You can find large concentrations of fish stacked up near all of the inlets right now.?? McGee Bay is still the best choice for larger fish but we have had back to back fifty fish days recently at Little Hilton (8-12 feet).?? There is a jag of recently planted DFG catchables that have moved in here and McGee, but they are a blast to hook and keep those indicators going down all day.?? There are also some humongous DFG brood stock rainbows in the 5-14 lb. class and some really nice browns in the mix to keep you on your game. You may get a dozen of the scrappy newbie's making you complacent and then you set on "Troutzilla" that has the potential of breaking your tippet and your heart if you are not careful.?? The Upper Owens at the immediate inlet and then again in deeper water (11-13 feet) just outside the weed line also has a sizable concentration of rainbows and browns.?? Stillwater nymphing is best using gillies, emergers, and pupa patterns #18 as the top fly.?? Put a #20 gillie as the dropper during the emergence, and after eleven hang a #18-20 tiger or zebra 4- 8 inches off the bottom.

Streamer fishing is beginning to pick up using damsel fly nymphs or callibaetis nymphs as a trailer #12-14.?? The micro Sacramento perch fry are beginning to stack up along the weed edges and are migrating and hiding in the thicker scum lines. ??Within two weeks time you had better have some #14-16 Punk Perch patterns ready to go if you like the grabs streamer fishing provides.

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.

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!??

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

Doug-R Rodricks put the Thorpe family from Woodland Hills, CA 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.

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.?? ??