Fish Report - February 25th
Fish Report 2.25.2025
Weather & General Report for Eastern Sierra
Temperature report
Mammoth Airport: highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the mid 20’s with a cooldown by the weekend.
Lower Owens: Highs in the high 60’s and lows in the low 30’s but by the end of next weekend it will cool down slightly
Weather report
It’s looking dry for the next couple of days with a slight chance of showers starting Saturday. Chances for more storms could improve, starting next week
The flows on the Upper Owens have come up a little with the fresh snow and warmer temperatures. 92 cfs. On the Lower Owens the flows had jumped up from 70 to 195 cfs but have now dropped back down to 71 cfs.
Flows & Water Conditions: Good
CFS: 92
Click Here For Upper Owens Flow Rates
Fishing Report & Conditions: Fair-Good
The Owens River below Benton Crossing is closed until next spring.
With the snow, access is now limited to ski, snowshoe, snowmobile and just plain walking. With the warm weather forecast that could change before long. And it has, plenty of people are now getting stuck trying to drive upstream. The water has cleared up some and besides the ever present midges there are some micro caddis hatching as well. The BWO’s are still hanging in there but the midges are still the most prolific. One nice change is that the surface activity has picked up considerably, hopefully the storm won’t have stopped that. If size is not important you can pick up some 6”-8” browns on dry flies. With little in the way of hatches the bigger fish are eating larger attractor patterns, especially egg and worm patterns. The Coleman rainbow is the spawning fish right now but they have started heading back to the lake. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this strain of rainbows is no longer being stocked so all we’ve got are from the natural spawn. The spring spawners are now moving up and the difference between them is pretty obvious. Dark and scratched up are the fall spawners and silvery are the incoming spring spawners. With the very cold weather over the weekend I’m reminded to point out that when the air temperature gets below freezing, leave the fish in the water, fish’s eyes and gills can be damaged very quickly.
| Flies | Type |
|---|---|
| Extended body BWO #16-22 | TRS PBL Griffith #16-20 | Roy's Special Emerger #20-22 | Dries |
| Bead Head Flashback Pheasant Tail #14-22 | HDA Fav Variant #12-16 | Chamois Caddis #16-20 | M/Pardi F/B Olive or Brown #18-20 | Weiss BP Light #18-20 | Slush Egg Apricot #14 | EZ Fl. S/Burst #20 | Squirmy Wormy #12-14 | Zebra Midges #16-24 | Nymphs |
|
Keslars H/B/G Olive | Punk Perch #16 | Crostons MRS Natural #12 | |
Streamers |
Flows & Water Conditions: Flows have dropped back down to 71 cfs and the water clarity is excellent.
CFS: 71
Click Here For Lower Owens Flow Rates
Fishing Report & Conditions: Improving
Between the good fishing and the limited access up the hill crowds have been a problem.Still no reason to get out there early, the water temperature at 1:30 at the Line Street Bridge was 45.The flows have dropped back down to 71 cfs and with the clearing flows the fishing has picked right back up. The midge hatches are still strong and the BWO’s have gotten a lot more active and midday the fish seem to be keying on them, the good news is that the nymph population, especially the mayflies, is really strong. Another good sign, the caddis are active again, the Craneflies are hatching, the bigger Stonefly nymphs are also getting active and the Grannom caddis should start hatching in the middle of March. Some nice 8-13” 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 in the last week 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 have been 40-44 degrees, so fishing between 11am and 3 pm is the best window.
| Flies | Type |
|---|---|
| Brooks CDC Baetis #18-20 | Mimic May Johnson BWO #16-20 | No See Um Baetis Hi-Vis #16 | Dries |
| 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 | Nymphs |
| assorted buggers and smaller streamers | Streamers |
Flows & Water Conditions: Clear
CFS: 20
Click Here For East Walker Flow Rates
Fishing Report & Conditions:fair
The East Walker is tapering off with low flows. Fishing is not reccomended, however fish are still being caught below the bridge.
| Flies | Type |
|---|---|
| #16-18 Parachute Adams | #18-20 BWO | Dries |
| #16-18 Pheasant Tail | #16-20 Lightning Bug | Nymphs |
| #10-12 Woolly Bugger | #10-12 Sculpin Patterns | Streamers |
Flows & Water Conditions: Fair; The weed beds in the canyon have dropped dramatically with the water cooling down. The increase in recorded flows is probably due to ice at the gauging station.
CFS: 9
With the snow, access is now limited to ski, snowshoe, snowmobile and just plain walking. The road is blocked with a snow berm but I wouldn’t doubt that pretty soon some yahoo will try taking his 4x4 over/around it and the offroad tow company will make some good money.
BWO and Caddis hatches have been very sporadic but this week the BWO hatches have picked up considerably.
The Interpretive Site has been doing well but access is walk in sloppy Hatches have been primarily midges but the BWO hatch is picking up. Having said that, the fish are still keying more on the midges and the surface action is picking up. If you’re not seeing hatches don’t forget the scud, egg and worm patterns. Thanks to the fishing pressure the fish at the Interpretive Site are becoming very selective.
Down in the canyon it’s still mainly midges hatching but there are some micro caddis egg laying and BWO’s hatches midday are picking up. Most of the action is around the mayflies not the caddis.
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.
| Flies | Type |
|---|---|
| Brooks CDC Baetis #18-20 | Parachute Extended BWO #16-20 | Mimic May Johnson BWO #16-20 | Improved Mathews Midge #20-24 | Zelon Midge #20-24 | Dries |
| HDA Fav #14-16 | Expecting Scud #16-18 | M/Pardi F/B Olive or Brown #18-20 | Weiss BP Light #18-20 | Zebra Midge #22-24 | T-Midge #22-24 | Real Midge #22-24 | | Nymphs |
| Kesslars H/B/S Olive & Natural #12 | | Streamers |