Lower Owens River

Been a long time since I fished this river, one of my favorites with a lot of fond memories. When I lived in Southern California, there isn't a lot of options for trout fishing in rivers unless you drive to the Kern or the Owens system. I think it is one of the best rivers for winter trout fishing in the US. It was the most crowded I have ever seen it, counting roughly 50 cars parked along Chalk Bluff. 

I started out at 5 Bridges and fished upstream. This is the start of the wild trout & catch n release section. It is almost all brown trout and they are on the smaller side but they fight very good for their size. Average size is about 10". I did catch a nice 16" fish on the second day I fished but I wasn't filming that day. It felt like a 20" fish at first after catching so many 8-11" fish. The fish were all in great shape and healthy looking.

Although it is wintertime, Bishop doesn't get that cold and there are plenty of days in the 60s. They days I fished were in the middle and upper 60s. There is a surprising divide between the weather in Bishop and the freeze just up the mountain driving up another couple thousand feet to Mammoth (about 1/2 hr north of Bishop). 

The morning bite was slow and it seemed the fish liked midge patterns. Later in the day the bwo's started to come out at around 11am and the fish went on a feeding frenzy and frenchies did very well. It was just how I remembered it from the past. 

The fish tend to concentrate in the buckets of deeper water. I came across one that was loaded with trout and it was one after the other. They were feeding on something emerging but I couldn't see it. Maybe a mix of bwos and caddis. It was a fish on every cast for an extended period of time at one spot--that hasn't happened to me in many years since fishing Alaska. A cow watched me for a little bit and moved on, but I think he was impressed.