Jim Stimson Reports on 11.13.2019

The general trout season will be closing soon, November 15th, to be exact. Make sure you are aware of the local regulations, as some streams stay open year around but others close in a week. In general the fishing has slowed down. Just get yourself into the mindset of grinding away on good runs, being patient, expect less trout, and enjoy your surroundings. 

East Walker

The East Walker is dribbling along at 21 cfs. Until the river flows pick up, I recommend giving this fishery a rest….. See the photo below.

West Walker

The river has dropped considerably thru the canyon and is at 40 cfs. Try patterns like zebra midges and small mayflies. Dry droppers work really well at these flows.

San Joaquin

The road to Devil’s Postpone is closed for the season.

Hot Creek

The creek is flowing through the canyon at 52 cfs. Target your casts to the feeding lanes between the weeds and rocks, plus the overhanging grasses along the margins. You may not see fish, but they are there. Try a dry-dropper setup with a caddis above and a midge or small mayfly below. Hot Creek is always a fun place to fish especially now that the crowds have gone home. 

Upper Owens River

The flows are 108 cfs but these are readings taken high in the river system. Once Hot Creek dumps into the mid-section the flows are closer to over 160 cfs. More and more trout are pushing up into the river system from the reservoir. There are some really nice fish to be had with balanced leeches and punk perch. Work the deeper buckets relentlessly…. they are in there.

Lower Owens River

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has finally lowered their flushing flows through the Gorge and below Pleasant Valley Reservoir. The river is running steady at roughly 175 cfs, a tad on the high side yet for wading, but doable. I am looking forward to fishing down there again. Stay tuned…..

Jim Stimson Reports on 10.23.2019

Yikes! November is barking at the door…. say it isn’t so! I saw the first hint of Christmas decorations at the local supermarket. The autumn colors are slipping past their prime. Once we get a hard frost and some wind, fall will be over. The temperatures are cold now with morning lows in the 20’s. Fishing, and catching are good, depending on where you go.  The fishing is stellar with large rainbows and browns cruising up the Owens River from the Crowley Reservoir. Stripping leeches and perch fry will get you some major grabs and porkulent trout. Have fun out there!

East Walker

The East Walker is cruising along at 140 cfs and the water temps are dropping with the frigid nights. Game on! There are a potpourri of bugs cruising around but they seem to prefer small mayflies, like sized 22. The river fishes really well at these current flows.

West Walker

The river has dropped considerably thru the canyon and is at 67 cfs. Try patterns like San Juans or Prince Nymphs, big attractors, and fish the margins. Dry droppers work really well at these flows.

San Joaquin

The road is open and the flows are 11 cfs. The shuttle busses are no longer running so you are allowed to drive your own vehicle down into the canyon. You still need to pay an entrance fee for access. I fished down there a couple of weeks ago and the river is really “boney” with crystal clear water. There are lots of nice little browns and rainbows if you scout around.

Hot Creek

The creek is flowing through the canyon at 180 cfs. Target your casts to the feeding lanes between the weeds and rocks, plus the overhanging grasses along the margins. You may not see fish, but they are there. Try a dry-dropper setup with a caddis above and a midge or small mayfly below.

Upper Owens River

The flows are 112 cfs but these are readings taken high in the river system. Once Hot Creek dumps into the mid-section the flows are closer to over 165 cfs. More and more trout are pushing up into the river system from the reservoir. There are some really nice fish to be had with balanced leeches and punk perch.

Lower Owens River

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is doing a flushing / scouring purge of the Gorge and the lower river, mandated by Fish and Wildlife. The Lower Owens flows have been bumped up to almost 703 cfs. I would avoid these sections of the river until normal flows are reestablished. These high flows will be good for the health of the river down the line as it cleans out years of sediment and debris.

Jim Stimson reports on 4.12.18

Eastern Sierra

We had LOTS of rain on Saturday. I believe the snow line was above 11K which made many of the freestone rivers blow out. The West Walker crested at over 1600 cfs with all of the snowmelt and runoff from the rain. Everything is settling to back to normal flows and now we are left with lots of wind, my favorite. The temperatures around the area are very...

Jim Stimson reports on 4.5.18

Eastern Sierra 

The weather bureaus are starting to send out alerts for this coming weekend. It appears that we have at least one more big, warm, wet, storm system in store for the area with flood warnings being posted as the snow line is going to be somewhere above 11,000 feet. If the weather is as wet as they are forecasting, beware of the roads out on the Upper Owens...

Jim Stimson reports on 3.29.18

I believe we have turned the corner on winter. The morning temperatures are still crisp but it warms quickly with the sun being so high in the sky. The month of March turned out to be the “Miracle” as promised with a plethora of snow in the high country. The preliminary readings at Mammoth Pass indicate that we are close to normal for the season. This bodes well for...

Jim Stimson reports on 3.22.18

Whoa! The Eastside is getting some major rain and snow. The Town has received over a foot of heavy, gloppy snow just overnight. The ski area has over two feet and is expecting another two feet today. My wife is a teacher at the elementary school in Mammoth and they have called for a Red Day. The roads in Mammoth are a mess. We have not turned the corner on winter yet.

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Jim Stimson reports on 3.16.18

Don’t put away your warm clothes yet, winter still lingers in the Eastern Sierra. The ski area is reporting anywhere between a foot and two feet of new snow from this latest system with more on the way. A word of caution for the Upper Owens, be careful driving out there. With the new snow, some of the roads are sketchy. If it looks mucky, err on the side of caution....

Jim Stimson reports on 8.10.17

Do you like fishing with hoppers? Who doesn’t like hurling out large dry flies, plopping them onto the water’s surface with not a care in the world for delicate presentations, and then actually being able to see the fly bobbing high along the river’s edge? And the grabs?! Hang on! There is no sippy-slurpy subtleties…. there is chaos as the water explodes when Mr.Trout...

Jim Stimson reports on 5.18.17

Not a heck of a lot has changed on this side of California. We had a weather system pass through the area that dropped several inches of snow on the ground which will add to the spring runoff when the temperatures start climbing upwards again. The fishing in general has picked up with the arrival of the cutthroat in the Long Valley Caldera. A word of caution though,...

Jim Stimson reports on 5.11.17

We had a little weather system move through the Sierra over the weekend, bringing cool and breezy conditions. The fishing was stellar a week ago and slowed to a crawl as Sunday approached. It has been a curious spring so far with 50 feet of snow sitting in the mountains, awaiting warm temperatures and runoff. Once the weather stabilizes and heating begins, I...