a july idyll at hot creek ranch

We all have our favorite fishing spots, our “Home Waters”, as it were. That for me is Hot Creek Ranch in the Eastern Sierra a short way south of the town of Mammoth Lakes. The Eastern Sierra has a special allure to my family. I cut my eye teeth fly fishing on the old Arcularius Ranch at the headwaters of the Owens River, an incredible fishery that my in-laws discovered in the late 1940s. There is no need to extol the grandeur of “The Arc” here, because the public can no longer fish there. Once the Arcularius Ranch became totally privatized in the 1990s, we moved down the road about 15miles to Hot Creek Ranch and have been going there for a week every July and again in September for the past few decades. I’ve heard quite a few club members say that they’ve heard great things about Hot Creek Ranch but don’t know much about it, so I’m here to tell you about it. This isn’t an advertisement or endorsement, just the ramblings of a fan of the ranch. I’m sure to have made mistakes and my description of the fishing is not definitive. It’s just what I do.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

As our early July reservation at Hot Creek Ranch (HCR) approached, my wife and I did a great deal of thinking and rationalization to convince ourselves to go there. After all, we are in one of the highrisk groups for SARS-Cov-2 infection, due to our ages. We realized, though, that we could safely sequester ourselves on HCR and not run into anyone but fly fishers, and they tend to stay away from others (there is still fishing etiquette in some places). At the last minute, we decided to make the trip. We packed all the food we would need for a week, crossed our fingers and set out. The reliable 2002 Subaru Outback got us over the Sonora Pass and to HCR on one tank of gas – no gas station interactions. And back home, too. There was no need to go into town, except to drive through it for a look without getting out of the car. A drawback to not going into town was that we couldn’t visit the fine restaurants in the area. Most were closed, anyway.

By Dave Garfin

A Bit About the Eastern Sierra

If you are not familiar with the Eastern Sierra, do yourself a favor and Google it, especially the town of Mammoth Lakes. There are a great many outdoor activities available, both summer and winter. Most people know it as a ski town and a playground for Southern Californians, maybe because it’s so hard to get

to from the Bay Area during the winter. Any of the passes that get you to US 395 South will get you to Mammoth Lakes. Tioga Pass is shortest in miles, but you now need a permit to get into Yosemite. Because of the lines at the entrance gate and the traffic in Yosemite, using the other passes is not much longer than Tioga. We like Sonora Pass. The climb to the top is what takes time on this pass. Figure 6+ hours to get from the East Bay to HCR via Sonora Pass and 5+ hours using Tioga Pass.

The good news for fair-weather flyfishing fans is that Mammoth Lakes is pretty much deserted in summer. That fact and that there are relatively few people in Mono County to begin with is one reason we decided to go ahead with our trip despite the pandemic. Apparently, some paper in So Cal published an article suggesting that since beaches were closed, people should go instead to Mammoth for their Fourth of July celebrations. They did, but only for the Fourth. From what we heard, the town was teeming to bursting with people from the southland that weekend. We never had to run into them, which is fortunate because incidence of COVID-19 has spiked since then, according to Georgia Tech’s data set (We wonder if that’s the result of the massive, but short-lived influx over the holiday).

Hot Creek

So, let me describe Hot Creek and HCR. They are in what is known as The Long Valley Caldera, a seismically active zone. Geological conditions make the water in Hot Creek a perfect temperature for weeds, hence flies of all kinds, and, of course, trout. Hot Creek joins the Owens River several miles downstream. But first it crosses an active geothermal area where there are fumaroles, bubbling mud pots, and hot springs. Swimming was once allowed, but the area became thermally active and too dangerous, so it is closed to swimming. (The geothermal area appeared in the John Wayne version of “True Grit” and other movies whose names I can’t remember.) The hot water may serve to keep fish in the upper regions of the creek for most of the year. There may be some fish traffic between Hot Creek and the Owens during spring runoff when there are probably cool water channels, but I am not sure about that. The hot water may help account for the 9,000 fish per mile in the fishing sections of HCR. They don’t want to get boiled so they stay put. There is a fairly large hatchery upstream from HCR. Some escapees make it into the creek, but for the most part they are contained. Basically, all of the rainbows and browns in Hot are wild. Fishable waters include a public stretch and the private HCR – available to the public by rental. The public water can be reached by scampering down a fairly steep hill (and eventually climbing back up), or by walking upstream from the geothermal area. You would be amazed at the grizzly array of multiple-hook lures people use in the public water, which is supposed to be for barbless flies only.

Hot Creek Ranch

As for Hot Creek Ranch, you need a reservation, but they are not easy to get. HCR is generally booked up for the entire season, from opening day into November, although there are sometimes day passes in November (but not this year). You can find out just about everything you want to know on the website: www.hotcreekranch.com. Many of the bookings are grabbed by an army of regulars who go each and every year. We are part of that army and have been going to HCR for almost thirty years. We reserve two cabins for the first week of July and one in

mid-September. Our kids usually come down from Seattle in July and take one of the cabins we reserve. This year, they did not want to travel because of the pandemic. We gave up our second cabin and it was immediately snapped up by wait-list people. An interesting sidelight is that with fishing on The Owens and on Hot, plus limited vacation time for the two of us, our two boys never had a “real” vacation anywhere but the Eastern Sierra.

The HCR regulars are totally dedicated to the stream. Many of the best holes are named for people who fished there often. There are plaques and benches scattered along the stream bearing the names of (usually) deceased regulars. The texts all attest to the fondness people had and have for the place. The map of the ranch shows how every good fishing spot has been given a name. If you can make out the writing, you will see that the names are for various persons. There are nine cabins on HCR. They are old, but well maintained and well furnished. This is a place where you can literally roll out of bed and hit the water. If you want to visit, it is normally advised that you start looking at the Availability Calendar on the website in early March. If you see an opening you like, take it immediately or lose it. The coronavirus pandemic has changed things, though. The best way to learn how to reserve a cabin, at least until the pandemic subsides, is to email the River Keeper at the address in the Contact Us menu of the website.

The ranch has two miles of private, meandering stream. There are plenty of bends and good holes. The regulations on HCR are strictly enforced. Only three rods per cabin are allowed on the stream at one time. Fishing is catch and release. It’s dry fly with barbless hooks only, and there is no wading because of the fragile creek bed. This is finesse fishing at its best. There is nothing rugged about it, except for a lot of walking and a couple of marshy areas. Stealth, fly placement, and patience are crucial. The water is gin clear so fish soon learn to be extremely cautious. Long tippets are a must. The massive weed population makes for a gazillion microcurrents, and, of course, the fish are in the weeds. It is important to keep the line off of the water as much as possible when trying to eke out halfway decent dragfree drifts. Differing parts of the line can get pulled by different currents, so with the small flies used on Hot, drag can be almost imperceptible to us, but not to the fish. The so-called “Hot Creek Mend” can be helpful in that regard (there was once a YouTube video with some guy showing this mend, but I can’t find it anymore). The mend is pretty much continual. As soon as your fly hits the water, do a short, quick upstream (or downstream) mend followed almost immediately by a

downstream (or upstream) mend and then repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Sweep casts and bounce casts can help getting the fly where you want it. But, long drag-free drifts are only something to wish for. Salvation is at hand, however, in the form of Tenkara. With Tenkara, mending is not so strenuous, but still necessary. And let’s not ignore the legendary Sierra wind. It is fierce, starting in early afternoon and continuing until evening. Standard rods and reels, called “Western fishing gear” in Tenkara lingo, are necessary in the wind and even then it is often tempting to quit and have a few gin and tonics before dinner, and wish for better conditions tomorrow.

The flies on Hot Creek are numerous, but small. Sizes 20 and 22 are standard. Morning sees a hatch of female Tricos. Size 22 Comparaduns work well then. That is followed by a massive upstream caddis migration. The EC Caddis (size 20) is my goto fly then. In July, PMDs hatch from about 10:30 until around noon. This year fish were keying on size 16 PMDs and rejecting 18s and 20s. They couldn’t stay away from the size 16s, though. A Trico spinner fall usually happens at about the same time. There is a Caddis hatch (#20 EC Caddis or “Hot Creek Caddis”) in mid-afternoon that lasts until sunset when they are joined by a hatch of male Tricos. But by then the wind has come up and blows flies off of the water, to say nothing about casting into the wind and getting drag-free drifts. During the summer, hoppers, beetles, and ants can be productive as well during all times of day.

Fish are mostly in the 10-14-inch category along with plenty of 15 and 16 inchers. They are all healthy and put up good fights. There are some humongous fish in Hot as well. I’ve seen them. They are meat-eating browns that can’t be bothered to rise for a measly size 20 dry fly.

Tenkara was made for Hot Creek and vice versa. The small diameter lines (kind of like long 0X or 1X tippets or Amnesia) are fairly easy to keep out of the many microcurrents in Hot. Besides, Tenkara rods are fun to use. They are light, flexible, and surprisingly strong. There are a couple of other Tenkara fishermen on Hot and we all agree on the benefits of the technique for this stream. Tenkara rods usually bend double, into a “U” shape when a fish is on, even some small fish. The cast is a bit different with Tenkara than with Western rods, but it is easy to learn. It also takes a while to figure out how to play and land fish and since there is no reel it is not possible to let fish run on their own. I like using Luong Tam’s 14-foot Tanuki Tenkara 425. I also have one of Luong’s 10.8-inch rods, but the 14-footer lets me get to more places. I found some other brands to be rather clunky in comparison to Luong’s Tanukis. The line is 14 feet of level line with about 1.5 feet of 1X two-tone indicator attached with a blood knot. I don’t really know why the indicator tippet is needed, but that is what Luong showed me when I got started with Tenkara so I continue to use it. A tippet ring on the

The creek on Hot Creek Ranch. Taken from a bluff above the stream

end allows for attachment of a 5-6 feet of 6X or 7X fluorocarbon tippet. The long tippet is necessary in the clear water. Even with the small diameter, light weight line, the spooky fish in Hot are easily “lined”. I prefer 6X over 7X because it lets me bring the fish in sooner without tiring them (or me). But 6X is harder to thread through the eyes of size 22 flies than is 7X. And speaking of small flies, I tend to use Dry-Shake often, not only to keep the flies afloat, but to help me see the little things. On occasion, and always in the evening wind, I use my Western rod. My five weight Orvis Helios 3F suits my cast just right. It is a good stick for me. I use 7.5-foot 6X tapered leaders and 3-4 feet of 6X or 7X fluorocarbon tippet with the Western set up. Since I go out alone, I don’t have a really good fish picture to show other than this one made for Will Moore’s 2018 “Keep ‘em Wet” photo contests. There really is a 15-inch rainbow in the net – trust me. It seems that Will cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing when he saw this picture. Luckily for him, I wasn’t there then.

A rare “invisible” fifteen-inch Hot Creek Rainbow caught on a 10.8-inch Tanuki Tenkara rod. Author swears it’s there!