fish here.