EAST WALKER RIVER      

Overall in the area the fishing has been pretty tough for most anglers this past week. The weather is trying to cool down but having a tough time. The water temps on the EW have dropped to around 63 or 64 degrees but we’re still waiting for it to drop a bit more. The flows are also down to 260 still right now which is a pretty good flow but as that comes down the fishing should get better and better, not sure when that will happen but it should be pretty soon. There are some anglers on the river reporting having a tough time still but there are also some anglers doing very well with some nice fish in the 13 to 18 inch range as well as a few around 20 being reported. We’ve also of course had a few reports of larger fish breaking anglers off down there. Key things to think of when the flows are this high is to try to get a good drift and get your bugs down to the bottom where the fish are hanging out. Most of the action we’ve heard of has been with nymphs, though we are getting into the time of the year when streamers should start working as well. 

Patterns to try: san juan worm, squirmie wormy, rainbow warrior, silver streak, dark lord, WD-40, micro mayfly, radiation baetis, LaFontaines deep sparkle pupa, Fox’s poopah, z-wing caddis, buckskin caddis, rubberlegs, dead drift crayfish, zuddler, dali lama, double bunny.

SCEIRINE RANCH               

The ranch is fishing about like the California side right now with the exception that you can fish some larger bugs and they’re still seem to want to eat some stonefly nymphs down there. As with the California side, I expect the fishing to just keep getting better and better as the water and water temperatures decrease. I’m really looking forward to some great days on both sides of the border on the EW this Fall.  

HUNEWILL POND                   

It sounds like the weeds have taken over a bit on the pond for the time being, as the weather cools the weed growth should subside and the fishing should get better out there, I’d expect this to start happening by the end of the month. We’ll keep you posted as the temperatures decline.

BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR                   

The Reservoir fished about the same as last week, still good numbers of perch on the troll as well as a few nice rainbows, it seems like most anglers are getting into about 6 or 8 perch to every rainbow. The East Walker channel has been kicking out some decent fish here and there, not huge numbers but some good fish. The Buckeye channels seem to be slower this week than last week with most reports coming in with 0 to just 1 or 2 fish per day. All that being said, just today we had a couple better reports from the Reservoir, one nice 4.5 lb brown caught and released as well as several rainbows in the 3 to 5 pound class. Hopefully this is a sign that the water temps are dropping and the fishing is on the rise!          

KIRMAN LAKE               

The numbers are in for the series of transplants this past week from Silver Creek, the DFW was able to transplant approximately 850 small brookies into Kirman. We also talked to a couple anglers who were able to catch several small brookies in the 8 or 9 inch range up there this past week on mini jigs. We also were told that the same crew is scheduled to come back late next month for another round of transplanting. Things are certainly looking better for Kirman, hopefully these fish will take and continue to grow.   

TWIN LAKES     

The Twins are still making you work for the fish right now though we did hear of a couple nice browns that were hooked and lost at the boat, the anglers who reported this were both fishing very deep still. It sounds like a few of the kokanee are in spawning colors now but most of them are still staging at the inlets getting ready. Fly anglers are getting into a few fish, mostly late in the evening and early in the mornings, stripping streamers with sinking lines. Even though it’s tough, there are still a few nice fish being caught here and there with lures and bait, if you put in some time and move around if nothing is happening this will increase your odds of getting into some fish.             

WEST WALKER RIVER                         

The West is running low and clear right now, there are still some hoppers out during the day so the fly anglers are still having some success with hopper/dropper rigs as well as fishing some humpy’s, stimulators, para adams and elk hair caddis on top. The water is very clear so be sneaky! There are some fish being caught by bait anglers on baby crawlers and salmon eggs as well as some for the lure anglers with Panther Martins and Rooster Tails.  

VIRGINIA LAKES                        

Like the other lakes in the area we have had very mixed reports from the Virginias, lots of anglers reporting not much success and a few having decent days. Today we did have a couple good fish come in from up there as well as at least one BFEF tagged rainbow. The best thing to do up there is move from spot to spot if there’s no action, by doing this you have a better chance of finding a hole where there are some fish hanging out. It’s also a good plan to get out in the water in a tube or kayak if you can, getting away from the shore can certainly help.    

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RANDOM INFORMATION:

Sept. 15, 2019 - The DFW is done with this round of transplanting, sounds like their totals were right around 850 brookies from Silver Creek to Kirman, nothing over 6 or 7 inches. They’re coming back later next month for another go around so hopefully there will be another good batch of brookies making the trip. 

Sept. 8, 2019 - The DFW is in the process of transplanting some brook trout from Silver Creek to Kirman Lake like they did last year, as of today they had transplanted over 500 fish and they still have 4 or 5 days to go. Unfortunately it sounds like Kirman will not get an allottment of fingerling brooks this year but we did hear that there was a load of cutthroat put in there last October, and maybe they’ll get some more this year. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.