Owens River Flow Questions

[chas83]

I've seen many people commenting on the high flows in the Owens and how it negatively impacts the fishing conditions. Is it only the fly fisherman who are having problems or does it also affect the bait fisherman? Can't I just add more weight and fish close to the bank? I've seen many people saying it's a waste of time trying since the flows are over 500, anyone have any tips with these high flows?
Thanks in advance!

[retired96]

Right now the river is over 550 cfs, add the 90 plus cfs from Bishop Creek and you have a extremly high and fast flow. In simple terms the river is raging.. Keep in mind 600 cfs is considered flood stage where it will overflow the banks in some areas. I was up there 10 days ago when the river was about 400 cfs and the fishing was terrible, 6 fish in 4 1/2 days. When the river runs as fast as it is now, the water is dirty and you get tons of debris flowing doen the river.

It doesn't matter if you flyfish, bait fish, or lures the Owens at these high flows is very very hard to fish. In my 50 years of fishing the river its a waste of time to fish the river when its running at flood stage... I think we can expect it to run at these high flows for most of spring and summer... In 2006 it ran at flood stage and above for almost 8 months..

[chas83]

Wow, I had no idea it was that bad! Thanks so much for the advice, we are heading up there in the morning and we won't waste our time even trying the river. Does it normally flow this fast in April? Is it from the snow melting? Thanks for all the information.

[retired96]

The DWP which owns the river and everything else in the Owens Valley does this every year. Depending on the snowpack and how much run off is expected determines how muchwater they run out. This year had a very good snowpack, so to keep Crowley at the peoper level, they release water from PVR to make room for the runoff from Lake Crowley, thus the very high river flows that will last for some time.

[asmacsbob]

IF you know how to fish the owens it is much better when it is running high (imo)...just takes lots of tackle and the ability not to get frustrated to quickly...there are lots of great areas that hold nice fish..they are not as easily spooked when its this high....its nothing for someone to get 20 fish in a day right at this time of year...even when the river is up...350-450 is ideal but have fished it when the water is into the campground....up high try using spinners...white or yellow panther martins work well...and rapallas early or late

[flytyingreloader]

I won't let high water keep me off the River. The Panther Martin & Rapala advice is good info.

[dockboy]

Ditto. The fish still there. You have to know where to find them. Find prime habitat for the fish to avoid the fast flows. Right now the hatches that were starting to blossom got turned off by the increase in flows. Once everything settles in, its guaranteed the fish will turn back on. I've had great days in the middle of summer on high flows, because everyone is out targeting the other fisheries in the area. Once the temperature rises a bit, the bite will get better. Tho its probably a guarantee, as retired96 basically said, that the flows will be high all summer. Don't be surprised if we have 450-660 cfs for this section of the Owens till late September this year

[asmacsbob]

good....give the fish a good chance to grow