Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Yet another Fish'N Conditions update from the beautiful Eastern Sierra.

After a series of windy cold fronts that brought additional snow to the upper elevations the weather Guru's are forecasting a warming trend just in time to coincide with a drop in the flows on the LOR. This major warming trend is the first of the season and it will trigger some major emergences in most areas. Make the news people, don't read about it!

The Lower Owens River has had a substantial flow reduction as of 3-7. The LADWP is reporting that some towers suspending some major power lines have been damaged and that flows will remain around the 250cfs release rate for however long it takes to repair the lines. Flows will then be increased after the repairs once again. This rare situation is giving you a window of opportunity to fish the LO at excellent flows in the near future.

With the decrease in flows some sections of the river have once again been kicking out some good numbers. At 250cfs wading is once again possible in the upper sections and ideal for drifting the entire river. There is a link to the DWP flow chart at www.sierradrifters.com/fish.htm

We are seeing strong caddis activity on the warmer days #18 for adults and nymphs, BWO's #18 after lunch-use a PT or birds nest pattern 18-20 for nymphing.

Hot Creek has erupted and fishing here is as good as it gets! Recent trips have put big smiles on the lucky ones making the effort to hike down into the canyon over a hard packed snow covered road.

Rarely do I classify fishing here as "stupid good" but I have seen two days recently in which the "crick" has lived up to its potential. The trout are gorging on the baetis hatch and if you can fog a mirror-you could catch a fish on a fly with little fishing effort.

Fish midge clusters in the morning or may fly nymphs #18-20. Switch to BWO adults around mid-day. This is the sweet spot during the day and you will see just how many fish thrive in this fertile spring creek!

The UO is still kicking out some large fish, however the numbers are down and it appears that the spring migration will take place later than usual. A recent trip on the snow mobiles to ply some untouched water was much slower than prior outings here and I saw no evidence of big numbers of migrating rainbows moving up from Crowley. Winter is still very much evident in this area and it looks to be about a month behind normal.

We hooked up on broken back midges, and flashback PT's #16-18. I would also suggest using a San Juan Worm or egg pattern this time of year for nymphing as well. The flows remain pretty high as well and streamer fishing would be another good option with a moderate sinking tip line.

The roads are still snow bound. Some adventurous souls are attempting to drive back in only to get high centered and stuck. Road conditions will improve here shortly with regard to snow, but it will be muddy and icy well into April.

We look forward to fishing with you soon.