Fish Report - June 12th, 2025
Fish Report - 6.12.2025
Weather & General Report for Eastern Sierra
Weather Report:
Slight chance of thunderstorms through Sunday and then clear and warming. Winds are predicted to be much lighter next week.
Mammoth Yosemite Airport: highs in the low 70’s rising into the mid 70’s by early next week- lows in the upper 40’s rising into the low 50’s.
Mammoth Lakes Airport Weather Forecast
Bishop: Highs in the mid 90’s rising into the upper 90’s and lows in the upper 50’s.
Pleasant Valley Campground Weather Forecast
Hot Creek:
Conditions:Good
Report: PMD, Trico and Caddis hatches have improved but the BWO hatch is just about done . The Interpretive Site has been doing well but the fishing pressure has been very heavy so the fish are getting more selective. If you’re not seeing hatches don’t forget the scud, egg and worm patterns, especially with the dirty water.
Down in the canyon it had been mainly midges hatching but now the caddis are active late morning. Hatches: Trico emergence 7-8 and spinnerfall 9-10, Midges 11-1, Caddis 11-12. Also the craneflies are hatching again late morning.
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: Fair-Good
Upper Owens River Flows Click Here:
Report:Not much hatching besides the ever present midges, there appear to be a few PMDs, Tricos and Little Yellow Sallies so maybe there’s hope for the near future yet. Most of the big migratory fish are now up into the private ranches although there are still a few big fish being caught. Most of the Cutthroat are sitting on redds, which should not be fished for or bothered. If you’re going to target them please fish the deeper holes and not the tailouts. Also avoid walking through the shallow gravel tailouts, there are eggs in the gravel that do not like being trampled. If size is not important you can pick up some 6”-8” browns on dry flies.
| 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 they started the spring flush so the flows are waayyyy up and the gorge is closed for the time being. The flush is supposed to end 6/24 but for now the river will stay high. I have found that the river seems to fish better when the flows are below 500 cfs, above that and the river starts to find the little side channels.
I will have an update Friday afternoon to confirm and expand upon what I saw today. I fished from 11-1 today and the Tiny BWOs were emerging the whole time.
Friday 6/13 update
Got out earlier today and the Trico hatch and spinner fall have started, not heavy but it’s early yet. There was a surprise appearance of the PMD emergence, not a strong hatch and it only lasted for about an hour between 9 and 10. Flows are still on the high side but coming down so if you go you’re going to have to be willing to move around to find the slower water. The good news is there’s nobody fishing so you have plenty of room to roam.
This is basically what will be the pattern for the summer
6am micro caddis emergence/ 7am female Trico hatch/ 9-10am Trico spinner fall/ 10am-mid afternoon Tiny BWO size 22-26 (this is not a true BWO but the same species, Baetis), afternoon into evening Caddis emergence/ male Trico emergence around dusk. There is also a Drake mayfly hatch #12-16 in the evening that may have already started and usually lasts a week or two
| 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-Good
East Walker River Flows Click Here:
Report: Water is super clear coming out of the dam, but there are very few fish being spotted. 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. 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.
| 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 has stabilized with the rising outflow but will start filling with increased runoff. I somehow missed that the Gorge flush is lasting 3 weeks this year so it will be interesting to see how full Crowley gets this year. Water clarity is starting to go downhill, the “ ballbearing like” algae is getting thick, closely followed by the stringy version. That hasn’t shown up but it will be here soon.
Crowley Lake Surface Elevation Click Here:
Report: Midge hatches have been strong for this time of year and the Callibaetis hatches are just starting but the fish are spread out which is normal for early season. Most people are catching fish between 16’-25’, but you can find fish shallower or deeper too, as in30’- 45’. As stated the fish are scattered but there are some more concentrated areas, including McGee Bay, Sandy Point, Big Hilton and the north end. The only real change, it seems that the fish are really getting tired of boats overhead, they seem to be moving away from the fleet quicker than ever including returning as soon as the fleet leaves.
| Fly Type | Flies |
|---|---|
| Dries | N/A |
| Nymphs | Copper Tiger #S-L | Albino Baron #S-L | Double Bead Zebra #S-L | Monroe Leech | Hanging With My Chromies #14-16 | |
| 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 |