The East is running about 75 cfs today, the fishing has still been pretty good. The water temps have been creeping up but are still low enough to keep the fish healthy. We’ve had some pretty good dry reports as well as fishing nymphs. Still haven’t heard too much about streamers though there has been some anglers giving it a try. Most of the good dry action has been late in the evening with small parachute Adams , E/C caddis, elk hair caddis and gulper specials. Nymphing has been producing fish throughout the day with zebra midges, flashback emergers, WD/40’s, darth baetis, copper johns, rainbow warriors and the like. Anglers have been reporting anywhere from 3 to 15 fish per day with lots of the fish being in the 12 to 15 inch range and a few going from about 18 to 23 inches.
The ranch is still fishing pretty well, lots of nice fish being caught down there, some up to around 24 inches. Nymphing has been the best ticket but we have had a couple good dry/dropper reports, mostly the fish were taking the dropper but occasionally the chubby or stimulator on top. Typically this is a good time of the year to fish streamers like a dead drift crayfish so I wouldn’t be opposed to giving that a try. We are getting a pretty good number of bookings on the ranch so if you can plan a little ahead that would be good.
Bridgeport is still fishing pretty well for most anglers with most boats reporting anywhere from 5 to 20 fish per day. The trolling still seems to be the best with crawlers, Thomas Bouyants, Rapalas and speedy shiners. There has still been all different types of fish being caught, lots of browns and rainbows and some pretty nice perch as well. Today we had one perch come in that weighed 3 lbs 5.5 oz! Most of the browns are in the 1.5 to 4 pound range and we had rainbows up to nearly 9 pounds come in this week. There has been a few fish caught from the shore lately but the action has been mostly slow. Yesterday we had a couple 5 and 6 pounders but still most of the anglers are reporting only 0 to maybe 2 or 3 fish per day. Pinched crawlers, garlic power bait and inflated crawlers seem to be the best baits from the shore.
We didn’t hear any news from Kirman yet, hopefully there are still some fish in there leftover from last year but it’s hard to tell. Last year the fishing up there was pretty tough with just a few successful reports coming in for the whole season. Hopefully the DFW will be able to get some fingerling fish in there this year and get the fishery back on track.
The Twins are still producing some very good fish with some really nice browns still being caught and released, we’ve seen some great photos online of some really nice fish that have been released to get bigger. There’s also been some good rainbows coming in from up there in the 3 to 6 pound range. Trolling is producing some fish with crawlers, Rapalas and Kastmasters, bait anglers are using mice tails, pinched crawlers and inflated crawlers. Casting lures from the shoreline is producing some fish early in the morning and late in the evening as well. There’s also been a few tubing fly anglers doing well with sinking lines and stripping wooly buggers, seal buggers, leech patterns with soft hackle and zug bug droppers.
We still haven’t been getting much for reports from the West lately, it sounds like the water is a little high and slightly off color but should still be fishable. It is probably a bit tough due to the lower water temps though. I would suggest trying some spinners like Panther Martins and Vibrax lures or maybe drifting some eggs or crawlers through the pockets and behind the boulders. Fly anglers might pull some fish with prince nymphs, soft hackles and pheasant tails.
All the ice is pretty much gone from the Virginias now and they are fishing pretty well. There’s been some successful reports from the shore anglers casting lures like Kastmasters and Thomas Bouyants as well as bait anglers fishing pinched crawlers, mice tails and inflated crawlers. Usually just after ice out those lakes fish pretty well so now is a good time to be up there!
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The Mono County Board of Supervisors is in the process of drafting a letter to send to the Fiah and Game Commission in regards to the regulation changes that occurred on the East Walker, hopefully this will help us gain some traction in getting those changes reversed. There has also been some DFW personel on the river conducting angler surveys which is really great to see. Keep those emails going, the only way we will get the regs changed back to the way they were is to keep up the pressure. Go to the Walker River Outfitters website at:
www.walkerriveroutfitters.com for more information about getting involved!
