Owens River--Bishop, CA

more good fishing over the past two days in the wild trout section. taking good size browns (12-17") on small midge adults. sizes 24-28, with 26 being the best of the week. many smaller fish in the 12-14" range, and one 17", which is the biggest ive taken to date from the wild trout section.

hottest pattern was:
Red-Belly Midge
hook: TMC 101 #26 (sizes can range from 20-28, but 26 was best)
thread: black 8/0
tail: med dun hackle fibers
body: stripped brown hackle stem
hackle: med blue dun

weather was clear and warm, light breezes all day. adults were visible in "blankets" on the surface from about 11:00 am til almost 4:30 pm. cooler weather moving in over the next few days will probably shorten the hatch times. look for midday action.

all in all, great winter time fishing with good fish and few people. c'mon up (or down) and enjoy the show...

[This message has been edited by tyflier (edited 25 December 2004).]

[crook33]

Thanks tyflier. That helped some. Happy holidays and don't forget to get a new license.

hehe...got my 2005 license for christmas. just need to swap 'em

today was a beautiful day, if a little slow.

midges were hatching all day, mayflies coming out around 1 pm. the trout were not, as far as i could tell, eating the mayflies.

caught a couple of decent browms using a #26 griffiths gnat variation, and a couple using a quill body and dun midge #26. smaller was defiantely better, and would have probably had more luck with some 28's.

coupla grabs with a #20 mono-eyed hare's ear nymph, deep, and a few more with a #24 gold ribbed midge pupa, but only little guys and quick grabs on these. didnt land any of those...

adult midges seemed to be the key in the sunnier, slower eddies and pocket waters.

good luck

[crook33]

Thanks for the update. How's the snow?

no snow in bishop. the weather has actually been beautiful lately. in mammoth its been around 40-50 and in beishop its been around 60.

[crook33]

C'mon tyflier, why do you make me beg you for an update? I know you've been out in this gorgeous weather. What's goin on up in the "O"?

kind of slow, but still emjoyable fishing.

midges on the surface early morning. best was a simple gnat style fly. rusty brown thread for the body and cree hackle tied in at the hook bend and palmered forward. #26 or 28 was working well from about 8:00 am until noon.

about 1:00 pm i switched to BWOs, size 18-20, and CDC baetis emergers #18-20. both worked from about 1:00 pm until roughly 3:30.

then, back to midges on the surface with minimal action, but still sporadic rises.

great fishing on saturday(2/19) morning and into the afternoon.

klinkhamers were bringing 'em up to the surface even when there was no visible hatch and nothing rising in the vicinity. those flies just work...period. grey and olive were the colors to beat, with cree or medium blue dun hackle. they were forcing rises when nothing else would work.

mayflies, in the form of calibaetis, started coming off around 1:00 pm, bringing more actively feeding fish, but even the hatches couldnt beat the klinkhamer action in the early AM.

fantastic!! beautiful day, great fishing...what else needs to be said?

size 18 baetis and calibaetis imitations were working wonders, with a #18 baetis extended body netting 16" and 19" browns on consecutive casts (the next cast hooked up a 17' tree ).

the pattern for the extended mayfly is:

hook: TMC 100 #18
thread: olive 8/0
tail and body: the same mallard flank fiber clump, pulled back bullet-head style, tied extended, and clipped (except for 2 tail fibers)
wings: mallard flank fibers; upright and divided
hackle: red dun over thorax

also, on a side note, spring has hit the Lower Owens with caddis hatching around 3:00pm. however, the fish were still keyed in on the baetis and didnt take any caddis, that i could tell.

all in all, a fantastic day of wonderful fishing with partly cloudy skies, warm weather, rising water temps, and a warming breeze through the valley.

[This message has been edited by tyflier (edited 27 February 2005).]