Fish Report - April 14th, 2025

Flows: 70 cfs

Conditions: Fair-Good

Report: The Owens River below Benton Crossing is closed until April 26th. With the dry, warmer temperatures the roads are all open although they are torn up. The water has cleared up some and besides the ever present midges there are some micro caddis hatching as well.The midges are still the most prolific. One nice change is that the surface activity has picked up considerably, the down side is that it appears that most of the big migratory fish are now up into the private ranches. 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.

Fly Type	Flies
Dries	Para Caddis #16-22 | Adult Midge Patterns #20-24 |
Nymphs	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)
Streamers	Keslars H/B/G Olive, Punk Perch (#16), Crostons MRS Natural (#12)

Flows: 89 cfs

Conditions: Good and Improving

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. 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 temperatures have come up into the mid 50’s but it’s still better 11-4.The flows had come back up to 126 cfs but this weekend the flows dropped back to 100 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, midday the fish seem to be keying on them. The really good news is that the nymph population, especially the mayflies, is very strong. Another good sign, the caddis are active again, the Craneflies are hatching, the bigger Stonefly nymphs are also getting active. Here’s the condensed list of what’s hatching right now: Midges - BWO’s - smaller Caddis - Craneflies - #8-12 Stoneflies - larger Mayflies, possibly PMD’s. 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 50’s which probably explains the increased bug activity, still fishing best between 11am and 3 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), Tungsten Translucent Caddis Pupa (#14)
Streamers	Assorted buggers and smaller streamers

Flows: 9 cfs

Conditions: Good and access is improving

Report: The canyon is once again accessible by car. BWO and Caddis hatches have been very sporadic but with the warmer temperatures maybe they will start to pick up. The Interpretive Site has been doing well but the fishing pressure has been very heavy. 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 had been mainly midges hatching but BWO’s hatches midday have picked up nicely and are the dominant food source now. The craneflies are also starting to hatch. 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)