EPIC Eastern Sierra Fly Fishing - Free Form Fly Fisher
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- Опубліковано 4 вер 2024
- This is the first time I've made a video like this. Please let me know what you think in the comments below.
I am truly grateful to have experienced a day like this. I was all smiles, all day even during the 4 hour drive back home. Once the temperature rose, you couldn't have asked for better weather. Barely a breeze all day.
I appreciate you all taking the time to watch the video. Stay tuned for more in the near future. Thank you Thank you
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Big nice bows out of the Owen's
Love it
Fished this river many many times, and many years never had a day like that, truly EPIC, beautiful fish.
I can relate. I can count on both hands how many times I've fished here but none of those days were anywhere near the day I had in the video. I really think the flows and time of year played a big part. Thanks for watching and commenting. Tight lines
Thanks for the beautiful video. My favorite place to fish, but not this time of year, to cold for me.
That back drop with the mountains. I want to wake up to that every day hahaha. It was definitely cold early morning but once the sun was up, it was t shirt weather. Thank you always for watching and commenting 🙏
LoL, I've seen it snow in Mammoth lakes in July sooo....
I don't fly fish but my husband does and he shared this video with me. I love, love our Eastern Sierra. Awesome job capturing the moment!
Thank you for watching and commenting. It’s definitely a special area. So much to see and do.
Dude… epic. No wind, no other anglers in sight and you crushed it. Those are the cherished days on that river.
I agree 100%. I hope to get at least a couple of days like that this year haha. Thanks for watching and the comment 🤙
I can't believe you've got the whole river to yourself ! Fall is definitely the best for the Upper O ! NICE JOB ,FFFF !
I wish I was there right now. Too busy lately, but in a good way. If I can remember, I think this video took place on a Wednesday. There were literally only like 2 or 3 other anglers. The fishing was incredible. I couldn't have asked for better conditions haha.
Thanks for stopping by to watch and comment 🙏🏽
That whole stretch of the Owens is an incredible fishery. They seem to crush the dries every memorial day weekend and it's my favorite place to fish.
I tried my luck for a couple of hours on Tuesday this week 5/3 and the water was super low and had that tea color. Hopefully the flows come up by the end of the month. In the past I would fish above and below this area. This stretch changed everything I thought about this river hahaha.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher Right when you said “if you’re from California, you know this river...nothing looks like this area”.....I knew exactly what you meant!!! For many decades I’ve enjoyed that view and have some amazing Fly Fishing memories. My Son will be back from the East Coast and we are heading up so I wanted to look at some videos. He fished the Smokies a couple of times w his college buddies and I can hardly wait to get some pics of he and I on the Owens and the Walker he was 11 years old when he caught his first trout on a fly...BTW- Fall is my fav time to fish here... but this year we are hitting it earlier....thanks for posting this you did a great job filming solo.
@@patsparks8731 I wish I started when I was 11 haha. This river and the scenery that comes with it is amazing. And yup, fall was when this video was made. I will be going back every year as long as I am physically able to. Thank you for taking the time watch and comment 🙏🏾
@@FreeFormFlyFisher It’s funny bc he says “that doesn’t count bc I was too young”....but it’s when the seed got planted and now He’s a full blown fly fisherman. I cherish all the memories I’ve had and hope to make a few more. Your videos are so enjoyable to watch and you do a great job filming them, really felt like I was right there...it was like an instant flash back to several trips I’ve taken up there (I’m in So Cal).
So nice. One of my favorite places on earth!!
Awesome!
Muchos Gracias
Great day on the water and an excellent video....thank you!!!
I wish I could say I had more days like this hahaha. Thank you for watching and for the comment
Holy Mother Of Pearl !
Finally, after catching four or
five that are well over twenty
inches, you hook a final one
and declare "That's a big one!"
I'll accept your standards any
day sir !
What a day indeed !
Haha thank you. I appreciate you watching. Tight lines
That is an incredible day you had right there. It's not often to get that much quality in one day. Good job!
I agree 100%. I've been chasing days like that one every since haha. Thanks for watching and commenting Ed. Happy Holidays!
that was great man! loved it. Thanks! For me this is one of the most beautiful areas on earth.
I appreciate the comment. Definitely one of the more beautiful places I have visited. Thanks for watching.
What a day that was !
You really hit the middle of
the salmon run !
Just saw this for the first time. Great fishing!
Thank you for taking the time to watch.
Epic day for sure. The scenery/setting is only outdone by the beautiful fish you were able to catch. Keeps the soul feeling good for a long time. Congrats on a great day and cool video.
Thank you Dean. I appreciate that 🙏
Great video! One of the best Sierra/CA fly fishing channels I’ve seen. Isn’t the headache-inducing, shakey footage that most vids have. Would love to hear a quick commentary on your set up at the start of each video - it helps the noobs (like me:). Thanks for posting!
Just watched your more recent video and see that you’ve done just that (talked about the set-up). Great stuff. As someone who primarily fishes dry flies and struggles with nymphs, I appreciate the info. Looking forward to watching the rest of your catalog.
@@tweederjohnson4639 thank you for taking the time watch and comment. I really appreciate that. I totally forgot to add my set up info in the latest video from yesterday. In that video I was using a three fly set up. I plan to load another video next week, so I'll go into more detail then. Dry fly fishing tends to test my patience more than nymphing hahaha. But I honestly experiment with all forms of fly fishing. So much to learn. If you have any other questions or feedback, please don't hesitate. Thanks again.
I really liked this video! You captured the joy (and the agony) of landing a big fish really well!
Thank you 🙏
Absolutely beautiful fish in some beautiful scenery. Loved the footage!
Thank you for taking the time to check out the video. Tight lines.
I just bought a fly rod and I’m reading and watching videos to learn as much as I can before my trips to the eastern sierra this year. Subbed and liked!
Nice. It's an beautiful area with great fishing all over. If you have any questions, I can try to help. Or at least recommend a video. I started 6 years ago and leaned from UA-cam and mostly by going out all the time.
Thanks for the sub by the way
Great intro, great video 👍. So the fight all those fish gave was awesome! You picked a beautiful day to fish. I've driven by it a few times but never fished it. Unique country over there. Makes me want to get better at fly fishing, so much fun fighting those strong trout 👍👍. Again, great video!
Thank you brother. I appreciate it. I was catching forearm cramps hahaha. Maybe we can get together some time on the river. I have a few down that way that are on my list. Merced, Kings, Kern and San Joaquin. Spring time perhaps.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher You can get on the upper San Joaquin right there ya know. Some of my days fishing were around Devil's Post Pile.
@Andy Fletcher funny you mentioned that. I actually fished right near there for the first time last June. Brookies, browns and bows. Not huge but lots of them and land is amazing back there. I'm hoping to get up there next week sometime. First week of May.
Great day in America!
great vid and catches. Thanks for sharing the fly patterns used.
Thank you Mav. Any time.
Absolutely epic video man. Great stuff.
Moved from Colorado two years ago to LA and have been missing fly fishing so much. This video motivates but I’m still trying to find the spots to start at haha.
Epic video
Hey Max, I appreciate it. I wish I could shoot you some info on waters to hit up, but I'm not familiar with so cal at all. I think a lot of people from your area will travel to the Easter Sierra to fish. If you can take a couple of days or more to explore the east side, now is the time. The opener was April 27th, so there are some hungry fish out there. What part of Colorado are you from?
That looked like fun...nice river and fish to boot.👍
Thank you Colin. That area of the State is pretty awesome. I checked out your channel. Your handling of the fish is proper and where I need to be. I subbed and looking forward to seeing more of them. Tight lines
@@FreeFormFlyFisher thanks ...tight lines 👍👍
This video was sick! I really liked how you were talking to the fish kinda like they were a person "Stay over here you're gunna scare everybody!" made it a really enjoyable video. Can't wait to see what you put out in the future!
Hey there, thank you for watching, and I really appreciate the comment 🙏🏾. I'm glad you liked it. I subbed to your channel by the way. Keep it up. I'll be looking forward to seeing your vids as well.
Awesome. Love it there.
Thank you. We'll get back out there
Cool video with some great fish. That's a fun river to fish.
Thank you. Indeed it is.
Nice video keep them coming, trout speed.
Mahalo braddah. Shootz 🤙🏾
We gotta make a collab video some time.
Wow! I know the big bows come up from the lake. You must have had great timing to find so many. I think EPIC is overused in UA-cam titles these days, however, you were correct an EPIC day indeed! The video was well done. Would love to fish there with you sometime...looked like you could use someone to help net those tanks!
Hi William. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the channel. That day was amazing. There is another 6 or 7 fish, all about the same size, that I didn't put in this video. I think the stars were definitely aligned that day hahaha
Really nice video!
If you could share your setup (indicator, fly and fly size) would be very helpful for us "learners", nd would give us hope of being able to try it.
Hi Lisa. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and comment.
I like to use long leaders so not to spook the fish in this particular river. 9ft 2X leader, add 4ft of 3X flouro with a triple surgeons knot or blood knot (personal preference). Add another 10inches of 4X flouro via the knot of you preference. Then, about 2-3 inches below that last knot, add 18-20inches of 4X flouro. So you'll have about 7-8inches of tag end and then about 18 inches down to your point fly. Any attractor fly on the tag end. Like a Pat's Rubber Legs or San Juan Worm. Then for the point fly try using a size 16 Pheasant Tail or try different colors of Caddis. The indicator I use is called Lightning Strike. Very easy to use. It's a foam ball with a toothpick as a plug. It won't kink your leader and it's super fast to adjust.
I can add my set up in a future video. Kind of hard to explain but that is my go to set up. I hope this makes sense. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks again.
Epic day indeed.
Great fishing video!
True sportsman
Thank you. Much appreciated 🙏
Beautiful video! That spot looks a lot like the Dream Stream out here in Colorado but WAY better because there aren’t any people in sight!
I try to fish on week days. Seems like any water that has good fishing gets busy especially during the weekends and especially here in California haha. Thanks for watching and commenting. Tight lines
What a great day!
Thank you Vince and thanks for taking the time to watch.
Whoa FF.... Another great day for you! Good job! Thanks for the great vids when I'm not fishin' but wishin'....
Haha thanks for watching and commenting Jay. I appreciate you.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher Half the fun is trying to figure out where you're going! heh..... BTW, do you stillwater fish much? Hint: My fly tying and stillwater mentor just took my cousin and I out to Lewiston Lk ... it's tricky with spooky monsters in there, but we got them with many between 2 - 6+ lbs... that is with the help of mentor's amazing sighting vision.
@@jaykaneshige6251 the only stillwater fly fishing I've done is at Crowley. Super fun. Having a mentor would be awesome to learn a few things from.
Awesome video, heading up there this weekend, tight lines 👍
Jealous haha. Let us know how you do. Tight lines 🤙
@@FreeFormFlyFisher yes I will
New subscriber! Love the Eastern Sierra. Enjoyed your other videos as well. Would love to see a video on your setups/gear. Thanks!
Thank you Victor 🙏🙏 . I appreciate that.
Perhaps going forward I can add that in the videos. It can change a little from river to river.
LFG!!!
Mahalo braddah for watching 🤙🏾 LFG
Dude that first one was nice 🎣👊🏽💥
A great start to the day. Thanks for watching 🤙
Epic!!
Thank you for watching fam 🙏
Good stuff braddah! See ya at work
Mahalo braddah 🤙🏾
I've fished here several times. Going up again for the 4th. I stick with dry flies, so action here is not as high compared to wet, and they only rise at certain times of the day.
It's the perfect place to make casts. no trees haha. Dry fly fishing there is super fun. Have fun on your trip.
Great video!!!
Thank you Bryant. I appreciate you watching.
Nice
Thank you 🙏
that was epic
my best day on the water. anywhere you thought fish should be, they were there. big ones. thanks for watching 🤙
super crazy vid! and the scenery is so cool! You just earned a sub from me, keep up the great vids my guy!!!
Thank you Lincoln. I appreciate that and I will do my best. Tight lines
I see that beast of a bass in your profile pic. You ought to post some vids yourself. Show your experiences to the world 🤙🏾
Just got back from the UO
Only small fish but very cold
👍
Right on. That's how it was the 3 times I fished it previously. It must be the timing and location in the river that makes the difference. Tight lines Donald. Thanks for sharing
I’d like to commend you for your quick release of the trout once brought to net. Far too many people are holding fish out of the water for extended periods of time to get that “Instagram” pic or whatever. As a result, we are seeing a greater number of dead and dying fish in our rivers. Keep doing what you do, perhaps others can learn from your example!
Thank you Jim, I am greatful for your comment. I agree 100%.
Agree!!!
I learned from the late Lefty Kreh how to revive a 'spent' trout. Gently hold by the tail-end and pull upstream several times to fully inflate and flood the gills. The fish will swim away...
Going up to the Sierras next weekend. I have never fly fished before but I have the gear for it. I will definitely give it a try. The smile on your face was priceless. Great job
You're going to have a blast. I see a lot of good fish being caught all over the area. Catch lots of fish and more important, have lots of fun. Thanks for watching.
The Owens and the Kern, only California waters that have skunked me every time. Everything that feeds that thing I slay 'em on.
*EDIT* I've never seen it that clear. I haven't been since I moved to Oklahoma in 2001, but I remember it being stained pretty brown. Did they stop grazing cattle through there?
Hi Andy, I know what you mean. It can definitely be tough to fish at times.
The cows are still there so my guess is that the cows crossed up stream while you were there. With the water this clear you had to be really stealthy on the banks. Thanks for watching. Tight lines.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher Well, there's also a lot more water than I remember. But I didn't mean muddy or silty. More like strong iced tea or a glass of Cola after the ice has melted. I only tried the Owens 3 or 4 times and gave up on it, instead spending my time down on the San Joaquin, Convict Creek, Rush Creek and a few others. I mean, we don't call it catching, we call it fishing, but Palmdale to Mammoth was a 4 hour + - drive and I had two fantastic streams within 30 minutes of making the decision to go till first fish on(Big Rock and Littlerock). Between the two I could catch Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroat, Brooks, and even a couple of Golden. All but the Rainbows were all wild. I'm also quite the snob, using only dries. Nymphing has never interested me. For me there's nothing like that little heart flutter when a trout comes up and slurps a dry.
I am 70 years old and new to fly fishing. I am learning so many good things from watching these u-tube videos. I live in the neighborhood and watching your video gets me excited to get out there and try it! However, I need some help if you don't mind sharing....can you tell me a little bit about your set up? Thank You
Hi Amelia. I think it's great that you've picked up fly fishing. It's a wonderful hobby to get into. Welcome and I hope you get to enjoy it for many years to come.
As for my fly set up, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone just starting because it gets tangled a lot if you haven't used it before. However, if you would like to try it, I explained and showed how to tie it in my latest two videos.
Most of the time I am using nymphs so I use a 10ft rod. The extra foot helps me with mending and reaching. I use a weight forward floating line. For the leader, usually 9ft 2X. Slide an indicator (aka bobber) on before tying everything up. I use triple surgeons knots to connect all of my leaders to tippet and tippet to tippet. From the 2X leader, I will connect about 15" of 3X tippet. Then tie on your first fly. Connect about 18" of 4X to the hook of that fly, and then tie on your second fly to the bottom of that. That's really all you need. If you need your flies to get down deeper and faster, add some split shot above that first fly (not between the flies).
I hope this helps. I thinks it's easier to show rather than typing haha. But if you have any questions, please don't hesitate.
One last thing, I HIGHLY recommend visiting your local fly shop. They are the experts and can show and explain everything you need to know.
Thanks for stopping by and tight lines.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher I am grateful for the time you spent in your response! I visit my local fly shop frequently, as I am aware they are very knowledgeable about what and how to use different methods for catching fish out here. I know everyone has their own way of doing things, and I know that there really is no wrong answer! I just love hearing different points of view on how each individual finds success in their fishing journey....and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me!
I was here 9/7/22. Didn’t get one fish. Got a few in camp just below this location. But had to fish hard, two days.
I know exactly what you mean. It can be a tough river. I fished 3 days in a row, a week before the day of this video. Reading about the river and how big browns start to move up. Fishing pretty much from the lake all the way to Long Years. Searching and trying everything I had. Made the 4 hour+ drive the following week because I refused to believe that the big ones weren’t in there. And then it happened. I landed a couple of good sized browns but the rainbows were everywhere a fish should be. Mostly at the drop offs into deeper pools. I caught probably 5 or 6 more good fish but didn’t add them because the video would have been too long I think. Also this was my first vlog style video. Now with more editing experience, I definitely would make them fit in. I went back in May of this year and the flows have been pretty low ever since. I would imagine it’s really hard to fish right now. Hopefully the flows will increase in the next month or so.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher yes sir
Heading up in 2 wks 🤞
I wish you an epic day. Tight lines
Thanks man!
@@larrywilliams5708 keep me posted on how you do 👍🏽
@@larrywilliams5708 how'd you do?
Nice! I always enjoy going fishing up there. I'm fairly new to fly fishing but have caught a few up there on the fly. Were you using a dry dropper rig in this video?
Definitely an amazing stream and fishery. I was using 2 to 3 flies under an indicator. The dry dropper and hopper dropper rigs are very effective there though.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh! Talk about a hype video! How far north of Benton crossing you think this is? I need to finally get me one of these behemoths. Good video bro!
Not that far. Find the deep drop holes in the bends. Most were right near the drop offs. Youll catch em. Thanks for watching. Tight lines
Been years from the last time I was out that way. I have family in Bishop I ought to make a trip soon.
Well done…what a day…Great video!!! 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
Great video fam! You think each fish was like, “respect braddah” after release? 😁
I like to think so 🤣
Thank you fam 🙏
Nice jump 6:30
I meant @9:30 , woops !
It was a great day. Thank you and thanks for checking out the vid.
Liked! Beautiful! What lb test do leaders/tippets were you using? Beautiful day too!
Thank you 🙏. Leader was 9ft 2x down to 3x and 4x with the flies. Heavy fish
Great video!
Was this near the lake or up the dirt road the other direction?
I love fishing here but mostly go mid summer and find the fishing difficult!
Ridiculous :o.
Are those trout stocked? Or are they up there to spawn? Impressive.
I'm pretty sure the ones in this video are wild. However they do stock near the campground. And yes, these fish are moving up from the lake.
that's the Russian River!!
😂 Bingo
No it's not... That looks like the Potomac to me
My last trip out there was near Bishop and it was heavily overgrown and very difficult to access. Are these fields further south from Bishop? Any info you feel comfortable giving me I would appreciate. Thank you.
Anything near Bishop is overgrown and access is decent but still limited. I'm not sure there are fish of this quality near Bishop.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher nope just a bunch of dinks. You have an instagram?
@@everythingflytv507 no IG yet but I plan on getting one in the near future
@@FreeFormFlyFisher there used to be. We used to catch trout like that right off line street but this was over 10 years ago now. I was there in the fall and caught a few decent ones on the lower Owens but nothing like these beauties!
@@DoctorSess I believe you. I've read many stories about how the fishing was decades ago and can only imagine the quality and quantity of fish some of these rivers had. I wish I could have fished them back then.
Like the work your putting in, but that minnow net gotta go.
Thank you. Any suggestions?
@@FreeFormFlyFisherWell, seeing as I reside in CO, a Fishpond carbon fiber Nomad Mid length or also in that size form, a Rising Lunker for starters. The Nomad Mid Length Boat net is a favorite.
@Jason Potter the fishpond is pretty similar. Nomad is 13" wide 18" long and 12" deep. My net is 10" wide 17" long and 12" deep. Maybe it looks smaller in the video.
@Jason Potter I've been thinking about a fishpond net anyway because I have the submersible hip pack and the net will fit better in it.
What river is that, Owens or Walker
Just got into fly fishing recently, wanted to know how you rigged up for this video! Went last summer and the bite was slow
Hey PG thanks for checking out the video.
Here is the link to one of my videos where I explain the same set up I used in this video. No specific flies on this day. The presentation would be more important than fly selection. I usually use flies anywhere from a size 16 down to 22. I think these fish were trying to fatten up before winter, so they were eating anything. Let me know if you have any other questions.
ua-cam.com/video/YOSLTMbCOr8/v-deo.html
What nymphs where you using or was it eggs ?
No eggs. I was running a weighted San Juan as a dropper and Hares Ear at the point. Through out the day I would change the point fly. The last fish was caught on a Pat’s Rubber Legs.
Great video brotha! “Thick females” mmm 😂
😂😂😂 thank you for taking the time watch brotha 🙏
What kind of flys were you using
I honestly can't remember. I know I used a San Juan Worm as an attractor and definitely caught on that. Possibly a brown 16 Caddis and a 20 Zebra Midge under the worm. I know for sure on this day I used a 3 fly rig. The last fish was on a Pat's Rubber Legs. My first time ever using that fly haha.
You need to get a bigger net ;)
😂😂
If I make another trip out this year, I definitely will haha
@@FreeFormFlyFisher if you ever need a fishing buddy I’m based in the OC.
@@gregnapoli6915 how far north do you travel to fish?
@@FreeFormFlyFisher in CA the East Walker is my usual limit but I try to get up to the Shasta area a couple times a year
What time of year was this?
Fall.
when was this?
About 4 or 5 months ago
How do you get here?
Really nice piece! Have a glance at my channel and maybe we can collab next summer on a downriver piece like on the Middle Fork American - which rarely gets fished because of accessibility.
Hey Barry. I've actually seen your videos before. Just subbed. You guys are extreme hahaha. I've wanted to fish the middle fork for a while now but the access, not too sure about. That water looks a little outside of my league haha. A collab would be awesome tho.
@@FreeFormFlyFisher I'll try and connect next year after the high water season is over. Then fishing will be better! Thanks!