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Post Info TOPIC: Headed to Lower Owens river
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Headed to Lower Owens river
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I was wondering if any of you guys have been there and have any input. I am going to be near bishop just below the pleasant valley reservoir in the wild trout section. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I've been tightlining a lot lately and I'm not sure if the waters are conducive to that style?

And just wanted to say to say how greatfull I am of all the volunteers who spent time last weekend to help make the gravel spawning beds. I've just discovered PC and am stoked on the community there that wants to preserve and enhance the fishery. 

Cheers!!

 

and here's a PC rainbow I caught awhile back. 



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Love the wild trout section. If the sun's out, hare's ear nypmh (14-18 in mottled colors) and tiny black nymphs (18-22). Natural colors work best on the Lower O. Been a while since I've posted here, but someone on this site had a killer black nymph tie that I adopted and it works wonders up there. The nymph is on a slight curved hook, black thread body (only as wide as the hook shank), white wing packet, and a few fibers for the "legs". Dries ought to work in the afternoon if the caddis fly hatch is on (you'll know because you won't be able to breathe without getting one in your nose). Tight lining should work well in some of the deeper holes, but it's not a huge river and may be quite shallow depending on the flows. Awesome water though!

Further down the road/river, there's some great fishing off highway 6 on "5 bridges road". From pleasant valley, head South on 395 into town. When you hit the Shell (called the "Y"), hang a left onto highway 6, then take the left for 5 Bridges. Park at the bridge and walk upstream, not much fishing downstream. Although the water seems very appetizing by the bridge, I've never had luck there.

If you're looking to get on some dries, head North on 395 out of Pleasant Valley and turn right onto Gorge Rd. At the top you can turn right and proceed into the gorge, parking is by the power plant. There is some decent fishing just below the power plant, but the dry fly part is a little further downstream. The power plant is regulated by PGE so flows are steady and there's always a mid morning dry fly bite in the riffle section a couple hundred yards down. I once caught 54 fish in 2.5 hours using a dry/dropper combo. You'll know if you went too far when the river becomes the Reservoir. If you're wading in this section, pay attention to the water clarity as the first sign they've turned on the power plant is discolored water, plant material, and bubbles. When you see that, get out of the water as the level is about to rise a few feet.

From the Gorge parking lot, you can head upstream via trails for some good fishing, but it's much more technical and small scale. There is also great fishing further up the Gorge, but you're gonna have to do some hiking to get down there. Instead of turning right at the top of Gorge rd and heading down, turn left and head to the upper power plants. There are locked gates on the road to the power plants, but you can walk down the paved roads to the bottom, there's also some trails going down, but many are rather treacherous.

Source: Bishop is my hometown! My avatar photo is a fish from just above 5 Bridges.

Enjoy!

- Jon



-- Edited by jvento on Tuesday 7th of November 2017 01:02:27 PM

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