Blue-winged Olives
Baetis
Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
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Nymphs of this species were fairly common in late-winter kick net samples from the upper Yakima River. Although I could not find a key to species of Zapada nymphs, a revision of the Nemouridae family by Baumann (1975) includes the following helpful sentence: "2 cervical gills on each side of midline, 1 arising inside and 1 outside of lateral cervical sclerites, usually single and elongate, sometimes constricted but with 3 or 4 branches arising beyond gill base in Zapada cinctipes." This specimen clearly has the branches and is within the range of that species.
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Summer_doug has attached these 5 pictures to this report. The message is below.
Report at a Glance
| General Region | Inyo/Mono County, CA |
| Specific Location | Lower Owens River and Hot Creek |
| Dates Fished | 4/1 and 4/2 |
| Fish Caught | Brown and Rainbow Trout |
Details and Discussion
Summer_doug on Apr 8, 2019April 8th, 2019, 1:04 am EDT
My wife and I had the chance to meet up with friends who recently moved back to California and the husbands stole away to the Eastern Sierras for an evening and morning of trout fishing.
We initially camped on the Lower Owens, but the water was up approximately 10 feet compared to normal summer/fall/winter flows so we abandoned the idea of fishing there and headed to Hot Creek.
The creek is surrounded by hot springs at an altitude of about 8,000 feet. The hike consisted of 1.5 miles in snow that was thigh deep in 75 degree weather. During fishing, we put on and shed 5 layers of clothing multiple times and experienced a white-out blizzard that ended in a 70 degree afternoon. All of that happened between 8am and 10:30am.
In all, we landed between 10 and 15 fish each and lost that many or more to the barbless nymphs (need to work on my technique). All of the fish were landed by hand as the net became a casualty on the crazy hike in.
We initially camped on the Lower Owens, but the water was up approximately 10 feet compared to normal summer/fall/winter flows so we abandoned the idea of fishing there and headed to Hot Creek.
The creek is surrounded by hot springs at an altitude of about 8,000 feet. The hike consisted of 1.5 miles in snow that was thigh deep in 75 degree weather. During fishing, we put on and shed 5 layers of clothing multiple times and experienced a white-out blizzard that ended in a 70 degree afternoon. All of that happened between 8am and 10:30am.
In all, we landed between 10 and 15 fish each and lost that many or more to the barbless nymphs (need to work on my technique). All of the fish were landed by hand as the net became a casualty on the crazy hike in.
From Michigan
Partsman on Apr 8, 2019April 8th, 2019, 10:52 am EDT
Doug, great report and some very nice scenery! What technique to use to fish the nymphs?
Summer_doug on Apr 8, 2019April 8th, 2019, 11:00 pm EDT
I used the smallest indicator with a two nymph rig and no additional weight. I found the most success essential tight lining with the rig and could anticipate the takes after getting accustomed to the river.
I generally didn't alter the depth. I had the indicator set at about 5 feet - though I probably should have adjusted in a couple pockets.
Nymphing is definitely not my strong suit, but I definitely improved on the trip.
I generally didn't alter the depth. I had the indicator set at about 5 feet - though I probably should have adjusted in a couple pockets.
Nymphing is definitely not my strong suit, but I definitely improved on the trip.
From Michigan
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