NO SNOW RAINBOW— It’s cold and muddy, but the beefy Crowley Rainbows are still lurking in the Upper Owens and angler Chad had a great day on the water with Sierra Drifters guide Doug Rodricks.
Longer days mean coming spring
ERNIE COWAN
WON Staff Writer
BISHOP—Mornings are chilly, and big storms could still slam the Eastern Sierra, but winter anglers can also expect longer days, more insect hatches and epic fishing in prime trout waters.
While the roads are still muddy and there is ice on the Upper Owens, major storms have not dumped huge amounts of snow.
While that might be good news for winter anglers, allowing better access to prime areas such as the Upper Owens, Hot Creek the West Walker River, it could mean thinner water for the coming summer season.
This is also the time of the year when winter waters open to trout fish become a bit more thrilling for those anglers anxious to feel the tug of a trophy fish.
Typically, things slow down during the holidays, but with weather conditions and the bite picking up, it’s time to dust off the rods and give winter angling a shot.
The other bit of good news is that anglers can sleep in a bit, because trout are doing the same thing on chilly mornings. Most areas don’t see much action before 9 or 10 a.m.
The exception is the Lower Owens, where conditions are milder, daytime temperatures are warmer and access to prime areas is excellent and flows are idea for drift boats or wading to those areas not accessible from shore.
Sierra Drifters Guide Service owner Doug Rodricks reports the flows on the Lower Owens are currently at 123 CFS and drift boat anglers have been hitting the bite with streamers and collecting both 10 to 18-inch browns and rainbows for their efforts.
Sierra Bright Dot guide Fred Rowe is all smiles when talking about the hot action currently being enjoyed by anglers in the Wild Trout Section of the Lower Owens.
“There are rainbows and browns to be caught in the lower Owens River on nymphs,” Rowe said. “Key to success is to thoroughly cover the water with lots of casts.”
He suggests nymphs with an indicator rig or a Euro nymph rig.
“The trout will not move to take your nymphs. You need to put the nymphs right in front of the trout’s nose,” he said.
He reminds winter anglers that midges are the trout’s main diet this time of the year, and that calls for a size 20 midge nymph and midge pupae in blood, zebra and tiger coloration.
Winter trout are also gobbling Blue Wing Olive nymph patterns like bead head Flash Back Pheasant Tail nymphs in size 18, olive Quilldigons in size 18, Hot Spot Pheasant Tail nymphs in size 16 and Jedi Master baetis in size 18.
Pleasant Valley Reservoir is also active for winter anglers with some nice browns showing up the past few weeks.
This is good news for any anglers planning to participate in the Feb. 8 Bishop Trout Rodeo, although derby anglers can fish anywhere from the Upper Owens to Lone Pine during the one-day event.
The event is being organized by the Southwest Council International Federation of Fishers.
Registration for the rodeo is $30 per angler and $25 per team, regardless of team size.
Scoring will be done through the iAngler App, and participants must have a phone that can take photos and run the app. The iAngler Tournament app is free from the App Store and Google Play
Instructions of using the app and tournament details are available at angleractionfoundation.org.
Anglers will meet at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop in the morning and leave from there to fish from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
In the meantime, there is plenty of good winter fishing available to Sierra winter anglers.
Guides from The Trout Fitter in Mammoth Lakes report open waters on the Upper Owens have cleared up and there is a good collection of midges along with some micro caddis hatching.
“If size is not important, you can pick up some 6- to 8-inch browns on dry flies,” according to the Trout Fitter.
With scarce winter food, bigger trout will take larger attractor patterns, and this is a good way to land some trophy rainbows before they begin migrating back to Crowley Lake.
Hot Creek is another winter fishing destination benefitting from the mild winter.
Roads to the creek remain open, but of course, that can change quickly with the arrival of a winter storm.
Overall, hatches have thinned out a bit on Hot Creek, but trout are still chewing on small caddis and midges in the mornings, followed by a trico hatch as things warm up a bit.
Anglers who used to fish the East Walker River out of Bridgeport Reservoir when it was open for winter angling are now finding some success across the Nevada line.
Jim Reid at Ken’s Sporting Goods said river flows are typical for winter and storms have not limited access.
But’s mornings are cold.
“The days are short so I would probably not worry about getting down there until 9 or 10 in the morning and probably plan on heading in for a beer around 3 or so,” said Reid.
He suggests anglers try some streamers like Dead Drift Crayfish, Sculpzilla, double bunny and Ziwi as well as some nymphs like Micro Stones, Rubberlegs, Psycho Prince and Pheasant Tails.
Other Bridgeport area waters open to winter anglers include the West Walker River above Bridgeport, Robinson Creek, Green Creek, Virginia Creek, Buckeye Creek, Little Walker River, Rock Creek, McGee Creek (upstream from US 395), Lee Vining Creek (From the Lee Vining conduit upstream.)
