Tailwater · Mixed · Eastern Sierra

Lower Owens River

Reservoirs near Salamanca / lower Tormes terrain map
Terrain map

The Lower Owens below Pleasant Valley is the Bishop area's winter and shoulder-season workhorse — a tule-lined desert tailwater that holds a lot of wild browns and rainbows and fishes when the high country is locked in snow.

Species

A proper day on the water

Low and clear — careful approach country. Stay small, stay accurate.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for brown trout
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for brown trout
  • Temperature8228% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time5013% weight
  • Pressure807% weight
  • Insect activity6212% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
9.0°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
30°C
Wind
NE 13 km/h
Gentle breeze
Pressure
1010 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for brown trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is right today, though time of day could be better.
Through the year
0–3 scale · June highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Open all year
  • The strict Wild Trout reach (campground footbridge toward Five Bridges) is catch-and-release barbless artificial — verify exact boundaries against current CDFW code (§7.50)
  • FLOW/WADING: flow is set by LADWP/aqueduct operations; roughly wadeable at low/moderate flows, high and unsafe when pushed up — check the gauge before wading
  • Summer thermal stress applies.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
About this water

The Lower Owens below Pleasant Valley is the Bishop area's winter and shoulder-season workhorse — a tule-lined desert tailwater that holds a lot of wild browns and rainbows and fishes when the high country is locked in snow. It's a flow-and-wading river: at fishable levels it's a pleasant wade among the reeds with midges and blue-wings in the cold months and caddis as it warms; pushed up by aqueduct operations it gets harder and, high enough, unsafe to wade. The Wild Trout section below Pleasant Valley Campground down toward Five Bridges Road is the quality reach. In summer it warms and the trout pay for it, so it's a cool-season river first. Check the flow before you commit, because it answers to LADWP, not the sky.

  • Mixed
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 January → 31 December
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