Crowley Lake Fish Report- Update by Kent Rianda 7-23-09

Crowley Lake - Mammoth Lakes, CA (Mono County)


by The Trout Fitter Staff
7-23-2009
Website

Water Conditions: Excellent

The algae gave up and went on its way. The lake is clear everywhere I\\\'ve been or heard about including Crooked which was a putting green about a week ago.
The weed beds are still growing like crazy and they are about to reach the water level almost over half the lakes surface.

Fishing Conditions and Hatches: Excellent!

Well, the morning hot spot quickly became Little Hilton and multiple boats along with a flotilla of tubers all share the bay from 6 ft out to even 15 feet some days with everyone catching fish, some more, some less.
No one is catching 30 in a five-hour morning session but 15 is real achievable and several will be over 18 inches for those out in open water or those anchored in the weeds alongside the open channels and fish into them.
It has been going off about 7 am with midges hatching early and comes and goes until about 9-9:30 then it gets pretty damn good including everything from 6\\\" naturals to 21\\\" Rainbows and the occasional Brown.
It gets a little soft about 11:00 so it is off to McGee which has become the late bite, peaking at like 12:30 if you last that long wind-wise.
Don\\\'t park in the channel but off to the side. Cast into the channel and try to hit the edges. There is a fast current down there despite nothing on the surface which the fish like to use as a food delivery system but don\\\'t want to buck, so fish off the bottom a few feet.
Out deeper there have been more fish showing up in areas with no weeds.
There is now open water between the weed beds and the shore in the North End along Green Banks and several days have been excellent. Mostly one-year fish.

Recommended Flies:

Nymphs:
With the arrival of clear water its back to maybe red/purple very early, red/black after 8 am, straight black at 9 am, gray/black and olive from 10 on with gray black for body count and the olive for size. All of these with dubbed heads.
Also move from big to little on fly size over the same period. Easy call in very clear water. Streamers: The stripping in the shallows in McGee or Little Hilton has stepped up and they seem to keep up with the bobbed set. Try twitching damsels (Ultimate Damsel is good pattern) or just put the Crowley Twitch on an ol\\\' Woolly Bugger and there are enough fish down there that somebody will grab it going by.

The Crowley Cam is now at the Fish Camp and ready for your viewing.
Click here to see live wind conditions on Crowley Cam

Here is the monster Brown that Trout Fly guide, Alex Cady, stuck stripping giant streamers in his tube at first light. I told you this wasn\\\'t \\\"Gentlemen\\\'s Fishing\\\". It was 28\\\" long and had a girth of 16\\\".

Guides Hint: A six DVD set of last summer\\\'s 8-hour Crowley University is now available for those who could not attend. This is a reference library you need to add to your arsenal if you fish the lake. It is a de facto download of everything I\\\'ve learned in more than 2000 days fishing and guiding the lake. It is being distributed to various shops around the state and available at Trout Fly. Free shipping if=2 0you order by phone (800) 637-6912. This year\\\'s Stillwater Classic will be on Saturday, August 8th this year, so circle your calendar and don\\\'t miss it or a chance to help the lake! See above for link to info, rules and entry form.

Note: the Double Haul has been pretty much shelved at least for another year.