Keep Calm and Fly Fish

For the most part it looks like the majority of the severe winter storms are finished for the year which means spring time fishing is here. Every river and stream that feeds the valley is still too high to fish therefore options continue to remain limited. From the fishing reports that I’ve read it seems like stillwater fishing for bass and surf fishing for perch are the most productive. Stillwater fishing for bass is out for me because I don’t own a motor boat and driving to the beach to fish without taking my wife is a guilt-trip conversation I don’t want to have.
With all day-trip options out and wanting to fish some moving water I kept a close eye on the Eastern Sierras. The flows on the rivers and streams where fishing remains open all year looked great. It was just a matter of how to fish it during winter/early spring.

I left the house at 4am with a car packed and ready for an overnight trip. My plan was to primarily fish the East Walker River and stay the night around the area somewhere. My backup plan was to try Hot Creek and the Upper Owens if things didn’t go according to plan.

Winter Time East Walker

East Walker River
I arrived at the East Walker at around 9am and immediately started fishing. I found that I wasn’t alone on this beautiful Monday morning and settled for a nice secluded spot about midway through the Miracle Mile. “This was going to be so good!” I thought to myself. I tied on a few nymphs and bushwhacked my way to the river.

The river looked empty with little to no bug activity, no vegetation, and frigid water temperatures. I’ve seen streams like this before towards the very end of the season up in the Sierras. Finding a fish willing to eat was going to be very tough.
I covered quite a bit of water with no luck. I made the move to walk the bluffs to see if I could spot a fish instead of blind-casting to where I think they would be. It took a few minutes of scouting but I was able to spook a nice brown near the bank. I tried casting to it and got my flies right in front of it but it reacted by swimming further away. Don’t leave fish to find fish. I made a few more drifts in the same area and saw a flash near my flies. I set the hook and was able to land my only fish on the East Walker this trip.
I covered more water and found a few schools of carp in the slower water but they weren’t interested in playing.

Nice East Walker Brown

Despite being at optimum flows of 200CFS the East Walker River was still asleep for the winter. When I fished it in the fall a few years ago there were tons of fish in the system. At least now I know…

A bit disappointed with my findings on the East Walker I left the river around noon to try my luck elsewhere. My next destination was Hot Creek.

Hot Pool On Hot Creek

Hot Creek
Hot Creek is a unique stream in that it is a cold spring fed creek that is counterbalanced with nearby hot geothermic activity. It does get hot in certain areas but is generally cold enough to allow trout to thrive even in the dead of winter.

I read a fishing report stating that you had to walk in to get to the creek. I wasn’t quite sure what “walking in” meant until I arrived. You have to park your car in a very small parking area at the entrance of the Hot Creek Ranch and walk up the hill through the snow to get to the creek. The road to get to Hot Creek beyond Hot Creek Ranch is not plowed.

Walk Ins Only

Hot Creek Winter

It’s a little less than a mile to get to the creek but it was a bit of an ass kicker because the snow was so thick. However once I got to the creek something magical happened. I had the creek all to myself.

The fishing was phenomenal. I had just arrived to the start of a BWO hatch and hooked several nice bows and browns on a dry before they stopped feeding on top. I nymphed the majority of creek and caught so many fish that I lost count. Most of the fish averaged a good 10-12” with the exception of a few zingers that I landed or lost near the 14-16” range. I didn’t see a single soul until I decided to leave.

BWO eater

There are a crazy amount of fish in Hot Creek. As I would cross the creek I saw tons of fish darting out of places that I had previously drifted through. They are most definitely in there even if you don’t hook them. I didn’t see any monster-sized fish this time around but I’d love to one day hook myself one of those exceptionally large Hot Creek fatties.

I decided not stay the night because I didn’t want to have to walk through all that snow again to fish; plus how can you top such an amazing afternoon. I somehow survived the 5 hour drive back and called it a day.

Catch and Release Only

Every “Fly Fishing California” book I’ve either scanned through or read includes a part of the state that I’ve always wanted to explore, the Eastern Sierras. My eyes were set on the East Walker River and Hot Creek where I was hoping to hook into the monster browns and bows that were rumored to live there. For the next four days I would be living off of burgers, fries, coca cola, and soup while exploring the beautiful Sierras.

East Walker River Morning

East Walker River
The East Walker River was flowing at a good 250CFS a few days before my trip however it was bumped up to 340CFS by the time I set out. Although I’ve read that these flows are not the best flows the river was still very fishable. I made base camp at Paradise Shores which was very accommodating. Free showers, Wi-Fi, a place to cook my food, and only five minutes away from the river, I was going to be living like a king!

Meadow Section of the EW

The East Walker River is not a large river by any means. Most of the river is about ten to fifteen feet wide with a few deep slots riding along the willow covered banks. I spent most of my time fishing the Miracle Mile which stretches from the Big Hole to HWY 182 bridge. The water had a tea-colored tint to it with a lot of good vegetation growth. I was able to get around pretty easily and had little difficulty maneuvering around the Miracle Mile section at these flows.

Big Hole

After setting up camp and wetting my line on the EW for the first time I noticed an important key factor to this fishery; there were a ton of things for these fish to eat. Along the banks I found and caught Sacramento perch, mountain whitefish, chubs, crayfish, and an assortment of aquatic insects. With enough feed to go around it’s no surprise how these fish get so big. I spent most of my time throwing streamers hoping to entice a monster brown but 95% of the fish I caught were rainbows that were a quality 14” – 16”. I caught so many rainbows that I started quick-releasing them once I got a good look at them. Throughout this visit to the EW I only caught three browns and a few new species that I happily added to my list.

Streamer Eating Brown

EW Rainbow

Tui Chub on the EW

EW Sacramento Perch

I spent three days fishing the crap out of the EW. I explored the canyon section below HWY 182 and even bought a Nevada fishing license to check out the Rosachi Ranch section. Both sections were unfishable due to the higher flows which limited my trip to the Miracle Mile.

Nevada Section of the EW

After three days of fishing my time on the EW was coming to an end so I decided to try my luck nymphing the last morning of my stay. I covered the same water that I’d familiarized myself with and hooked a nice brown but still nothing worth bragging about.

Nice EW Brown

With check-out time looming closer and closer, I finally watched as my indicator went down and I felt the weight of a trophy fish. I played the fish quickly, netted it, took a few pictures, and called it a successful trip on the EW.

Solid EW Trophy Bow

Hot Creek
Hot Creek is an interesting fishery just a few miles outside of Mammoth Lakes. The public area that many anglers fish is a short one mile section between the end of Hot Creek Ranch and a thermal spring that to this day is still boiling hot. This section of Hot Creek runs through a small steep canyon surrounded by beautiful volcanic formations that look out of this earth. Full of wild browns, rainbows, and potential 20”+ trophies, Hot Creek was definitely an Eastern Sierra stream that I had to check out.

Hot Creek Thermal Spring

When I first arrived on Hot Creek I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve read many articles about the creek but didn’t have a mental image of what the creek looked like. I was surprised to find how narrow and shallow the creek was. I threw a hopper pattern for most of the day and caught browns and rainbows.

Nice Hopper Eater

Hot Creek Brown

After about two hours of fishing a thunderstorm rolled in and put the fish down. I switched to a hopper dropper and hooked a big 20” rainbow but lost it in the faster current. Once the rain started coming down I decided to head to Mammoth Lakes to get something to eat.

I returned later in the evening to check out the most northern end of the public access section. The hopper dropper wasn’t working anymore so I had wait a bit for the fish to turn onto the caddis that were fluttering near the banks. After catching a few small trout on dries I switched to a streamer pattern to try my luck at finding a Hot Creek trophy. I covered most of the creek and was able to hook two browns and land one.

Looking South On Hot Creek

Hot Creek was a pretty cool place to visit and fish. It was amazing to see just how many fish inhabit this small stretch. The geological formations that surround Hot Creek makes this fishery a must visit for those who have never been.

The Eastern Sierras was quite the trip. I plan on doing it again someday focusing on some of the great stillwaters in the area.