All of the passes are open now with no restrictions; Tioga, Sonora, and Monitor, as well as the road down to Devil’s Postpile. However, unless you have a campground reservation at Devil’s Postpile, to drive your own, personal vehicle, you will need to pass thru the kiosk at Minaret Vista before 7 am and after 7 pm. Otherwise, you can take a shuttle bus that boards at the ski area. The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin is raging as it plunges over Rainbow Falls. Well worth the short hike.

The creeks and rivers are swollen with high country runoff and there is so much more snow left to melt. Be careful out there! Get yourself a wading staff and cinch up that belt around your waist. River hydraulics are powerful. Err on the side of caution while fishing and wading during this time of year.

East Walker

The flows have dropped to just under 400 cfs, which is still a smidge on the high side, but fishable — with caution. At the higher flows, there is less river to fish safely. The section in particular below the bridge and the Miracle Mile has a steeper gradient and lots of pocket water, which makes for nail biting, white water angling. Your best bet is the softer water below the dam. The trout are moving around and settling into their new habitats. With the high volume of water coming out of the reservoir, the angling options get reduced. Most of the best fishing will be in the Miracle Mile. You will find most of the trout stacked along the river margins, hanging in the softer water. Fishing is decent now. Try yellow sallys in the buckets below the riffles, along with BWO’s, caddis, crayfish and tricos. There are a potpourri of bugs out there now. With the higher water I tend to fish a lot of attractor patterns. With the swift water the trout only have an instant to see and commit to your bugs floating by, make it as obvious as possible for them. I often pull out my trout spey rod for these conditions. I like being able to stand in the safe, docile water along the edges and cast down and across, swinging my bugs into the juicy looking areas under the willows and cottonwoods. It is fun but be careful out there.

West Walker

San Joaquin

Hot Creek

The creek is flowing through the canyon at 125 cfs. Target your casts to the feeding lanes between the weeds and rocks, plus the overhanging grasses along the margins. There are some nice fish lying in ambush for hoppers falling into the creek. You may not see fish, but they are there. Try a dry-dropper setup with a hopper above and midges or caddis below.

Upper Owens River

The flows are 90 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 200 cfs. The better fishing has been above the confluence where the water has better clarity. More and more trout are spreading out throughout the river system. You may see the odd cutthroat here and there leftover form their spawn but for the most part, the trout have left to head downstream to the reservoir, leaving rainbows and browns for the summer months. Hoppers are invading the river system and the trout are loving them.

Lower Owens River

The Lower Owens flows have been bumped up to above 400 cfs. This is on the high side for this section of the river so exercise some caution when you fish. You can easily go for am impromptu swim and end up flushed downstream if you are not careful. Most trout are in that 10-12” range but if you poke around and get lucky, you can hook into some browns in the 15-16” category. There are some healthy midge and mayfly hatches throughout the day. You can find nice dry fly action along the foam lines and quiet water in the morning and evenings. Midges, tricos, mayflies and caddis are all working.