The drought continues for the state of California. No precipitation is in the forecast for the coming week. There may be some hope for a return of some storms by mid-month, but nothing is really jumping out at weather forecasters for the time being. It has been a very cold winter up here which has helped to keep the snow that is on the ground around longer, but this week will bring the warmest winter temperatures this season and will start to produce some rapid melting during the day. The Upper Owens River has been the coldest of all the open fishing locations for larger trout and access is still limited to foot traffic. We are officially at the peak of the winter rainbow run this month with fish holding in most areas of the river. Hot Creek has the fish very selective on what type of nymphs they will bite, but the dry fly fishing can be very good later in the day. The Lower Owens River is still at at good flow for wading in the Wild Trout Section and the drift boat sections remain stable. Check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to it to get the latest videos that we will now be posting very frequently. These videos will feature, guide tips, instruction, techniques, video fish reports, and just flat out amazing on the spot fishing videos.
Hot Creek You will find fish in the deepest pools on the creek in the morning and as the sun gets higher they will move into shallower water to feed on midges and a sparse BWO hatch later in the day. The best fishing has definitely been around this later period in the day. Egg imitations have also been getting a few fish below the surface, with a few smaller nymph patterns working as well. The BWO hatch will really start to build here in the coming weeks. Access continues to be walk in only in both areas.
The Upper Owens River will reach its peak of the rainbow trout run this month and with warmer weather ahead, we should see even more fish spreading out to different river sections. Don’t think driving in is safe yet. Snow on the ground is hard packed in the morning, but will soften up during the day. Anything areas that look like a fish may be holding there can produce some quality trout right now. Egg patterns (all of our colors), #14-18 Light and Dark Assassins, #14 – 18 Flashback Pheasant Tails, #14 – 16 Parallel Flashback Pheasant Tails Gold and Dark Head,#14 – 16 Copper Tiger Midges, Pink and Purple Squirmy Worms and San Juan Worms in Red and Brown are working well now. Dont’ be afraid to mix it up with some smaller bugs here and there. The big fish will take them.
Lower Owens River flows now down to 97 cfs. Some good BWO hatches down here as the weather tends to be a little warmer than up the hill, and we can expect these hatches to grow in size. The wild trout section continues to fish well, with many wild brown trout making a showing. There have been some trico, PMD, and BWO hatches occurring late morning and the streamer bite has been really good. Smaller nymphs in the Wild Trout sections have also got the fish stirred up. Water is getting clear, so careful not to spook the fish with your fly line or presence.
Hans guided Alfred to some beasts like this awesome rainbow trout.
Alfred with another fat rainbow trout.
Annie got out on Hot Creek with Doug R. and got some colored up fish like this rainbow trout.
Chris whacked some huge rainbow trout like this one in the Upper Owens River fishing with Two Bug Doug.
John got out with Doug R. for this hefty rainbow trout.
John with another stellar rainbow trout from the Upper Owens River.
Tim fished with Two Bug Doug for this girthy rainbow trout.
Chris had a fun day fishing with Doug R. and got into some nice rainbow trout.
Yong fished with Two Bug Doug and hit some really great fish like this colorful rainbow trout.
Yong with another monster rainbow trout.
Doug R. guided Lance to his first big river rainbow trout.
Dan has been a long time Sierra Drifter and always hits the big rainbow trout with Two Bug Doug.
Todd got into some solid rainbow trout with Doug R like this one.
Jeff fished with Devin for this hefty rainbow trout.
Greg hit some excellent rainbow trout on the Upper Owens River with Devin.
Seth put Josh on some real stunning rainbow trout.
Josh with another sweet rainbow trout.
Phil also fished with Seth for some monster rainbow trout.
Ben got into some beautiful rainbow trout while fishing with Seth.
Two Bug got Andrew on some giants like this heavy rainbow trout.
Ben with another great rainbow trout from the Upper Owens River.
Cade fished with Seth and whacked some nice rainbow trout.
Andrew and Sunshine are all smiles while fishing large rainbow trout with Two Bug Doug.
Sunshine with an awesome rainbow trout.
Cade with another large colorful rainbow trout.
Roger had a fun day fishing with Seth on the Lower Owens and got into some nice rainbow trout.
Doug R got 10 year old Lexi on her biggest rainbow trout.
Lexi’s mom Jennifer also landed this quality rainbow trout.
Jennifer’s husband Luke would take home big fish honors with this rainbow trout with Two Bug Doug as his guide.
Luke’s son Blake hit this big rainbow trout with Two Bug Doug.
Seth got Scott on the big rainbow trout like this one.
Doug Dolan guided Ken to some larger rainbow trout like this.
Seth put Dwayne on the big rainbow trout like this.
Jason and Josh fished with Seth and got this double hook up on monster rainbow trout.
Ken with another nice rainbow trout.
Hans put Ryan on some monster rainbow trout like the one shown here.
Jason with another killer rainbow trout.
Dwayne with another solid rainbow trout.
Josh with another, you guessed it, massive rainbow trout.
Hans put Seth on a lot of giant rainbow trout on this day from the Upper Owens River.
Scott also did a guide swap on day 2 with Doug Dolan for this heavy rainbow trout.
Jason with another bruiser rainbow trout.
Scott stuck some solid rainbow trout while fishing with Doug R.
Bill makes the webpage almost weekly while fishing with Hans and Seth. This rainbow trout was caught while fishing with Hans.
Scott with another nice rainbow trout.
Mark stuck some big rainbow trout while fishing with Doug R.
Kent was guided by Hans and got put on some real hog rainbow trout.