Owens Gorge 4/4/16
Got into the Gorge for the first time at two places on Monday 4/4. What a spectacular place, unbelievable rock formations. I thought I was on an alien planet. The first look down from the upper gate was breathtaking!!!
Walked the upper plant road and fished back. Got my first fish of 2016 on my very first drift with a nymph!! Ended up working back down the road to where it was a little too steep to come back up to the road, without struggling further down to a very steep rock climbers trail just a few hundred yards down from the gate. Finished with 4 browns and 1 ldr in that section. But, the fun wasn't over.
We then drove down to the "Horseshoe", and fished there for a while. Got three down there, including one feisty brown on a parachute black ant dry fly! Was going to go through the "tunnel" but I did not have a light, and did not want to bang my head on a rock, nor step on a rattler in the dark. Next time for sure.
Tuesday I explored the upper part of the Gorge below the dam to the first powerhouse, but only saw a trickle of water, not enough to even hear it flowing. I did not really see any trails down, as the terrain was angular boulders choked with sagebrush. I also found a rock climbers trail further down by the penstock leading to the middle powerplant in addition to the middle plant road you can walk down (much longer than the upper road it seems). Drove to the penstock above the upper plant too. There was a plaque commemorating four buddies who worked on constructing it in 1951!!!!
Well worth a visit, but be ready for some steep hiking and/or long walks.
Fished the LO for naught, as they raised the flows to 350cfs on Tuesday morning. I fished a couple times for nada, packed up and came home Wednesday.
John
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Originally Posted by billy b
