Best Flies for Crowley Lake in September

September is the month Crowley Lake gives itself back to fly anglers. The summer algae bloom dies off and sinks, clarity comes back, the water starts shedding heat overnight, and the fish move out of their deep summer holding water into places you can reach. If you only fish Crowley once a year, this is the month to do it. Here is what changes, where to look, and exactly what we would carry.

What changes in September

Three things happen more or less at once. The algae that clouded the water all summer dies back, so visibility improves and the fish get a longer look at your fly, which means presentation starts to matter more than it did in July. Surface temperatures fall through the 70s and keep falling as the nights get colder, and cold nights matter far more than cool days, because a big body of water sheds heat slowly. And the perch fry that hatched earlier in the summer finally reach a size worth eating, which switches a lot of trout onto baitfish for the first time all year.

The practical result is that fish come up and spread out. Where August had you fishing deep and early, September lets you work the stream channels and weed lines through the middle of the morning.

Where to fish

Start on the stream channels in roughly 6 to 15 feet. You do not need to be sitting directly over the channel, and often you are better off just outside it along the edge of the weed lines, where fish patrol for both midges and fry. McGee Bay, Hilton Bay, Christmas Bay and the North Arm up toward the mouth of the Owens all fish well in September, and the cooler inflows are worth following as the month goes on.

The simplest rule we can give you: if you see weed beds, there are fish somewhere near them. Crowley grows its trout on what lives in those weeds.

Midges and chironomids, still the foundation

Crowley is a midge lake first and everything else second. The vast majority of what these trout eat, across the whole season, is chironomid pupa. September is a good month for it because the midges tend to run larger than the near invisible ones of high summer, which makes them far easier to imitate and far easier to see. Fish them under an indicator, set your depth deliberately, and adjust in one foot steps until you find the level rather than changing flies every ten minutes.

Carry: Black Buzzer in 14 to 18 as your default, The Black Chironomid Pupa when you want a slimmer profile, the Chironomid Nymph in red from our Eastern Sierra series, and an Epoxy Buzzer Red Pearl for getting down quickly in a breeze.

Callibaetis and damsels, the mid morning windows

Two reliable feeding windows open up on a decent September morning. Callibaetis come off roughly between 9 and 10, and the damsel emergence follows from about 11 to 1 as the day warms. Neither lasts all day, so the trick is being rigged for them before they start rather than scrambling once you see fish working.

Carry: Thorax Callibaetis and a Comparadun Adams in 14 to 16 for the mayfly window, and The Green Damsel Nymph in 12 to 14 stripped slowly through the weed lines for the damsel window.

Perch fry, the September difference

This is the one that separates September from the rest of the year. Once the perch fry are big enough to be worth chasing, the larger trout key on them hard, and a fry pattern stripped along a weed line will turn fish that ignored your midge all morning. Watch for a heavy grab that does not stick. Crowley trout will often slash through a school and come back for the cripples, so if you feel a hit and miss it, stop the retrieve, give it a little slack, and set the moment the line comes tight.

Carry: BH Zonker in white and an Epoxy Minnow in shad for the fry, plus an Egg Sucking Leech in olive and a BH Krystal Bugger in black, which cover the leeches these trout eat year round.

Look after them

Early September can still carry summer water temperatures, and warm water is far harder on a trout than the hook is. Carry a thermometer. If the water is climbing toward 70 degrees, fish heavier gear so you can land them quickly, keep them in the net and in the water, skip the photo, and be willing to stop for the day. By late September this stops being a concern, which is another reason the back half of the month is such a good time to be out there.

The short version

Fish the channels and weed lines in 6 to 15 feet. Hang a buzzer under an indicator and be patient about finding the depth. Be ready for Callibaetis around 9 to 10 and damsels from 11 to 1. Keep a fry pattern rigged on a second rod, because the perch are the reason a good September day turns into a great one.

Every pattern above is one we tie ourselves and keep in stock, and each one ships with a tutorial for the water it is made for. You can shop all our Crowley Lake flies here, and if you are putting a box together for a trip and want a second opinion, email us at 395flyco@gmail.com. We would rather talk you into the right four flies than sell you fourteen.