Thanks guys. Thought I'd update you on my trip. My timing in both directions wasn't so good. I got snowed on and froze my b***z off camping and fishing the East Walker for two hookups. Both pretty fish in the 15-17 inch range on size 24 zebra midges. Both unhinged after a decent battle but I got a good look at them in the clear water within 6 feet of landing. I talked to the DFG while he was doing his creel check and he said that they have been bumping flows out of Bridgeport up and down constantly so the fish had no time to adjust. He said the fishing has been bad. Lot's of ice on the water in the morning and still quite a bit of ice on the reservoir toward the dam end. Note that this was three weeks ago and most of the ice was gone by the time I was on the return trip.
On the return, I spent a night camping along the Owens below Pleasant Valley Res. The wind was blowing so hard it was unsafe to start a fire. Winds were still 25-35mph in the morning.... blown out in the meadow section. So I hiked in to the Owens River Gorge between Crowley and PV. Big mistake. 1000ft straight down (and back out) an unstable rockfall. Flows were a trickle. Fish were small and spooky. You have to be in the water to fish and getting in and out without fanfare was next to impossible. Lots of brush and volcanic ash that creates quicksand mud. That and the wind was still howling. I got my share of exercise but got skunked. The guys at the flyshop in Bishop were very helpful and said that I had just missed a huge caddis hatch just four days prior when the top water was off the hook.
All in all a tough trip but I knew going in that being three weeks prior to the opener my options would be limited to the E. Walker and the Owens and that the conditions would be unpredictable. I saw a lot of beauty and at least I fished. I look at it as putting my pennies in the fish bank.
