Gorge Power Plant/Owens River Report - Weekend of April 1st

[csun22]

Hi all,

I just got back from my annual fishing trip in Bishop and I wanted to share my weekend. While there weren't very many fish caught in my group, it was a lot of fun as always.

We had a bit of a late start Saturday morning and decided to hit the power plant for our first stop. We noticed the water level was a lot higher than we were used to seeing in years past and the flow was almost non-existent. We hiked a little further than we usually do. With the water level being as high as it was, there weren't as many good spots to fish from as we would have been standing in between trees that were normally a good distance behind us. We stopped short of the boat docks when we spotted a huge trout cruising by the shoreline. We found a spot for all four of us to be near each other and figured that was as good a spot as any. By the time we setup it was just before 9AM. Our group used powerbait, power worms, spinners, mini jigs and some Rapala UL minnows. We were there for a little over 2 hours with absolutely no action. When we decided to pack up and try a different spot, I reeled in my line with salmon egg scented PB and found I had a rainbow on the end of my line that I didn't even realize was there. It was keeper on the small side, but at least I avoided the skunk. We were told that water levels were fluctuating a lot and the water level was about 3 feet higher the day before.

Our next stop was Line Street. We drove in a little ways to find a not so crowded location. We ended up by one of the artesian springs. The water level was a lot higher there as well than we've seen the past few years (thanks El Nino). We weren't there for more than 5 minutes when my buddy caught a largemouth on a power worm. It wasn't very big, but it was a fish. We were there for about 3 hours. I tried most of the same things we had tried at the power plant and no action at all. I switched to a River2Sea Gold'n Crank lure I bought on a whim. I wasn't expecting anything from it, but to my surprise my first two casts yielded two (very small) largemouth. Other than those 3 fish, no one else had anything.

That evening, a couple of hours before sunset, we drove out to Laws bridge. The view was fantastic, but again no action for any of us.

We had a few friends that also came up with us that went off on their own but from what I heard it was tough fishing all weekend.

While it was a slow weekend for catching fish, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go back.


Rich

[Viejo]

Water levels in the Owens will be rising pretty rapidly compared to the 100CFS that has been around all Winter. They have to start making room for the snow melt in the lakes above and levels will remain high until summer. Fish are still there....just a lot harder to wade.