Labor Day 2003 Fish Report August 26, 2003 Howdy friends and Sierra Drifters. Best fishes to you all for this Labor Day 2003 fishing report update from the Eastern Sierra. Late August through mid September is an excellent time to fly fish and visit the Eastern Sierra. The mild temperatures and stable weather conditions are the norm for this time of year and it appears this will be the trend this week continuing through the holiday weekend. Hope you get the opportunity to come on up and visit us here in the high country. Fishing remains good in all areas and with the current weather pattern little change is expected into the holiday weekend. Look for extra plantings from the DFG with some jumbo brood stock fish from the Hot Creek Hatchery going into the areas lakes. The Alpers trout program will also be adding icing on the cake for those who wish to fish areas with planted trout. Crowley Lake: Good Once again Crowley should be at the top of your list if you are planning a trip to this region. Stillwater nymph fishing has been very good most days with the best activity coming mid-morning and late afternoons. Streamer tuggers have been enjoying the best action we have seen in recent years using perch fry imitations with moderate sinking lines. McGee bay has been the place for the most consistent fishing, the north arm remains slow, but if you do get into a bite here the big brown you have always wanted will more than likely be the culprit making your reel smoke! The algae have just begun to re-bloom this week as surface water temperatures have dropped into the mid and upper 60’s. It has not been a factor thus far, but as in the past look for it to become increasingly more prevalent. A clean fly will be the difference between a grab or not. Frequent cleaning of your flies, especially while stillwater nymphing is necessary. We have found the highest concentrations of fish in water depths of 10-14 feet. Look deeper as the sun gets higher and reverse this as the sun lowers on its westerly trek. The lake level is dropping rapidly and the fish are moving out a little each day. The weed beds are disappearing, but are still thick enough to be a nuisance along the shore of McGee Bay and Leighton Springs. I know of at least 2 fins lost in the weeds just last week. Scout out an area before you kick in or out tubers. You will no doubt get into the “little ones” which have been recently planted. Please treat them with the same care as the larger fish; they are Crowley’s future. Perch fry imitations like our Punk Perch #10 and 12 and the always-dependable Loeberg #10 are good choices for getting wicked hard takes while stripping and trolling from your tubes. The chironomid hatches have been excellent and gray and black emergers have been the hot ticket this week #18-20. The fish have been “climbing the rope” and suspending the flies 1-3 feet off the bottom will work as the pupa rise for an emergence. The float tube ramps are working out great thanks to ingenuity of the former and current management at the Crowley Lake Fish Camp. They are located on the floating rest rooms. You can contact the Fish Camp if you wish to use the new shuttle service that is currently being provided for a minimal fee. 760-935-4301 The San Diego Fly Fishers came up in force recently and we were honored to be able to guide and host some of these fine fly fishers. Into his eighties and going strong “Sco” Bonnet was accompanied by daughter “Di-Di” with Sco getting big fish honors that day. Way to be the fly Sco!!! Sam and Mona Morebello had a big day on Crowley thanks to some fine weather and finer fly-fishing talent. Mona caught and released many gorgeous rainbows on chironomid imitations. Three generations of fly fishers spent a day with us this summer. Mike, Scott, and Nate Dillon all landed some nice trout, which got released. Check out the nice paint job on the brown Mike fooled on one of our “gillies.” You can view these San Diegans at www.sierradrifters.com/fish.html. The Spitzer brothers rocked the browns from their tubes during a gray bite recently. Check out the great photo and comments about the punk perch! Also at www.sierradrifters.com/fish.html Lower Owens River: Poor Flows are currently at 600 cfs. Go elsewhere right now. The fall drift boat season is coming fast and we expect a great season. Mother Nature has restored the damage caused by past fires in some of our favorite areas and the river will be in full colors this fall. Fall and winter are the optimum times to hit big trout in the secluded sections we drift. We have openings available after October. Upper Owens River: Good Put on those hopper patterns with a dropper bead head nymph and fish the section above the confluence of Hot Creek. The wild browns are active in the afternoons. Keep the flies along the banks and fish with an upstream approach. There are some trout beginning to move upstream from Crowley, and you will have increasingly better chances to hang a large fish as the summer turns to fall in this area. San Joaquin River: Good Flows are perfect for pocket water fishing with most any dry pattern #14-18. We had fun with a #16 yellow or orange-bodied Stimulator and a #18 olive elk hair caddis as the trail fly. Get away from the campgrounds for better opportunities from the wild fish. It has been plenty crowded and the holiday weekend will make untouched water in the easy to access areas impossible. West Walker River: Good Several days last week this area was affected by heavy rains and it clouded the water shutting the fish down for a spell. Conditions have improved recently and the trout are back on the grab. The wading is easy at current flows. Use a hopper and a dropper bead head nymph in the pocket water and deeper riffles, and a “tandem tiger” rig fished under a small strike indicator. 6x tippet will get more grabs in the clean water. Hot Creek: Good As summer turns to fall and water levels continue to decrease exposing the heavy surface weed in Hot Creek, dry flies and shallow emergers will be the choice imitations for best presentations. Caddis emergers and dries are a solid option in the afternoons, especially when the shadows get longer. Small mayfly spinners #22-24 in the mornings will get the job done. Use a larger imitation like a #16 PMD as a lead or target fly to assist you in seeing the small trico pattern. 6x and 7x tippet will get more grabs than larger diameter lines. The deeper pools will begin to stack up with increasingly larger numbers of trout as the flows continue to decrease. Use a tandem nymph rig with imitations like our crystal olive zebra nymph. The smaller the indicator, the better. Mammoth Lakes Basin: Good There will be ample amounts of planted fish in this region and we have found the best way to fool these trout is with streamer patterns trolled with full or heavy sinking lines from a float tube. My personal favorite is a fly called the Spruce-a-bu and it will get grabs if you locate the fish. Crystal buggers, Matukas and Hornbergs are all good choices in #6-12. As with any body of water, find the inlet, the outlet, bottom structure like drop-offs or tree stumps, transition zones of deeper to shallow water or shadow lined banks. June Lake Loop: Good Some rainbows are beginning to move up into Rush Creek and you may find streamers to be the most effective means of getting these rascals to grab your imitation. Silver and Gull are good choices for tubers wishing to troll streamers. If you get a calm evening and see the trout rising, use a #16 mayfly like a parachute Adams and suspend a #18-20 crystal tiger or zebra about 2-3 feet under the dry. Use the dry as an indicator when the trout sips the midge. Rock Creek: Good You may find the crowds a bit too much here during the holiday weekend but there should be extra plantings here to accommodate the increased traffic. Get out in a tube or do some walking down by the meadows and you will get away from the masses along the banks and campgrounds. The creek is fishing well with caddis imitations #16-18 nymphs and dries. Use our Spruce-a-bu’s, Loebergs and Crystal Leeches on the lake. You may purchase our guide flies mentioned in the above report at the following fine fly shops: Malibu Fish’n Tackle in Thousand Oaks, Stroud’s Tackle in San Diego, The Trout Fly and Troutfitter in Mammoth Lakes, and The Crowley Lake Fish Camp. There are links to all locations at www.sierradrifters.com/resources.htm Be the fly…Tom Loe Sierra Drifters Guide Service Email [email protected] www.sierradrifters.com Phone 760-935-4250