It’s that time of year again and December is finally here! Most of us will probably experience a different holiday season this year. There is a lot of online holiday shopping taking place due to restrictions around the country. We have also geared up for the holiday season, and we have gift certificates available for purchase for guided fly fishing trips, fly boxes with 1 dozen of our top patterns, logo t-shirts and hats, and a full selection of flies. These items make great gifts for anglers of all experience levels and the gift certificates never expire. Click here to check out our store. We wish all of you a cheerful and fun holiday season!
We are experiencing a very dry period with no measurable precipitation for the coming two weeks. The weather has been amazing for some warm and sunny days of fishing this time of year, but the snowfall of December is lacking. Most areas have been fishing very well, but crowds are up with all the travelers to the area. With shutdown orders getting closer, things may change again for a short period, but until then, we are still fishing away!
The Lower Owens River in Bishop is remaining steady with flows that have stabilized around 85 cfs. These fish are now holding in shallower water along the sand to gravel transitions as well as the deeper pools. There have been some solid BWO hatches in the afternoons and the bite window for dry fly fishing can last 30 mins some days and 1.5 hours the next. Smaller streamer patterns like our #16 Punk Perch Dark and Light have been great flies prior to and during this hatch. Around those times in the mornings and evenings an assortment of Loebergs, #14 Agent Orange, and Spruce-a-Bu Dark and Light have been doing the trick.
Bill and Will having fun with Hans as their guide on the Lower Owens in the drift boat.
Will displays a nice rainbow trout from the Lower Owens.
The Upper Owens River has been producing our largest rainbow and brown trout. We are hunting for these fish on the entire stretch of open river most days. It does get a bit crowded here, especially on the weekends but the fishing remains great. Due to the warm daytime temperatures for this time of year, the BWO hatch has been coming off strong. I have observed fish exceeding 20 inches in length feeding on these mayflies in the eddies. If you have what it takes with your casting and your dry fly skills are up to par, it is very possible to hook up to one or more of these trophies with a dry fly. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that for a fly fisherman. During other parts of the day, egg patterns and #14-16 nymphs like Flashback Pheasant Tails and Dark Assassins are the ticket. More fish will begin to move into the river as the weather gets colder. If you would like to be guided to some of these awesome fish click here.
Ryan fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
John fished with Doug Rodricks and scored this big rainbow trout.
Pat fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Ken fished with Seth Cline and scored this big rainbow trout.
Ken with another big rainbow trout.
Steve fished with Doug Dolan for this big rainbow trout.
Garrett fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Yo fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Hannah fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Jesse fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Sean fished with Seth Cline and scored this big rainbow trout.
Josh also fished with Seth and scored this big rainbow trout.
Hannah with another big rainbow trout.
Ryan fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Vicki fished with Doug Dolan and scored this big rainbow trout.
Zach fished with Hans Grotewold and scored this big rainbow trout.
Ross fished with Hans Grotewold and scored this big rainbow trout.
Hot Creek has been a blast with the mild weather. Excellent bug hatches here with some great trico mayfly fishing and a few BWO’s showing up too. You will find fish moving into extremely shallow riffle water to taking advantage of this great hatch. Keep your dry flies floating high and those fly lines mended to fool these fish. Although Hot Creek can seem challenging at times it can also work the other way. These fish are used to people as they seem them everyday along the banks. This can work in your favor as the fish aren’t as spooky. Focus more on their feeding behavior and how they react to your presentation. This will quickly indicate to you if the fish is remotely interested in your offering. Egg patterns are a good change up from the aquatic insects they are used to daily. The midges these fish are feeding on all day long are “micro”. They are difficult to imitate, but patterns like our #22 Parachute Midge will fool them provided you keep the drag off your line.
Patrick fished with Doug Rodricks and scored this nice rainbow trout.
Joe and Patrick scored this brown and rainbow trout.
The East Walker River is running at extremely low flows of 16 cfs. At this level it is best to fish elsewhere. Flows should rise slightly later on in the winter months, but for now it is too low for any sustained and decent fishing.
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