4/23/2009 - Hot Creek Edition
Posted 04-26-2009 at 06:55 PM by mark2olson
Hot Creek shares many characteristics with the Verdigre, not the least of which is that the two are spring creeks. Hot Creek, like its sister, the upper Owens rises from springs in the high desert between the Sierras and the Glass mountains. In the short course from its source, hot springs feed into Hot Creek, hence its name. Below the springs the water remains too warm for trout. Above the springs, though, Hot Creek is a very healthy stream supporting about 12,000 fish per mile. All wild trout.
It fishes differently than the Verdigre, though, despite the similarities. The breaks in the weed beds are deeper and require a lot of stack mends to get your nymphs down. There is room to cast and reach casts can be very effective to fish both dries and nymphs. We also did a little nymphing with out indicators; this was the way we always used to fish nymphs, today it has been given the trendy moniker of Czech Nymphing here in the states.
Hot Creek, like our Verdigre, is in trouble. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power owns most of the land in the upper and lower Owens Valley and diverts much of the water. The fact that the LADWP owns much of the land is a double edged sword. The water is too valuable, the land will never come up for sale. Thus, you won't find the unsightly and overpriced development that you might find in other states, such as Colorado. In fact, the east side of US 395 is owned by the LADWP, the west side is BLM, Forest Service, and USDA lands. The area will be free from development.
The diversion of water, though, is the other edge of the sword. The lower Owens, below Bishop, was, at one time, a lush agricultural region. Pumping of the groundwater, though, has given the land much of the same characteristics of the high desert near Mammoth. The fact of the matter is, the water is diverted to convert a desert, Los Angeles, into a habitable area. Fortunately, at least nominally, the new director of the LADWP, David Nahai, has expressed the notion that Los Angelenos will need to conserve water. We will see if his words convert to deeds. Heretofore, Los Angeles, certainly, has not been very frugal with their water use...
It fishes differently than the Verdigre, though, despite the similarities. The breaks in the weed beds are deeper and require a lot of stack mends to get your nymphs down. There is room to cast and reach casts can be very effective to fish both dries and nymphs. We also did a little nymphing with out indicators; this was the way we always used to fish nymphs, today it has been given the trendy moniker of Czech Nymphing here in the states.
Hot Creek, like our Verdigre, is in trouble. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power owns most of the land in the upper and lower Owens Valley and diverts much of the water. The fact that the LADWP owns much of the land is a double edged sword. The water is too valuable, the land will never come up for sale. Thus, you won't find the unsightly and overpriced development that you might find in other states, such as Colorado. In fact, the east side of US 395 is owned by the LADWP, the west side is BLM, Forest Service, and USDA lands. The area will be free from development.
The diversion of water, though, is the other edge of the sword. The lower Owens, below Bishop, was, at one time, a lush agricultural region. Pumping of the groundwater, though, has given the land much of the same characteristics of the high desert near Mammoth. The fact of the matter is, the water is diverted to convert a desert, Los Angeles, into a habitable area. Fortunately, at least nominally, the new director of the LADWP, David Nahai, has expressed the notion that Los Angelenos will need to conserve water. We will see if his words convert to deeds. Heretofore, Los Angeles, certainly, has not been very frugal with their water use...
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Very cool read Mark, thanks for sharing!Posted 04-30-2009 at 08:12 AM by holdemplyer 
