First Annual Crowley Lake Sierra Drifters Still Water Classic
For the improvement of Crowley Lakes Fisheries
Saturday, August 11th 2007 Links for rules and registration forms are at www.crowleylakefishcamp.com
PRE-REGISTRATION IS GREATLY APPRECIATED NOW WITH A DEADLINE FOR BBQ & T-SHIRTS OF AUGUST 4TH

Who shall be crowned the "lord of the fly" for 2007 at Crowley Lake??? Some of the finest fly rods the Eastern Sierra has to offer will be having some friendly competition to raise money for the fisheries enhancement of Crowley Lake.?? Please join us for this noble cause.?? Huge cash and raffle prizes for individual and team entries.?? Boats and tubes welcome.?? This event is all about numbers and is 100% catch and release. Special thanks to the San Diego Fly Fishers for their generous donation to this cause?Ķ. Let's hear from all you other clubs out there?Ķ.the challenge is on! And if any of you businessmen or merchants out there are interested in contributing as a sponsor?Ķ please email back and we can send you the contributor letter?Ķ

Still water nymphing in McGee Bay continues to be awesome for several hours most days when the sou-easters do not blow the bay out.?? The two year holdover rainbows are heavily concentrated near the inlet.?? Some days it's like fishing in an aquarium, with fish constantly swimming out in front of the boats in plain view.?? It just so happens to be my favorite time of year to fish Crowley and it is not out of the equation to sight fish for the large cruising rainbows.?? The fish can be seen rising and rolling on the lakes glassy morning surface to feed on emerging chironomids in huge numbers with an occasional savage attack on a damsel fly or callibaetis nymph disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of McGee Bay.??

We have introduced our new callibaetis nymph after several seasons of tying and trying.?? This one will be a great addition to your still water arsenal.?? It may be presented as a trail fly behind a larger streamer or it could be suspended under an indicator in the upper levels of the water you are fishing.?? It fishes best in a light chop or in front of a drifting algae or scum line.?? It is called the KillA-baetis and is sold in sizes #12-14.

To be consistent in this area you will need to drop down the size of your midge imitations one or two notches.?? This time of year it is very hard to beat a #20-22 Gillie, #20-22 Drifters crystal pupa, or #18-20 Drifters tiger midges in this area.?? Use the lighter gray colored body on the Gillie for the gin clear water and go to the darker version if the goo moves in on you.?? A #14-16 Stimulator dry/ dropper bead head rigs work well for grabs here, but may be on the difficult side to stick your sets for those new to the light takes of the big rainbows cruising the flats.?? No worries if you want to use our "Sungicator" strike detector to hang a single or dual fly rig in the short water.?? We are having NO troubles at all getting consistent grabs with as little as 12 inches of tippet below the indicator.?? The fish are not indicator shy-at least with regards to the Sungicator.?? Let the pictures of some recent Crowley slammers caught by our clients speak for themselves!?? These indicators will out fish and out perform other commercial indicators hands down.?? You can easily trim the "Sungicator" to fit your nymphing needs on moving or still waters if necessary.

Little Hilton is spotty, but the algae is not super thick as in recent past seasons and you can expect some hot occasional bites here at times.?? The lake is receding steadily and the weed beds are dissipating with the lowering levels.?? The North Arm near the Owens inlet also has a concentration of rainbows seeking the cooler more oxygenated water the river has to offer.?? If it gets to "cozy" for your liking in McGee this would be the next best area to check out.?? Stay close by or in the river channel, positioning your boat or tube on the sides of the channel, NOT IN IT!!!

Jerry Neve from San Clemente, CA and David Kendrick of Irvine, CA have teamed up for the forthcoming Crowley Lake Stillwater Classic and shall be hereby known as team "Troutzilla"?? The guys booked two days with us recently and got had a whole bunch of practice setting the hook on Crowley and the Upper Owens.?? Check out this "double" with a sweet but rare short water brown and a comparable sized rainbow.?? Great couple of days team "Troutzilla" thanks! Click on www.sierradrifters.com/fish.html to view photos.

The fly fishing Maguire family from Escondido, CA spent a day with Drifters guide Fill Therrien and got a trophy class brown while stillwater nymphing from one of the big "fish magnets". "We had two great trips with Phil on Lake Crowley June 18 and 22nd. He was wonderful and patient with my 10 and 12 year old boys. We had so much fun on Monday that we booked another trip on the following Friday. Both days were the best fishing we have ever had in the Sierras! We caught at least 60 on Monday with many over 17". We lost at least as many as we caught, those fish are wild! We will be booking Phil again; he is not only a terrific guide, but a funny and nice guy!"?ĮJim Maguire, Escondido, CA Click on www.sierradrifters.com/fish.html to view photos.

Doug-R Rodricks put the Thorpe family on numerous big rainbows in McGee Bay on a recent outing.?? Johnny Thorpe got bragging rights when he set the hook and landed this "broom" tailed bow. Click on www.sierradrifters.com/fish.htmlto view photos.

Thanks in part to the visionary efforts of another fishing tournament "the F.A.T.I.T" we have some good sized browns to catch and release this year in Crowley.?? Browns are not being planted in Crowley by the DFG in the numbers that once made Crowley the home of "Jangles" the former CA state record brown trout.?? Crowley's excellent brown trout population is in jeopardy of becoming a thing of the past unless we as anglers help financially subsidize the planting of juvenile and catchable sized browns.?? Please help support tournaments, business's and programs that focus on this goal.??

HEY!!! All you other groups that hold fishing derby's at Crowley or elsewhere; how about considering setting aside some prize money to put back what you take out?

Some other great news for Crowley fans?Ķthe DFG has been planting thousands of lbs. of catchable sized rainbows throughout June, as well as numerous jumbo brood stock fish to 14 lbs. this week.?? These fish come from a few snail positive pens at the Hot Creek facility and are not being allowed to be stocked into other waters that are currently designated as NZMS negative.?? This is not SAP for the DFG with regards to fisheries subsidization this time of year at Crowley. It has been primarily managed by the DFG as a "catch and grow fishery" and is historically planted in the fall with smaller fish that will grow by feeding on the lakes rich aquatic insect base making them essentially wild fish by the following season.?? The stage is set for an epic summer here.?? Come check it out!