Mammoth/Owens River Spring Blizzard

Every year in March the boys and I go south, Mammoth area that is, to fish the Lower Owens.  In 9 years weather has never been an issue; not the case this year.  The storm of the decade occurred a few days prior to departure dumping mass "snowage" on our beloved Sierras! 

Carson & I made the road trip.  Tyler has been sick and needed more time to recover (long story). 
So we set out only to be stopped 30 miles from home with a road closure on Highway 50 in Pollock Pines.

With some "creative maneuvering,  I was able to sneak back on the road and continue in 4WD over the summit and into Tahoe.  Once onto 395 it was smooth sailing. 

As a good fisherman, I checked the flows on the Lower Owens before we left....they were sitting around 100 cfs, and reports were really good.  But, thanks to LADWP, by the time we rolled into Bishop in the afternoon, the flows had been increased to well over 300 cfs and climbing.  Water was murky at best and just too big of a change too fast for fish to be actively feeding.  Bummer!  When things are right on the Lower, it is a great fishery for kids to learn how to fly fish. 

We tried the Upper Owens where flows were perfect, but the wind and 25 degrees made it a bit "nippy".  Carson was a trooper and stuck it out for a couple of hours. 

Overall, the fishing trip was a bust, but we did manage to hook four fish but brought none to net.  We made the best of it and it was great to see the amount of snow that blanketed the Sierras!