Owens River

The Owens is really three rivers in one, and which section you fish depends on what kind of angler you are. The Upper Owens from Big Springs to Crowley Lake is a classic spring-creek meadow, meandering through open rangeland at about 7,000 feet elevation — beginner-friendly water with wild rainbows and browns in the 10-16 inch range. The Owens River Gorge below Crowley Dam is a steep, boulder-choked freestone canyon that requires scrambling down 400-foot walls to reach trout nobody else bothers with. The Lower Owens Wild Trout section below Pleasant Valley Dam is the main event: a tailwater running through high desert outside Bishop, holding a thriving population of wild brown trout that average 10-18 inches with some fish pushing past 24.

The Lower Owens Wild Trout section fishes well year-round, which is one of its best qualities. Fall is prime time — October and November bring low flows, aggressive pre-spawn browns, October Caddis, and fall BWO hatches all at once. Late winter through early spring offers midge and early BWO activity with few other anglers on the water. Chalk Bluff Road parallels the Wild Trout section with excellent access points every few hundred yards. The water is wadeable at normal flows of 100-250 CFS and fishes well with both nymphs and streamers. Above 350 CFS, wading becomes difficult.

The Owens Valley's water history is inseparable from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, but restoration efforts including the Lower Owens River Project and CalTrout's grazing reform on the Upper Owens have genuinely improved the fishery. Bishop is the hub town, with two fly shops and multiple guides who know every bend. Wind is a daily reality in the Owens Valley — mornings are calmer. Summer temperatures push into the 90s. The Gorge has rattlesnakes and no easy way out if something goes wrong, so fish it with a partner. From Bishop, you're also within easy range of Hot Creek, the East Walker, and Crowley Lake, which makes the Owens Valley one of the densest concentrations of quality fly water in the West.