The Eastern Sierra Fishing Report: by Chris Leonard

“What a relief these afternoon rain showers have been! I don’t think that there’s a single soul out there who’s complaining about the much needed precipitation falling throughout parts of the Owens Valley. Kudos to our beloved firefighters who are keeping busy keeping the lightning strikes at bay. We all salute you. God bless you all for protecting us. With the rain, we’ve gotten some lightning also. Fingers crossed it doesn’t turn ugly. The firefighters are doing their part. Thank you.

The rain fell heavy enough in parts of the region that it gave several or our creeks and rivers some much needed water. The water helps oxidize the water, and flush out sand and sediment. Likewise, it will help keep the temperatures cool. Trout are truly cold water fish, and when temps in the water begin to hit the mid-60s and higher, it compromises the fish. I’m sure they are loving it. These rivers feed several lakes and reservoirs, so it is good for fishing across the board. It looks like the rainstorms will push out the start of next week with clear, sunny skies again, but we would be glad to have them back again.

The Lower Owens River is the best river to fish right now, if you can handle the heat of the valley. It is currently flowing at very healthy flows of around 250 cubic feet per second (CFS). This means some decent bug hatches throughout the day. It is also a great flow for stripping streamers on a sink tip line. Bait anglers will be fine getting into fish down by Warm Springs Road soaking Powerbait.

The Upper Owens River is flowing at around 60 cfs. It is holding on by a thread. There aren’t nearly the fish in there that there were last year, but it is still somewhat fishable. I’ve seen tricos and caddis popping. These bugs are also at Hot Creek right now. The bait section of the Upper Owens River near Brown’s Campground was recently stocked.

The East Walker River is at an absolute trickle at 24 cfs. This river absolutely should not be fished at flows this low. The temps are too high, and fish cannot recover when you set them loose. Leave it alone.

Crowley is on the hopeful tail end of an algae bloom. The fish seem to be hiding in the 30 to 40 feet depth range. They are playing an effective game of hide and go seek, in one spot one day and gone to another spot the next. Put your fish finder to work. You’re gonna have to fish them right off the bottom. The struggle is real. It’s a good problem to have.

Any of the high country lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin and June Lake Loop would be good choices for the week. All are producing fish, and you will be out of the heat. There are a lot of options. I’m hearing the midge fishing on several of these lakes is producing fish.

That’s your short and sweet fish report for this weekend. There are too many fisheries to list. Chris Leonard will be giving us our weekly fish report, and will mix it up every week talking about different places to get fishy.