Fish Report - May 12th, 2025
Fish Report - 5.12.2025
Weather & General Report for Eastern Sierra
Weather Report:
We are expecting showers Monday-Tuesday with snow showers at Hot Creek and the Upper Owens. Expect a lesser chance of showers on the lower Owens.
The flows on the Upper Owens have gone up to 84 cfs and off color below the Hot Creek confluences. On the Lower Owens the flows are back up to 175 cfs and off color, especially below Horton Creek. Hot Creek has come up to 47 cfs and off color due to runoff, remember these are the flows on Mammoth Creek below 395.
Mammoth Yosemite Airport:highs in the upper 30’s, mid 50’s by midweek and lows in the upper 20’s rising to mid 30’s.
Mammoth Lakes Airport Weather Forecast
Bishop: Highs in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s and lows in the high 30’s to mid 40’s.
Pleasant Valley Campground Weather Forecast
Hot Creek:
Conditions:Good
Report: BWO and Caddis hatches have improved, the dirty water today didn’t help but it should clear up over the next couple of days.
Thanks to the fishing pressure the fish at the Interpretive Site are becoming very selective. Down in the canyon it had been mainly midges hatching but BWO’s hatches midday have picked up nicely and are the dominant food source now. Hatches: Midges 9-12, BWO 10:30-12:30 #18-20 (It’s normal for the bugs to get smaller as we go from winter into spring).
Two guide tips: 1) When casting, if you’re looking at the weed beds, you will hit them, so look at the clear lanes. 2) Your drifts should be 4 seconds or less followed by a smooth but aggressive backcast - You will be amazed by the number of hookups you didn’t even know were there.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | Brooks CDC Baetis #18-20 | Parachute Extended BWO #18-22 | Caviar Midge #22 |
| Nymphs | HDA Fav #14-16 | Expecting Scud #16-18 | Glass Bead Micro May Olive or Brown #20-22 | Weiss BP Light #18-20 | Zebra Midge #22-24 | T-Midge #22-24 | Real Midge #22-24 | Olive midge patterns #20-24 |
| Streamers | Kesslars H/B/S Olive & Natural (#12) |
Upper Owens:
Conditions: Poor but should improve by midweek
Upper Owens River Flows Click Here:
Report: The water has gotten dirty with the runoff but that should change with the colder weather Tuesday-Wednesday. Not much hatching besides the ever present midges. Most of the big migratory fish are now up into the private ranches although there are still a few big fish being caught. We could start seeing the spring spawning Rainbows heading back to Crowley soon. We are starting to see a few Cutthroat in the system but if you’re going to target them please fish the deeper holes and not the tailouts. The fish in the tailouts are either spawning or about to. If size is not important you can pick up some 6”-8” browns on dry flies. Below the bridge is now open for bait and take fishing. It's always barbless catch and relese above the bridge.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | Para Caddis #16-22 | Adult Midge Patterns #20-24 | Parachute Adams #18-22 |
| Nymphs | Bead Head Flashback Pheasant Tail #14-22 | HDA Fav Variant #12-16 | Chamois Caddis #16-20 | Slush Egg Apricot #14 | EZ Fl. S/Burst #20 | Squirmy Wormy #12-14 | Zebra Midges #16-24 |
| Streamers | Keslars H/B/G Olive | Punk Perch #16 | Crostons MRS Natural #12 | |
Lower Owens:
Conditions: Good And Improving
Lower Owens River Flows Click Here:
Report: A quick tip, the gorge had been fishing well until the flows dropped. Well the flows are back up and the fishing is good.
With the good fishing crowds have been a problem. Still no reason to get out there early, the water temperatures have come up to the upper 50’s and low 60’s by midafternoon and the fishing is starting to pick up by midmorning.The flows had dropped to 74 cfs but are back up to 100 cfs. The midge hatches are still strong, 9-12 and the BWO’s have gotten a lot more active, midday the fish seem to be keying on them, 9-12:30 and are smaller BWO’s. We’re also starting to see PMD’s and even a few Trico’s, and you can add some Yellow Sallies also. After the mayfly hatch fishing slows down with a few fish feeding on a sporadic caddis hatch. The really good news is that the nymph population, especially the mayflies, is very strong. Another good sign, the caddis are active again, and the fish are filling up on case caddis. Also the Craneflies are hatching and the bigger Stonefly nymphs are also getting active.
Here’s the condensed list of what’s hatching right now: Midges - BWO’s - PMD’s-Tricos-smaller Caddis - Craneflies - Yellow Sallies. Some nice 10-18” Browns but the main characters are the Rainbows. Most of them are small, up to 8” or so but they are wild, fat, and everywhere - a good sign for the future but we are also seeing some bigger Rainbows in the 12 -16 inch range and an increasing number up to 20”. A general rule to follow is the colder the night before, the closer to PVR you should start. During the night the water coming out of the dam is warmer but cools down fast as it flows downstream. Something I’ve been seeing that’s a real head scratcher. Why people spend all the money and time to come up here to fish but still insist on stopping for lunch right in the window of best fishing. Water temperatures has gotten up into the low 60’s which probably explains the increased bug activity, still fishing best between 11am and 2 pm.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | Para Caddis #16-22 | Mimic May Johnson BWO #16-20 | No See Um Baetis Hi-Vis #16 | Parachute Extended BWO #16-20 | Roy’s Special Emerger #20-22 | Caviar Midge #20-24 |
| Nymphs | Tungsten Jig Baetis #14-18 | Tungsten Phase II #14-18 | Zebra Midge #18-22 | Tungstud Olive #16-18 | Smples B/Emerger #18-20 | Buckskin Caddis #14-18 | Dorsey Buckskin Jig #14-18 | Assorted Perdigon Patterns #14-18 |
| Streamers | Try 'em all |
East Walker River:
Conditions: Fair
East Walker River Flows Click Here:
Report: Fishing has slowed down with the slight reduction in flows. Water is super clear coming out of the dam, and the fish are pretty spooky. Even the best looking holes are probably one and done, and moving after catching a fish or two is probably the way to go. Mainly nymphing is working, but dry-dropper could provide decent success and the streamer fishing is picking up. One of our guides was up there the last couple of days and said the fishing was poor in the “Miracle Mile”, but better the farther downstream you got from the bridge.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | Chernobyl OJ #6-10 | Adult Cranefly | TR’s Double Griffiths #16-20 | Zelon Midge Improved Matthews #20-24 | Z-Wing Real Midge Black #20-26 | Brooks CDC Baetis #18-20 | | Mimic May Johnson BWO #16-20 | No See Um Baetis Hi-Vis #16 | |
| Nymphs | San Juan Worm Red | GB FB Pheasant Tail #14-20 | HDA Fav #12-16 | Tung Stud Black #20-22 | Keslar’s Iggy Olive #14 | Zebra Midge #20-22 | Copper Tiger #S-L | Albino Baron #S-L | Double Bead Zebra #S-L | Monroe Leech | Assorted Perdigons #14-18 |
| Streamers | Try ‘Em All |
Crowley Lake:
Conditions: The lake level is coming up slowly but should accelerate with the rain. Fishing has been good.
Crowley Lake Surface Elevation Click Here:
Report: Crowley Lake Marina for boat launch access is now open Midge hatches have been strong for this time of year but the fish are spread out which is normal for early season. What is not normal early season is that the fish are in shallow, 8-12 feet but you’ll still find plenty of fish in the usual early season 20-30 feet. One reason for the fish in shallow is that there are a lot of fry along the shoreline. As stated the fish are scattered but there are some more concentrated areas, including McGee Bay, Sandy Point, Leighton Springs and Big Hilton.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | N/A |
| Nymphs | Copper Tiger #S-L | Albino Baron #S-L | Double Bead Zebra #S-L | Monroe Leech | |
| Streamers | Punk Perch Light #16 | Balanced Punk Perch Light or Dark #14 | also olive balanced leeches under an indicator |
San Joaquin River:
Conditions: no access yet
San Joaquin River Flows Click Here:
Report: no access yet
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | N/A |
| Nymphs | N/A |
| Streamers | N/A |