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Thread: Owens river question: Public or private lands south of Hwy 6 Bishop downstream ?

  1. #1

    Default Owens river question: Public or private lands south of Hwy 6 Bishop downstream ?

    Does anyone know if the Owens river downstream (south of the 5 bridges / Hwy 6) is private or public ?

    Was planning on a last minute trip tomorrow to Bishop to try out the Owens - never been there so that's why I ask...

    Anyone fish Owens between Bishop and Big Pine ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Quartz Hill, CA
    Posts
    8,306

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    FISH IT ,its loaded with rainbow and brown trout..............

  3. #3

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    Pretty much all DWP ground all the way down the valley.

    What he said. Yes to Bishop and BP. What he said again.

  4. #4

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    you can drive that entire strech on dirt roads. lots of good spots. take years to find the good holes unless you get lucky. I suggest looking at google maps to sort of map out spots you might want to hit. I would look for bends in the river where the river is narrower because the water is deeper there

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Devore Heights, CA
    Posts
    3,524

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    I have fished the Lower Owens for well over 40 years from the bank and from a drift boat. I can tell you from experience that the best fishing success is from a drift boat. You will be able to fish many areas that are impossible to fish from the bank and get on bigger and better quality fish from a drift boat.


  6. #6

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    http://i.imgur.com/BrE8xrJ.jpg
    Quote Originally Posted by DEVOREFLYER View Post
    I have fished the Lower Owens for well over 40 years from the bank and from a drift boat. I can tell you from experience that the best fishing success is from a drift boat. You will be able to fish many areas that are impossible to fish from the bank and get on bigger and better quality fish from a drift boat. I've drifted with Phill a number of times. He gets me onto fish. Downside is day will cost you $500+ with tip, etc. Well worth it.

    Last edited by Viejo; 05-26-2015 at 05:57 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    A.V. CA.
    Posts
    1,873

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    Great section on the Owens. To bad they allow boats. The guides roll up on shore guys and jack your spot. Jmo.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Devore Heights, CA
    Posts
    3,524

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    Fishing the Owens from a drift boat for over 40 years and never had a guide jack a shore spot. The spot in the pic is where we launch or retrieve from and have never seen a shore fisherman at that spot. Less than 5% of the Lower Owens is accessible from shore and you get much better casting angles from a boat. No downside to the $500+ fee when you split it with a friend and there is none better than "Fil Therrin" as a guide.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    A.V. CA.
    Posts
    1,873

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    I have been fishing the Owens for 35 years and the last 10 years have seen the boat traffic rise as well as the fires and blame game with locals and occasional anglers. Paying a guide for a drift is a high price and the pressure on the river is a joke. I have waded in spots , then to have drift boats and there paying fares just roll in, without respect to us on spots and expect us to get out of there way. BS ! I'm sure I'm not the only guy experiencing this. Once a blue ribbon water has been reduced to a cash grab. I am sorry if I ruffled feathers. Fish on.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Devore Heights, CA
    Posts
    3,524

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    No feathers ruffled as I got my drift boat addiction from the late Blair Hilborn. Blair was a classmate (1962) of mine that owned the Bishop movie theater and had his own drift boat long before any guides had them. It was perfect as the early matinee was at 2:00pm and that made time for a first light drift and leave time to take the boat back home and make it to work. Fishing was off the charts back then and we would make different bets and rules between us every trip to make things challenging. The best time ever was the time that we only counted Brown Trout and they had to be over 18" to be counted. It was always C&R even though the limit was 15 back then. Between the two of us we caught and released over 100 fish, over 30 were Browns over 18". Those days are long gone and just a memory.
    Blair was killed in a private plane accident 20+ years ago, his death, loss of a great friend and my drift boat addiction forced me to use a guide service after that. I fish the Lower Owens between October and March when the flow is low, the weather is cool/cold and no crowds to deal with. Often times with ice on the rod guides and a heater in the boat and of course many layers of clothes.

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