East Walker River

The East Fork of the Walker from Bridgeport Dam to Nevada State Line is a year round fishery. Use only barbless hooks and the fishing season from November 16 through the last Friday in April is Zero-Limit.

 

Fly Fishing on the East Fork Walker River 2009

Big headed brown trout.

The above scud eater stretched out over 17 inches. The variety of food sources for these browns just below Bridgeport Reservior makes for well feed trout.

Scuds are thick on the slack water of the East Walker.

As detritus feeders, scuds enjoy being in moist leaf litter which typically builds up in the slack water along the East Walker River. Scuds provide a rich source of protein to trout once they enter the drift (i.e., elevated flows or releases from the reservior). Although the bigger browns focus their energy on minnows and tui chubs, scuds are taken by hungry, smaller browns in the drift.

Big headed brown trout.

To know what these larger browns are favoring, a stomach pump would have been needed. But with the East Walker's higher water temps that come in late August and early September, it would only put additional stress on these guys.

Cows running loose inside the public access area along the East fork of the Walker River.

Cattle are everywhere you look in the Bridgeport Valley and around the East Fork of the Walker River. I've just haven't seen them in the public access area on the south side of the river below the dam. (I have seen them wandering around the hillside across the river on the north side.)

Centennial/Dressler Ranch covers a huge  area along the East fork of the Walker River.

Located in the Bridgeport Valley on the east slope of the Central Sierra Nevada, the 6,350-acre Centennial/Dressler Ranch spreads across this mountain valley in all directions. The Centennial/Dressler Ranch contains the largest wetland complex along the Eastern Sierra, created largely through irrigation.