Guided fly fishing trips for Crowley Lake, Grant & Silver Lakes, the San Joaquin, Upper and Middle Owens Rivers, Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Hot Creek, & the Gorge located near Mammoth and Bishop Ca. will give you opportunities to catch trophy rainbows and browns while being guided by expert fly fishing pros. Sierra Drifters guides utilize top of the line center console bay boats, drift boats, float tubes, and high quality fly fishing tackle to guide you on these blue ribbon trout waters.



Crowley Lake fishing well most of the time. South, or east winds can shut down the bite. The north end, Sandy Pt. & Layton Springs now have concentrations of trout. The Upper Owens has fair/good fishing for planted rainbows. Nymphing with attractors is best. Middle Owens flows continue to scream. 475cfs. is not good for wading. East Walker flows trending downward; but fine for wading. The cooler morning temps making the fish more active. Hot Creek is has aquatic weed issues with limited sections to fish due to low flows. Freestone creeks like McGee, Rock Creek, & the West Walker can produce using dry/dropper rigs fished in deeper pools, and pocket water. San Joaquin is still fun using high riding dry flies; or parachute patterns. Cooler morning temps on the way. Flows will be getting very low on the SJ by months end. Alpine Lakes have good water conditions. Tubers casting full sinks with streamers near inlets, and drop-offs having success.

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The fish have turned the corner at Sandy Pt. and are now showing up in concentrations in the north arm, & Layton Springs. The CDFW has been stocking sub-catchable triploid rainbows, & browns the last couple weeks, & those little rascals are showing up at times all over the lake now. The submerged aquatic weeds are now protruding making the deeper weed lines easy to identify. Water clarity is very good with no algae bloom. Tubers should be looking to troll some perch fry/damsel nymphs along the weed lines. Hang your flies above a clean mud bottom in close proximity to a hard weed line for consistent action. Chironomid hatches have been light recently; however the fish are still hunting the larva close to the bottom. Broken back midges, crystal zebra, or tiger midges (big ones), and damsel nymphs are all good calls while fishing below an “sliding” Under-cator. My go to rig the last few days has been an Assassin; or Drifters Punk Perch #14/16 as the upper, with a dark crystal tiger midge (#14), or broken back copper tiger (#16) as the larva pattern. Keep the tigers 6-12 inches off the deck. I have also been using twin Assassins; or a Punk Perch with an Assassin dropper along the weeds. Keep them a foot or more above the bottom.***Special angling regulations begin on 8/1/16 and will continue throughout the remainder of the season on Crowley. The entry gate to the marina opens at 7am instead of 6am now.

This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th.



Not much change here, except the mornings are cooling off. Conditions are poor downstream from the Benton Bridge due to heavy aquatic weed growth. Upstream from the bridge special regulations apply, & the conditions are better above the confluence of Hot Creek inlets. Grasshoppers are prevalent currently. Use a stimulator with a bead head nymph like an Assassin, FB PT, olive crystal caddis; or olive zebra midge as a dropper. You will also see a solid caddis hatch, although I have not seen a great surface charge from the fish in a couple trips here. Hi-vis caddis adult patterns used with a dropper can also get grabs. The water levels are very low above HC, & the irrigation canal inlets. You will find most of the planted rainbows, and wild browns in the deepest pools and pockets. There are a few nicer rainbows hanging around that are best fooled by attractor patterns like the “Drifters Crawler” and crystal eggs. A strange thing this season are the migration of Sacramento Perch moving up the river. You may get into quite a few of them in the deeper pools.

The section upstream from the Benton Bridge is open year around with special regulations. Seasonal closures, and angling restrictions apply downstream from the bridge, check regulations before fishing in this section.

Looks like the flows have peaked, & stabilizing around 475cfs. Wading is not practical, or advisable in the wild trout section currently.

This fishery remains open year around. Special regs from the footbridge at Pleasant Valley campground to the fishing monument 4.7 miles downstream.

Fishing has been fair/slow this summer. The slower fishing can be directly attributed to the lack of planting from the HC hatchery. This is the primary reason HC is not kicking out the numbers it once did. HC is now being managed as a wild trout fishery only, and new practices are not allocating the planting of additional trout here. You may still get into some decent fish in the deeper weed free sections using scuds, Assassins, and smaller olive crystal caddis, or dubbed olive caddis larva patterns while nymphing the deeper pockets that are weed free. Caddis adults and hoppers are best for surface action.

This is a year around fishery with special regs in place.

*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide Hot Creek.

Continuous hydro power generation, & fluctuating water levels are not conducive to consistently good fishing at this time. Pretty dang hot here after the sun gets up a little too. The higher flows will help clean out the aquatic weeds to improve conditions when it starts to cool down in the fall.

This fishery is open year around.

Best time to fish this area is mid-September, through May. Flows are great at 52cfs. ; but it is very warm here by late morning.

Season open year around

No reports from fly fishers here; but trollers using lead lines are doing really well for planted rainbows around the deeper water near the dam. The marina is not longer launching boats due to falling water levels. Water conditions are good with the algae bloom not an issue.

This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th.

The cooler mornings have improved overall conditions making the fish more active. Some bigs are becoming easier to reach as the flows have lowered. The flows are now 95cfs. & trending downward. There remain issues with aquatic weeds in the slower sections. Focus on the pocket water; or riffles for more consistent action. Heavily weighted nymph rigs fished in the faster riffle water downstream will get you a shot at a larger browns. Attractor patterns like Drifters Crawlers, & SJ worms can get the bigs to move. Strong caddis, midge, mayfly, & damsel fly hatches are going off. Try larger Assassins, FB PT’s. and damsel nymphs. Hi-vis caddis, and hoppers are targets for surface feeders. Lob some Loebergs, Punk Perch, or damsel nymph streamers for a shot at bad LeRoy brown during low light periods.

This fishery is open year around below the Bridgeport Reservoir dam to Nevada State line. Open year a in Nevada also.

Water clarity/flows are good now. Fish the rifles, & pocket water near Pikel Meadows, or Chris Flats sections. A deadly rig for this area is a dry/dropper using Stimulators, or hi-vis caddis and mayfly imitations as the upper fly. Tie on bead head tiger midges, Assassins, or FB PT’s as your nymph about 2-4 feet below the dry.

This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th in some sections, open year around along HWY 395. Check regulations for specific info.

Fishing remains pretty good here; but look for water levels to get skinny as morning air temps begin to fall making flows drop to low levels. I like to fish hi-vis mayfly; or caddis patterns with a bead head dropper nymph like an Assassin, FB PT, or tiger midge. The riffles are best fished with high riding dries like stimulators, parachute ant patterns, foam beetles, & attractor adults. I suggest you have a stout wading staff even though the flows are down. The skeeters are ravenous down here this summer, don’t forget then deet.

*Tom Loe is under permit from the Inyo National Forest Service to guide the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.

This fishery opens last Saturday in April & closes November 15th. Access is prone to weather/road closures, & may not allow entry during open periods of the season.

Beautiful Jurassic Pond is a private trophy trout fishery that is exclusively guided by Sierra Drifters pros. It is situated near McGee Creek, and overlooks Crowley Lake. We fish with streamers, nymphs, & dry flies during warmer periods. You will not find larger trout anywhere in the Eastern Sierra. If you want a dance with a twenty pound rainbow, or double digit brown-this is the best private fishery in the region. Summer session are booking fast. Contact us for availability please.

This is private water, and access is by permission from Tom Loe of Sierra Drifters Guide Service.

These lakes are highly dependent on planted trout, & the bite will be related to how many fish are stocked during your visit. Check CDFW/resort planting schedules to get the latest updates. Tubers trolling streamers with full sinking lines can get into some fish while targeting drop-offs, inlets, & structure. Agent Orange, Crystal Leeches, Loebergs, Spruce-A-Bu’s, and Punk Perch patterns are good calls to use along drop-offs, structures like submerged stumps, and near inlets. Try dry dropper rigs using hi-vis mayfly patterns as your indicator/dry fly while suspending a small midge, Killa-baetis or Assassin nymph below it 2-3 feet during low light periods. The wild brookies and browns can be fooled using this technique during the warmer summer months.

These fisheries open the last Saturday in April & close November 15th. Weather related closures may prohibit access during otherwise open periods of the trout season.