Hot Creek

Interpretive Site: When the word gets out that Hot Creek is producing trout fly fishers line up on the banks of the creek. Mornings start off with a caddis migration. The caddis are flying upstream and any caddis that end up on the water is being fed on by the trout on the surface. The trico hatch is coming off no later than 9:00 A.M. It starts with the trico dun hatching. Fish with a size 22 trico dun parachute or female trico dun parachute. Switch to a trico spinner when the trout are not taking your dun pattern. With the deeper holes in the Interpretive Site fish with nymphs under an indicator or with a Euro rig. Nymph with size 18 olive quilldigons, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 16 hot spot pheasant tail nymphs, size 18 Frenchie’s and size 18 SOS nymph.

Canyon Section: With the weed beds still inhibiting the drifts now is the perfect time for a dry and dropper rig. Stimulators in size 12 and 14, Adams parachutes in size 16 and elk hair caddis in size 16 make for good dry flies in the dry fly part of the dry and dropper rig. For nymphs fish with size 18 olive quilldigons, size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs, size 18 Frenchie’s and size 16 hot spot pheasant tail nymphs. When the trout are keying in on the hatching adults cut off the nymph and add a size 20 blue wing olive parachute, size 22 trico parachute, size 22 trico spinner and a size 20 gray parachute caddis to imitate the hatching insects.

Crowley Lake

Mouth of Owens River: The shallows near the inlet of the Owens River into Crowley Lake is where you will find the flotilla of fly fishers concentrating their efforts. These fly fishers are fishing in the 10 foot zone with Albino Barron’s, gray midges, blood midges, zebra midges and tiger midges under a sliding indicator pinned with a bopper stop. Afternoon winds blows most anglers off the lake by noon. This is the time of year to be imitating the perch fry with size 8 olive matukas, size 10 perch balanced leeches and size 10 olive wooly buggers.

Upper Owens River

Above Benton Crossing Bridge:

Bishop Creek Canal

Nymphing and dry fly fishing is producing wild brown trout on Bishop Creek Canal. An Adams parachute high sticked with a Tenkara rod fooled several wild browns to 10 inches. Nymphing under an indicator with a size 18 bead head flash back pheasant tail nymph and a size 16 bead head flash back gold ribbed hare’s ears six feet under an indicator with a size one split shot was the rig that’s been producing. This is a great water to Euro nymph with a Euro rod or Euro nymph with a Tenkara rod. Size 12 stoner nymphs, size 12 green/gold Prince nymphs, size 14 hot spot pheasant tail nymphs and size 18 olive quilldigons are fooling the wild brown trout and the occasional hatchery rainbow trout. I wore shorts to an evening outing on the canal not thinking that the mosquitoes would still be out in force. Fifteen to 20 bites latter and I was not a happy camper.