EAST WALKER RIVER

The East is running at about 178 cfs today. The fishing down there has been pretty good this past week, there has been some thundershowers in the evenings the last few days and that has seemed to keep the temperatures down a bit. It’s still best to fish earlier in the morning and later in the evening and let the fish rest during the heat of the day. It’s good news that the fish are still happy, healthy and full of fight. The higher flows the last few days also help with the fishes health as it injects more oxygen into the water. On the evenings when the wind isn’t blowing like crazy the dry action has been good but still most of the fish being caught are on nymphs. For some reason the traffic has seemed to be on the lighter side compared to other waters in the area. 

Patterns to try: Rainbow warrior, silver streak, san juan worm, squirmy wormy, micro mayflies, top secret midge, darth baetis, buckskin caddis, LaFontaines deep sparkle pupa, z-wing caddis, Fox’s poopah, razor caddis, elk hair caddis, E/C caddis, parachute adams, blue dun, pale morning dun. 

SCEIRINE RANCH 

We had several clients on the ranch this week who had pretty good days as well as a few that struggled a bit. Nymphing still seemed to be the best bet for hook-ups though they didn’t seem to want to eat any stonefly nymphs from what we heard. They did like some copper johns, soft hackles, pheasant tails and squirmy wormy’s though. There didn’t seem to be much dry action on the ranch unlike the California side this week. Of course this can change from day to day, with the higher flows it does become less likely that fish will want to come up for dries but it has been known to happen. 

HUNEWILL POND 

We didn’t have any clients on the pond this week but as soon as we do we’ll let you know how they did! 

BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR 

Like last week, the anglers on the reservoir have struggled a bit. There are still lots of nice fish being caught, some tipping the scales at 7+ pounds, it just doesn’t seem like the numbers are there like some years. Most anglers are reporting getting into 2 to 8 or 9 trout per day, mostly rainbows but there are still a few browns making a showing. There are also lots of nice perch being caught with angelrs reporting 10 to 30 of them per day, with the trout mixed in. Trolling still seems to be the best bet for success, there has been a few boats out there bait fishing off of Rainbow Point catching a few fish but the trolling is still producing better. Not too many fly anglers out there that we’ve heard from but considering the trolling is doing well I would think that trolling or stripping streamers should produce both trout and perch out there. 

KIRMAN LAKE 

We talked to one group of anglers who ventured up to Kirman this week and reported having no luck at all, they also said they only saw one fish rise the entire time they were up there. We’re still hoping that at some point the DFW will start putting some real quantities of fish in there again and get this once great fishery back on track. 

TWIN LAKES 

Like some of the other waters in the area, some anglers have struggled to get much action on the Twins lately, however, there are some anglers doing quite well up there too. We’ve had reports of some nice browns being caught, up to 6 or 7 pounds as well as at least one bruiser rainbow that weighed over 10 pounds that we know of on Lower Twin! We’ve also had a decent number of anglers reporting some good fish trolling as well as bait fishing, and some good reports from fly anglers stripping streamers from float tubes. Bottom line seems to be that if you get out there and put some time in you shoud be able to get into some nice fish. 

WEST WALKER RIVER 

The West has been a little tough this past week in the Pickle Meadows area but there are still some nice fish being caught through the canyon section along Highway 395. Spinners like Panther Martins and Vibrax spinners have been working pretty well along with salmon eggs and crawlers for the bait anglers. Fly anglers have been having some success with ants, beetles, hoppers, aggravator prince nymphs and soft hackles. The water is low and clear so try to be sneaky so as not to spook those fish. 

VIRGINIA LAKES 

As with the other lakes in the area the Virginias have been slow for some and not too bad for others, there have been some good reports with fish from 2 to 6 pounds coming in from up there on flies as well as lures and bait. The anglers who seem to be having the best luck are fishing from tubes or kayaks or if fishing from shore it’s better to add a little extra weight so you can get a good long cast to get your bait as far from the shore as possible. Fly anglers are using matukas, mini leeches and seal buggers, lure anglers are doing the best with mini jigs and Thomas bouyants. Bait anglers are having some success with pinched crawlers and mice tails. 

If you would like to receive this report via email, drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll get you on the list!

RANDOM INFORMATION:

The DFW still has not planted any fish due to the bacteria issue they have in several of their hatcheries but the private stocking programs are picking up the slack as best they can. We understand that Mono County is planting Big and Little Virginia and Robinson Creek and the Town of Walker will be planting the West Walker during this upcoming week, the Twin Lakes Trout Foundation planted last week at Lower Twin and the Bridgeport Fish Enhancement Foundation will be planting later in the month.