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.

Looks like El Nino has arrived to the Sierra a year late! Feet of snow forecast to fall in the upper elevations this week, with some wicked cold temps descending on the region this weekend. Unfortunately fishing has been pretty slow in most areas; with the Middle Owens being the exception during nicer weather periods. Warm air temps have triggered midge, & mayfly hatches with a few lingering caddis in the wild trout section. Water temps have been much warmer than usual for mid-December. Drift boat fishing is fair/good with a few nice fish being caught on streamers. Flows remain low in all the year around locations. Hot Creek has good numbers of smaller fish that are very active. East Walker flows a shade below 30cfs. with Bridgeport Reservoir filling nicely. The catching is so-so here. Upper Owens is poor, very few fish here. Pleasant Valley Reservoir has picked up thanks to some plantings. Conditions are good in the section down from the powerhouse.

***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. 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. Some sizes are not available due to back orders on jig hooks, & are only available online at this time. I will add more sizes on some patterns as we get shipments in. Click on “fly sales” on the nav bar above, hit “menu” first from a mobile device to access the nav bar.



We got a little bit of snow and more is forecasted for the rest of the week here in the high country. These storms are a bit warmer, so low temps will be around the freezing level while the highs will remain close to the 50 degree mark.

These storms may bring some new fish into the river. Crowley Lake has been rising and there is a solid connection to the river for the new rainbows to migrate upstream. The fish currently in the river are still very spread out and covering water to find them is still key. You must stay on the tails or downstream of these fish currently to avoid spooking them. They have seen a lot of flies and anglers, so switching it up and thinking outside the box can be effective in fooling these rascals. The baetis hatch has been coming off very solidly in the early afternoon when the weather warms. Casting #18-20 mayfly patterns will get some takes for the wild and hatchery surface feeders. Egg patterns, San Juan worms, Crystal Leeches, midges, assassins, and flashback PT’s have been very effective flies when presented properly. Historically in past years, mid to late December has seen good numbers of migratory fish move into the river. We are looking forward to many of these fish returning to the river for the fall spawn soon. Here are a few of the fish from last year in December around this time.



The river flows are holding at around 75 cfs currently. Temperatures are nicer here with mild temps and fall conditions. Nighttime lows reach the freezing level, but daytime temps are about 10 degrees warmer compared to the upper river above Crowley. We are looking at highs in low 60’s here. There are some great hatches taking place in the afternoons, which provide for some great opportunities to break out that 3 weight rod and experience some classic dry fly fishing. Baetis patterns in #18-20 will get solid takes when the fish are aggressively feeding on the naturals. It’s important to keep those flies floating high and dry to properly match the hatch. There are many dry fly floatants on the market to choose from. Personally, I like using a dry fly primer and then finishing it off with some dry shake. Try not to let your fly touch the water until you are ready to lay it down for your drift. You must lead the fish with your presentation at least 10′ as they are looking up and gently sipping the naturals as they drift into their holding area. Spruce-a-bu’s, Loebergs, Punk Perch, and Seal Buggers are still great flies to target the bigger fish holding in the deep pools, and as we transition into winter this month we can look forward to some great fishing ahead.







Two Bug Doug and I did some looking down here at the Interpretive Site and the canyon section. I’m happy to report that the new diploid rainbows and browns have settled in and adapted to their new home flawlessly. We observed some very aggressive surface feeding activity in both sections, with the fish feeding heavily on midges in the morning. If you fish here I would go with micro patterns like Griffith’s gnats, Parachute adams, midge clusters, and snowshoe midges in #20-24. Baetis patterns in #18-20 are also deadly in the afternoons. For nymphing, San Juan worms, egg patterns, PT’s #16-20, scuds #18-20, and midges #16-20 are good go-to bugs. The canyon section is heavily weeded, so locate some slots or openings to get your bugs into. Light weight above your nymphs will be adequate for a good bottom bounce without getting hung up too often. 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.



Water level is on the low side here, so try and locate the deepest areas. Be sure to fish pocket water in front of and behind the rock breaks as they can all hold fish this time of year. I like the transition area where the river meets the reservoir. It is deeper and slower here, and the fish will take small nymphs fished under an indicator or a dry/dropper setup. Make sure to keep the drag out of your drift here as the fish have longer to inspect your presentation under the slow moving water.



This is a great area to hit this time of year. It can be hours of action with a light weight stick and some small dry flies or dry/dropper combos. Some of the best dry fly fishing in the sierra takes place down here, and there’s nothing like watching that wild brown or rainbow slowly rising to your perfectly presented fly. Elk Caddis, Parachute Adams, and midge patterns in #18-22 are best. You can attach a short dropper nymph about 2′ or so to your dry when the fish aren’t feeding on top. Good patterns are #18-20 copper tiger and zebra midges and #20 PT’s with or without flashbacks.





Flows are still holding at 28 cfs. The “toilet bowl” section at the head of the river can be good this time of year. Make sure you have enough weight on your nymph rigs to get down with egg patterns, #20 serendipities, #16-20 copper john’s, and #18-20 midges. Other areas worth looking at are the “Spring Hole” where the river makes it’s first substantial turn downstream and just upstream of the old aqueduct that runs close to the highway. Small streamer patterns pulled, drifted, or swung in the deeper sections can produce some good quality fish.