By Jim Niemiec

Fly-fishing the Owens River can be awesome. And as brilliant rainbows, brown trout, cutthroat and Kamloops make their way out of Lake Crowley and up the enriched waters of this pristine free-flowing river, California trout anglers - mostly flyfishers - can be seen all along this flow's course.

The headwaters of the Owens River begin at Big Springs and then this wild trout river meanders down through Long Valley some 26 miles before spilling into Crowley Lake. With most of this river's southerly flow just a couple of miles east of Highway 395, the Long Valley stretch is one of the finest trout fisheries along the Eastern Sierra.

It is easy to reach good walk-in fishing spots along the river, and the Owens is only a 20-minute drive from the resort community of Mammoth Lakes, where anglers find fine fly-fishing shops, restaurants and an abundance of lodging opportunities.

Two miles of the Owens River flow through broad meadows of the picturesque Alpers' Owens River Ranch in the upper end of Long Valley. Deep undercut banks, riffles, deep runs and a variety of protective vegetation offer sanctuaries for the wild trout in this stretch of river.

Tim and Pam Alpers manage the ranch and river to provide the finest in fly-fishing and family recreation. Tim inherited a rainbow trout hatchery, situated on the upper end of the ranch, from his father. Today Alpers' rainbow trout are highly touted as one of the finest strains in California. Tim's trout are perfect in dimensions, with full fins and brilliant color. Alpers' trout can weigh well into the double-digit class.

Author Jim Niemiec shows off a 22-inch cuttbow taken on a Spirit River Hare's Ear Nymph at a big pool on Alpers' Owens River Ranch. Photo courtesy of Jim Niemiec

The Alpers family works hard at protecting their fishery and the watershed around the ranch, adding to the purity and flow of the Owens River. The ranch's rustic cabins - some of them front prime sections of the river - offer full amenities to angling families and groups. The ranch section is restricted to barbless dry- and wet fly-fishing. A no-kill regulation is strictly enforced.

Two miles of man-made stream, known as Alpers Creek, were designed to flow slowly through the eastern side of the ranch. This creek is stocked regularly with 1- to 3-pound Alpers' rainbows and is primarily used by children and anglers who would like to catch a trout for an evening meal. Bait is allowed on Alpers Creek and the limit is two fish per person per day. The addition of the small creek has taken some of the fishing pressure off the wild portion of the river.

The upper Owens River offers outstanding fly-fishing. Caddis can come off twice a day and the mayfly hatch really gets the bigger 'bows and browns looking up for chunky meals. Drifting bead head nymphs through deeper runs will most always get the interest of a feeding trout, while early in the morning and just before dark are the perfect times to work big streamers and Woolly Bugger patterns along undercut banks and across the heads of big riffles.

The Owens River can produce good to excellent fly-fishing from opening day until the end of the season in early November. There is a healthy population of native trout in this river, and proper conservation management and angling restrictions have allowed this fishery to thrive despite heavy fishing pressure.

About the only time of the season when fishing gets tough for flyfishermen on the Owens is during the spring thaw. Snowmelt off the surrounding mountains increases the flow of the river, which makes it more difficult to drift a dry fly through a run, keep a nymph on the bottom or put a big bug into waters were brown trout hide.

Much of the middle section of the Owens River is not open to the general public and that's not all bad for flyfishermen and the upper Owens River wild trout fishery. John Gottwald, a Virginian, recently purchased the Arcularius Ranch, which at one time rented cabins to fly-fishing enthusiasts. Gottwald, however, closed 5 1/2 miles of the river to public access. Fishing is limited to guests of the owner; its private waters are well patrolled.

The fish have benefited under this new stewardship by taking angling pressure off the river, thus allowing it to become an ideal hatchery for wild trout making the long spawning run up from Lake Crowley through the unspoiled waters of the ranch. On the down side of the privatization of this ranch is the added pressure put on Alpers' Owens River Ranch and the public waters of the lower section of the river owned by the Department of Water and Power.

In addition to the huge Arcularius Ranch not allowing public access to its prime trout waters, there are two other private sections of the river in this tranquil valley. The Inaha stretch is owned by a number of devoted flyfishermen from the Bay Area who limit access to family members and guests for catch-and-release fishing, and the smaller Frank Arcularius family ranch that borders public land. All three of these properties are fenced and posted with no trespassing signs.

The public has easy access to the lower Owens River via a dirt road off lightly graveled Owens River Road. There is a small public parking area provided just above a big meadow. Flyfishermen can walk up or down the river from this point, with miles of meandering river, deep holes, brush jams, moss-covered pools and undercut banks that will challenge even the best flyfisherman.

Many anglers will fish other waters during late May and early June and wait for the Owens to settle down and become fishable. Trips in the High Sierra can produce very good dry-fly fishing in June and July, slowing a little in August, that is, until the grasshoppers come to the river when any cast can produce a strike from an aggressive feeding trophy rainbow or brown trout.

The lower Owens doesn't get a lot of angling pressure during the week, but finding a productive hole or riffle can be difficult on fair-weather weekends. Flyfishermen making multiple trips to this river are most likely to hit it right a couple of times, while other outings might be less productive.

Fewer bugs are on the water during the late summer but caddis can return by early fall, when Pale Morning Duns are productive, and there are most likely more than a couple of trophy-class trout that will still be looking up for a big grasshopper or size 12 Spirit River Stimulator pattern.

The last couple of weeks of the season are perfect times to be on the Owens River for action on the fall run of brown trout. During a trip this past October, I saw temperatures drop into the mid-20s and ice-cold winds blowing in 25-mph gusts. The river was down, the water was gin clear and the trout were hungry. Big browns in full spawning colors were aggressive on big bugs and Woolly Buggers, while rainbows were hanging close to the bottom feeding on nymphs. Despite the terrible weather, fishing was as good as it is any wild trout river in the West.