Fred A. Rowe

Spawning cutthroat trout in the Crowley Lake tributaries. These are hatchery fish trying to reproduce in the wild. These are probably a non reproducing run of trout. These fish deserve to be handled properly. First off don’t fish for actively spawning trout. Actively spawning trout are in the shallows, riffles, and the females can be observed turning sideways to dig up the gravel to make a redd, a trout’s nest. Actively spawning fish are not interested in feeding. Fish the deep holes, deep runs and cut banks where the trophy trout are resting and feeding. When fighting these fish try and land them as quick as possible. Over fighting fish is the biggest factor of mortality rate in catch and release fishing. When taking photos of these trophy cutthroat trout handle them with wet hands and take pictures in the water. If taking photos of the trout out of the water hold them gently, support their weight with your hands, be sure you have wet hands and have the the shot set up before removing the fish from the water. Only keep the fish out of the water for as long as you can hold your breath. @visitbishop #visitbishop

Summer weather is quickly coming to the Eastern Sierra and the meadows of the upper Owens River are ready for the Iris to bloom and the cutthroats are in the river. This week’s fly fishing report is up on my webpage at: /fly-fishing-report. Link in my bio. ………. ………. Are you looking for tips on how to fly fish better Learn this and more by signing up for the Sierra Bright Dot email. Sign up for the email on the webpage at sierrabrightdot.com or the link in my bio.

Fishing in the gorge. Summer time temperatures make’s for a hot hike out of the gorge. The trout are in there taking dries and nymphs. Fished by working the pools and runs with a dry and dropper rig and standing on the banks. Didn’t feel like lugging down the waders. Next time down it will be wet wading time. Fished with size 16 Adams parachute and size 16 green/gold brassie. It’s warm down there and you need to take plenty of water.

IT’S TUESDAY TALKS TIME! The parking lot entrance is all torn up and will be through March, April and now into May. TUESDAY TALKS WITH FRED THIS TUESDAY May 12th, 2026. Join Fred Rowe, Richard Lancaster and Tom Paulson to talk about Eastern Sierra fly fishing. Join Richard , Tom and Fred for your opportunity to get all of your questions about fly fishing in the Eastern Sierra answered. We will be discussing cutthroat season, bass and carp fly fishing and fishing streamers TUESDAY TALKS WITH FRED AT MAHOGANY SMOKED MEATS on Tuesdays from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. Join Fred, Tom and Richard to talk about Eastern Sierra fly Fishing. See you there. Looking forward to tomorrow’s talk. Hope to see familiar faces and new faces walk through the doors! Who will be walking through the doors to join me this Tuesday!!!

The Interpretive Site is offering good dry fly action in the early afternoon with blue wing olive mayflies. For dry flies use size 20 blue wing olive parachutes, size 20 olive sparkle duns and size 20 Adams parachutes. If you have trouble seeing size 20 parachutes on the water fish with a dry and dry rig. For the indicator dry fly use size 16 Adams’s parachutes, size 14 stimulators and size 12 Chernobyl ants.

Cutthroats from Crowley Lake are showing up for their annual migration to the spawning grounds. Avoiding cutthroats actively spawning will help these fish become a self reproducing strain in the system. Fishing the deep holes, deep runs and cut banks where the trophy cutthroats are feeding and resting is how to target these trout. Fish with size 12 stoner nymphs, size 12 green/gold Prince nymphs, size 12 Richard’s variation of a gold ribbed hare’s ear and size 14 copper John’s. For streamers use size 6 and 10 wooly buggers, slumpbusters and muddlers.

Spring is coming to the Eastern Sierra, even though the Sierra got another dusting of snow on upper elevation mountains. Fly fishing report is up on my webpage at: . Link in my bio. ………. ………. Are you looking for tips on how to fly fish better Learn this and more by signing up for the Sierra Bright Dot email. Sign up for the email on the webpage at sierrabrightdot.com or the link in my bio.

Sierra Bright Dot guide Richard Lancaster working the waters of the lower Owens River with his Euro rod. With changing water flows it’s important to be on the water to know how the river is fishing and what is changing. As flows change so does the amount of weight used in the flies or as split shot on the tippet changes. Sometimes bouncing the flies on the bottom is not getting it done. Try drifting your flies at different levels through the water column. Is there a hatch? Are the trout intercepting the emergers on their ascent to the surface? These are the things observant fly fishers need to pay attention to. Looking to improve your fly fishing techniques? Let Sierra Bright Dot guides teach you the fly fishing techniques that produce trout in Eastern Sierra waters.

IT’S TUESDAY TALKS TIME! The parking lot entrance is all torn up and will be through March, April and now into May. TUESDAY TALKS WITH FRED THIS TUESDAY May 5th, 2026. Join Fred Rowe, Richard Lancaster and Tom Paulson to talk about Eastern Sierra fly fishing. Join Richard , Tom and Fred for your opportunity to get all of your questions about fly fishing in the Eastern Sierra answered. We will be discussing the Miracle Mile section of the East Walker River, the upper Owens River and streamer patterns for trophy Eastern Sierra trout. TUESDAY TALKS WITH FRED AT MAHOGANY SMOKED MEATS on Tuesdays from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. Join Fred, Tom and Richard to talk about Eastern Sierra fly Fishing. See you there. Looking forward to tomorrow’s talk. Hope to see familiar faces and new faces walk through the doors! Who will be walking through the doors to join me this Tuesday!!!

East Walker River. One of the few rivers to get excited about on opening of fishing season. It’s been closed on the California side since November 15th, 2025. Water was in great condition. Apparently missed a moss migration the day before. Fished a euro rod and a streamer rod in the miracle mile section for about an hour. Hooked the rainbow on a size 12 green/gold wire Prince nymph. It put up a fight much bigger than its size. Had it close enough to reach for the net when the rainbow rocketed downstream pulling line off the reel. Once landed noticed the marks where something had grabbed a hold of it. Fished in the Murphy’s pond area with no hook ups. Missed setting a couple of hits. It will be worth a few more trips this spring especially when I have more on the water time.

Cold and windy is typical of spring weather in the Eastern Sierra, but a backdrop of snow on the Glass Mountains makes for a pretty day on the upper Owens River looking for trophy trout with a streamer. Fly fishing report is up on my webpage at /fly-fishing-report. Link in my bio. ………. ………. Are you looking for tips on how to fly fish better Learn this and more by signing up for the Sierra Bright Dot email. Sign up for the email on the webpage at sierrabrightdot.com or the link in my bio

Streamer fishing for trophy trout. Streamers represent a big meal for big trout. The cutthroats are just starting to head out of Crowley Lake to spawn. Their numbers in the tributaries will be much larger by mid-May. Resident browns and rainbows are the trout that are taking streamers right now. Working the cut banks and deep pools the first and last hour of fishing time is going to be the most productive for fly fishers pulling streamers. The hits are few and far between pools and cut banks. Cover lots of water only stripping your streamer through productive water two to four times. When you get a hit use a strip set. Using a normal trout set tends to pull the fly free from the trouts mouth. @visitbishop #visitbishop ***** ***** Sierra Bright Dot guides have spring dates available for nymphing and streamer fishing for trophy cutthroat trout trips on the upper Owens River. Richard and I are available in May and June . For availability check out the GoGuide link in my bio. DM or call at (760) 920-8325 to set up a guided trip with Sierra Bright Dot for you and your fly fishing pals. We love to teach anglers the fly fishing techniques that produce trophy trout.