Fishing Report for May 29, 2007

East Walker River: 90 c.f.s.

The flows have dropped again this week in the middle of run off season! This is just not a good thing for the stability of a fishery that is recovering so well. The fishing has been good this week but, it has also seen alot of pressure over the Memorial Day weekend. The fish are sporting lip stick on the left side of their mouths already and we haven't even gotten into July yet. This fall is going to be a tough year for us and I can tell you what you had better get your East Walker jones out of the way right now as this summer the water temperatures are going to be soaring high and very low flows. I will not fish here if these conditions come to a head this summer as the fish in the East Walker cannot handle the amount of fishing pressure that I have seen on the river along with an oxegen depleted fishery. Now for the upside of things. The East fished very well this week with a few of my clients scoring some trophy size browns coming to the net. In the mornings I have seen midges, mayflies, caddis flies, crane flies, and the occasional yellow sally. I would suggest fishing small midge and mayfly patterns in the morning and then swithching over to caddis pupa and small midge patterns for the afternoons. Also dry/dropper rigs have been catching a few fish and let me tell you what. You catch a classic size E.Dub fish on a dry and you will be hooked for a lifetime. The way that these fish take a dry fly is like being in slow motion. Make a 2 count or you will pull the fly right out of their mouth. I would suggest fishing parachute adams, elk hair caddis, and b.w.o comparaduns with a 20" dropper in order to nail a few extra fish sub surface. Come on out and join me for a day on the river.

Upper Owens: 109 c.f.s.

The Upper Owens has been fishing fair-good this week. The spring spawners are gone and their just aren't that many fish in the system just yet. The D.F.G. is going to be stocking here within the next week or so and this will get the Upper Owens back on it's feet again. There has been a very strong caddis emergence in the mornings, with midges, and b.w.o.'s popping as well. You can nail the wild fish that are in this section right now with dry/dropper combo's and still have a fun day. You just will not have that many chances at the larger models of fish that this fishery is known for right now. Look for this to change with in the next couple of weeks. Oh, yeah. Those pesky critters I was talking about last week. There here. I hate saying this one word. Mosquitoes! You will get chased off the river here if you are not careful. I would suggest fishing caddis dry patterns in the mornings with a small midge dropper. This will nail a few of the wild fish in this section and the occasional big daddy. Personally, I would wait a few weeks to fish here as the mosquitoes can become relentless on this spring creek.

Lower Owens: 299 c.f.s.

The flows have stabalized this past week and the fish have settled down into their feeding zones. This flow right now makes for some tricky wading and a lot of walking looking for the slower current transitions where the fish are podded up. I have seen a great diversity of bug life this week with still lot's of caddis, yellow sallies, p.m.d.'s, andmidges being the flies du jour. I would suggest nymphing with doulbe AA split shot or moderate to heavy sink rate fly lines in order to get down into the danger zone! This week I would suggest fishing early mornings and late evenings in order to beat the mid-day heat.

The Gorge: 65 c.f.s.

This week the gorge has been fishing well in the early mornings and late afternoons. The gorge has been very hot during the afternoons and the fish are hiding in the shadows until dusk. I would suggest fishing dry/dropper combo's with standard attractors such as trudes, wulffs, and humpies with a small black beauty or hare's ear underneath to nail a few extra fish. Bring lot's of water and sunsceen as the U.V. rays are everpresent down in the canyon. Good luck and watch out for rattlesnakes!

Crowley Lake: Good-Excellent


This week has been another fantastic week here on Crowley Lake. This classic stillwater fishery just keeps on pumping out 30-40 fish days with nothing under 15 inches. This week looks to be a fine week to be on Crowley as the fishing is red hot and the algae bloom has not gotten into full swing as of just yet. We are starting to see the little balls of algae, so look for the dreaded June Bloom to be in full swing by the 3rd or 4th week of the month. The areas that I would concentrate on this week would be Sandy Point in 14-17 feet, Big Hilton in 12-16 feet, Green Banks in 14-16 feet and West Flat in 14-17 feet of water. The flies that I would suggest are larva patterns in the mornings and then switching to pupae in the afternoons. olive/silver, black/silver, gray/black, black/red, and black/copper have been producing the best. Raise those flies up a few feet in the afternoons as the fish are keying in on pupae very strong in the afternoon's. Come on out and join us for a great day on the water!


Best Fishes

Nicholas Lawton
nlawton@3dguideservices.com
www.3dguideservices.com