Going to California

The old Led Zeppelin song "Going to California," has been steadily running through my head the past few days.  I'm leaving next Tuesday to visit old stomping grounds.  It will be a pleasant respite from winter to visit old friends in the L.A. area, but the primary goal of the trip is to join up with my friend Eric to fly fish in the Eastern Sierras.

At the moment the Sierras and surrounding areas are being pounded by heavy snow and rain.  But according to Weather.com, the Owens River valley between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop is due for a warm-up and some sunshine in the latter part of next week when Eric and I will be there.  So we're crossing our fingers.  Before the current storm moved in, the fishing reports from the Lower Owens River and Hot Creek were excellent.  I've had some good fishing days on those streams in the past, but last week the Mammoth fly shops were reporting catch rates as high as any I've ever experienced.  So from all indications, if the weather forecast for next week holds, the fly fishing could be "epic," as Eric likes to say.

In anticipation of this trip, I've been tying small flies.  Fly fishing in the winter in the U.S. usually involves presenting very small flies - imitations of midges and tiny mayflies, mostly - on long, light tippets.  We're hoping for strong hatches of little green mayflies called Blue Winged Olives (BWOs).  BWOs are one of the many common mayflies that fly fishers have graced with beautiful names.  Most of the flies I've been tying this week are characterized by their green olive-colored bodies and delicate wings (for the imitiations of adult and emerging flies) or subtle wingcases and tails (for imitations of the underwater nymph forms).  Here's an example of an effective imitation of an adult (dun) BWO:

The wings on this one are tied with cul-de-canard, which is an oily (therefore, naturally floating) feather from a duck's butt.  There are some odd materials in certain flies, but if they work, we use them - this fly will definitely work.  Hot Creek trout, get ready! 

"Going to California with an achin' in my heart."