Guided fly fishing trips for Crowley Lake, Grant & Silver Lakes, the San Joaquin, Upper and Middle Owens Rivers, East Walker River, McGee Creek, Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Hot Creek, & the Gorge located near Mammoth and Bishop Ca. will give you opportunities to catch trophy rainbows and browns while being guided by expert fly fishing pros. Sierra Drifters guides utilize top of the line center console bay boats, drift boats, float tubes, and high quality fly fishing tackle to guide you on these blue ribbon trout waters.



The Sierra got another big snow producer out of this last storm. Even the Upper Owens received nearly a foot. Just rain in the Owens Valley. Water temperatures will become more seasonal on the Upper Owens, including the Middle Owens, Hot Creek, and the East Walker River. Upper Owens is beginning to show a better sign of new fish that have moved into the river. Hot Creek has a few bigger models hidden between the weed lanes, and the Middle Owens has more fish starting to show up with the winter weather change. East Walker flows still at winter release levels, and the Wild Trout section and Pleasant Valley Reservoir are showing their winter mode fishing trends.

***New for 2017! I have limited quantities of some new patterns that will guarantee advantage in your quest for trophy trout. Balanced patterns are the new rage for nymphing, & streamer fishing. We have been guide testing these patterns for several years, & I can honestly say they are the most significant improvement in fly design in over a decade. They are truly superior to conventional fly designs. The flies ride “parallel”; or “level” to the bottom giving them a far more realistic profile. The jig style hook becomes more effective as it seldom gets snagged on the bottom, & sets efficiently in the fishes mouth. These flies are intended to fish as your bottom fly in a multi fly; or tandem rig. They are deadly fished solo as a streamer. Add these patterns to your quiver for all fisheries that you still water nymph; or cast streamers. Some sizes are not available due to back orders on jig hooks, & are only available online at this time. I will add more sizes on some patterns as we get shipments in. Click on “fly sales” on the nav bar above, hit “menu” first from a mobile device to access the nav bar.



All wheel drive vehicles only for access! A layer of snow now covers the river area. Some new fish have moved into the river after the recent winter storm activity. Flows holding at 57 cfs. Look for sub-zero morning temps here this week, as a series of Arctic winter storms will be moving through. Egg patterns first thing in the morning in tandem with leeches, PT’s, and Assassins are all winning combinations. Switch to midges, emergers, and small “strymph” (streamer/nymph) patterns as the daytime temps warm. The fish will move every few days or so at this low flow rate, so covering water is still the way to go.

It is not always possible to post all of our client pictures on this fish report page. I do my best to put them in our gallery. If we have previously posted your pictures on this page; or you have had a recent guide trip with us, you can always find them by going to the photo gallery and searching for your name.



Flows holding steady at 75 cfs above Bishop Creek. Air temps will be in the low 40’s to mid 50’s here depending on storm activity. Nothing forecasted for this area in the way of storms until the weekend. Great BWO hatches going on in the afternoons. You will see a few fish in the tailouts of the pools and in some of the deeper pockets of water. Some pools are holding more fish than others. Stay well upstream of these deep pools to avoid spooking fish while casting streamers. Getting those streamers down on the bottom is very important, as they are holding tight to the bottom. Spruce-a-bu, Loebergs, Agent Orange, Punk Perch, and Crystal Leeches are all getting takes.







Significant snow, and ice in the canyon. Look for some bigger fish in the riffles moving in to spawn here. There are not many of them here, but the few that you locate are nice grade. For the school size fish, smaller bugs like midges #16-18, PT’s #18-20, Copper John’s #18-20 are all working well. They are not selective and size matters more here than pattern. The canyon section is heavily weeded, so locate some slots or openings to get your bugs into. Light weight above your nymphs will be adequate for a good bottom bounce without getting hung up too often. Click on this link to read what the CDFW is now documenting as to how Hot Creek will be managed. HC has been recently planted with thousands of sub-catchable rainbows and browns.





Thanks to the CDFW, and passionate volunteers for their efforts to get fish planted in Hot Creek. Many 8-10 inch rainbows, & thousands of 4 inch browns have just been put into HC. If we can just get some help from mother nature on the water part…HC will comeback strong next summer. These are very small fish, and will have a long winter to face. Please take it easy on them if you choose to fish HC at all. Several public sections were planted. Here I am taking a moment to watch these young fish adapt to their new home.



Water is clear as gin here. Fish are starting to transition more to winter feeding mode and holding areas. Dry/droppers in the slower sections still accounting for decent numbers. Now is the time to start focusing on the slower deeper water as the temperatures settle in. Copper Tiger, Zebra, Gillies, and Broken-back pattern midges are a solid dropper choice this time of year. Keep them in sizes #16-22. As an upper/dry #18-20 Parachute Adams, BWO’s, and #16-22 Elk Hair Caddis are great choices.





Good action on dry flies here, especially prior to the approaching cold fronts or the “calm before the storm”. Cast 10-15′ above your targeted fish to get your presentation on the water well upstream of them. I like 10-12′ leaders here to avoid spooking the surface feeders with your fly line splashdown. Elk Caddis, Parachute Adams, and midge patterns in #18-22 are best. You can attach a short dropper nymph about 2′ or so to your dry when the fish aren’t feeding on top. Good patterns are #18-20 copper tiger and zebra midges and #20 PT’s with or without flashbacks.





Snow and wicked cold will greet you.Flows here are reading 29 cfs as of today. Small streamers tossed quartering downstream and swinging/retrieving cross-current can get some of the larger fish to look at your fly in the deeper sections. Go with heavier sinking lines for the deeper pools. Nymph rigs with enough weight to bounce the bottom are also getting some of the bottom grubbers to bite. Try different patterns before moving on here. Eggs, SJ worms, Assassins, Serendipities, Copper John’s, and Midges are good searching patterns this time of year. Go with larger sized flies on top and smaller ones on the bottom if you choose to fish a two nymph rig. For example: #14-16 as your top bug and #18-20 as your lower.