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.

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.

Quick Look Fish Report 7/14/17

Temperatures continue to heat up going into the weekend and so does the fishing on the Crowley Lake. Some days we are experiencing over 50 fish to the net. The key has been to really use the sonar on the boat and get on the spots that are keeping fish feeding in that area. We have been going deep at times to get them and McGee Bay has some big fish biting again. Afternoon thunder showers have been building daily and so has the south west wind. East Walker River at 969 cfs. Bridgeport Reservoir good for decent size fish for those gettting out. Mammoth Lakes Basin seeing some larger trophy fish getting caught lately. Pulling streamers from a tube getting them currently. Hot Creek running at 183 cfs, still a bit high and off color. Upper Owens at 97 cfs with some clearing beginning and some smaller fish spreading out through the river. Middle Owens at 505 cfs, which is high for wading.

A shot from McGee Bay with one of our “fish magnets” hunting down some trout. This could be you enjoying the breath taking scenery and fine fishing on Crowley Lake. Photo Credit: Brad Preston

Crowley Lake 7/14/17

Steady fishing in certain areas of the lake. McGee Bay starting to turn on again in open water and close to the weed lines. Throat samples from fish have revealed small midges, daphnia, and tiny blood midges. The perch fry have hatched and are all around the weed lines and are slowly making their way around in schools. Fish are now feeding on damselfly nymphs, perch fry, and midges. The bite will start to get hot now in the coming weeks and should remain steady into the summer. Some boats are doing better than others in the bay, and if you aren’t catching fish a short move may be the best option.

Check out some recent catches from our clients here:

Michael Sewell displays a great rainbow while fishing with Jerry Gilpin!

Katie Shea also fished with Jerry and got this nice cutthroat trout!

The Nair family came out from London, England and Shunney scored this sweet 20″ bow!

Roy Monsibais bested this chunky brown on an epic high number day of fishing!

Capt. Taro Takeuchi of “Liberty Sportfishing” in San Diego trying his hand at fly fishing. Nice one T! If you guys want to catch a big bluefin in local waters, this is your man.

Regular big Brett Edmondson with a hard earned rainbow from a busy day in the bay!

Roger Szuchan showing off this stellar cutthroat trout!

Anthony Sacchini displays a fat cutthroat while fishing with Jerry Gilpin!

Bill Regensburger fished with Doug Dolan and got this nice brownie!

This was a great day for, from left to right ( Kai and Elias Brown). Quite the suitable fish to go with their family name!

Upper Owens River 7/14/17

River running high here at 97 cfs. A few smaller fish holding in the deeper pools and slower moving water above Hot Creek. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife making some fish plants below the bridge but water is very stained and flowing high.

The section upstream from the Benton Bridge is open year around with special regulations. Seasonal closures, and angling restrictions apply downstream from the bridge, check regulations before fishing in this section.

Middle Owens River/PVR/Wild Trout section (Bishop Area) 7/8/17

Water levels finally starting to come down on the river. The river is fishable at these flows but still high and you will have to target the eddies and slower water for now. PVR fishing ok with heavy sinking lines and best if you have a float tube. Otherwise you can fish the inlet section with a double nymph rig and an indicator. Wild Trout section still a bit high for wading and comfortable crossing flows.

This fishery remains open year around. Special regs from the footbridge at Pleasant Valley campground to the fishing monument 4.7 miles downstream.

Hot Creek 7/8/17

Flows down some from last week, but water is still off color and running fast. This area will be good once the creek starts to clear and settle down. This is great for washing away the silted creek bed and will provide good spawning habitat for the remaining diploids that have survived the harsh winter. Working the edges of the banks is the best bet right now with some weight to get those nymphs down. Otherwise there are better places to fish currently.

This is a year around fishery with special regs in place.

*Tom Loe, Doug Rodricks, and Doug Dolan are under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide Hot Creek.

The Gorge 6/30/17

Weather is scorching down here but fishing can be decent. Dry fly and dropper set up can get you into some numbers. Early morning and late evenings are best here.

Season open year around

East Walker River 7/14/17

Blown out at 969 cfs. There are some spots that are fishable above the bridge and even more below.

This fishery is open year around below the Bridgeport Reservoir dam to Nevada State line. Open year around in Nevada also.

Bridgeport Reservoir 7/14/17

Decent reports coming from the area for those getting out. Float tubing and fishing from a boat is best. Try tugging streamers and damselfly nymphs on a sinking line along the weeds.

Jurassic Pond 7/14/17

J Pond still going strong and getting better as McGee Creek’s flows start to decrease. Browns and rainbows are slurping up our offerings and putting on quite the show. Come and get some this summer as there is nothing else like this place in the area.

Check out some of the recent fish we’ve had the pleasure of netting:

Scott Pressley and Steve Duich show off a stellar double from the pond!

Scott with another great rainbow!

Steve gets his too!

Eric Telleson with sons Caden (left) and Tyler sporting a beautiful rainbow from the pond!

Here’s Big “E” and Caden with yet another blimp of a rainbow!

Caitlin and Cody Jensen had a bang up day on the pond recently.

Here’s Cody with a nicely colored brownie!

The happy couple with another gigantic rainbow!

And Cody with another!

The pond was also good to Steve Fox and Owen Sweeney!

Here Steve assists Ben Fox with the hold of a mean German Brown!

***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.

You can pick up our flies & Under-cators at Reagan’s Sports in Bishop, the Crowley General Store (not at the lake), Ricks Sport Center in Mammoth (limited selection), Bridgeport Reservoir RV Park (currently closed for winter), Stroud’s Tackle in San Diego.

I have added a picture gallery to the website . Click on the “gallery” button and do a search for your name, or scroll through the pages. You can double click on the picture to enlarge it once it is located.

Thank you for visiting our website and checking out our report. Be the Fly…. Doug Rodricks, Sierra Drifters Guide Service.