Fished the East Walker and Hot Creek with my Mom this weekend for the first time and was totally humbled. The East Walker flows out of the Bridgeport Reservoir. It reminded me a lot of Putah...only a little narrower in spots, shallower (flow was 66), with incredibly slippery rocks and lots of snags. Took me a while to figure out how short to make my leader, play with the weight and the right flies. When I finally did I had around 12 fish on and landed 9...all browns on the small side...using hare's ear flashback, #16 I think, and a size 18 blood midge. What beautiful fish those browns are! Fished a different spot of the river Saturday afternoon and landed three small rainbows and finally landed a 20+ inch rainbow on a size 18 micro mayfly, which made me feel a little better after hearing how there were so many big fish in that particular river.
Hot Creek is about 45 minutes to an hour south of Bridgeport on 395. There is a hatchery there that provides planters all over CA. About 2.5 miles of the creek is privately owned by a private fly fishing ranch, but the remaining mile before the ranch, and the mile or two after the ranch is public access. No wading allowed...mud snail positive...and limited to fly fishing and catch and release. It hailed when we first got there, was cold as hell and continued to rain off and on, but the creek was amazing. Crystal clear, very shallow, narrow and full of long strands of water plants. I was told by a guide in Bridgeport to nymph it with tiny flies and keep everything very short...like a small indicator 4 inches above the weight, first fly about 3 inches below that, second fly about 3 inches below that. Found out later I was also supposed to keep my drifts around 2 to 3 feet at the most. It was really difficult to drift between the plant material, which you had to do or snag it, and under the plants was where the fish were...many, many fish...it was insane...but frustrating. Fish were jumping everywhere and I only ended up landing three small browns. There were some people fishing dries, but I am not experienced at that so I stuck with nymphing. I was totally out of my league and felt like an idiot....but I am going back, that's for sure. It is really an awesome place to fish, just technically challenging. I think I will be up for it by next summer.
flygirl iused to live in San Diego me and my brother used to meet up in Bishop andfish hot creek and the Owens river your right hot creek is extremly dificult to fish i have had limited success on that creek all with dries i never even tried to nymph it due to the grass so great job with that next time your up that way try your luck on the Owens river(if you havent already) it holds some serious big fish deep spring creek style fishing (great water for streamers)
Nice flygirl sounds like a great trip. way to go on that big rainbow and getting your first browns. I've been down there plenty in the winter but never during the fishing season. Gonna have to get down there next season.
Good job flygirl. It always pays to nymph on a very short line, If you have more then a few feet of flyline out you are wrong. Wade to the fish, don't try to cast to em, You mantain better control of your drift. A great old gentleman taught me this, and I'll never forget it. I'll be making the trip over there next spring, can't wait.
Yeah, the micromay is a sweet little fly. I bought some of the flies they recommended at the fly shop up there...always good to give a little business when asking advice...but ended up catching the most fish with what I brought. Did pick up a few new flies to try at putah. We'll see if they can work any magic.
Flygirl, congrats on the 20 incher. My brother and I have fished the private section of Hot Creek 5 or 6 times. It's dry fly only. Don't be discouraged by your luck on the public section. It's heavily pounded all Summer long so the fish get ultra selective. If you ever want to know what dry flies will work on Hot, just let me know. I have to admit some of the flies are pretty unique (and I have tons of spring creek experience).
I actually tried a dry fly on the East Walker...ran into the same guide there that had given me the Hot Creek advice the day before. He suggested trying a dry towards evening, and after looking in my fly box, gave me one out of his that he said he had caught his largest fish on. Don't all the guys say that? Must say the gentlemen I have encountered have been quite generous. I tried it after the sun went down, and it wasn't that difficult to land it where I wanted to, but it was getting cold and my Mom was sitting on the bank watching me at that point so I figured we had better call it a day. I'll hit you up on the dries that work on Hot Creek when I go back. Thanks.
