Kern River Tournament

By
Carl Wuebben

I caught one trout about 12 inch. dropped it before i could take a photo, one sucker and four pikes minnows about 6 inches long on Friday.    Rick P got a 35cm and a 30cm trout in the a.m. with me in the area i was controlling for the tournament Saturday. He was using a two fly rig for the first hour and got nothing then Gary Applebee stopped by to check on his student hahahah (just kidding- Rick is a very good fisherman on his own) and told him to think outside the box and do as Guy Jeans from the Kern river fly shop said and change the menu, and he did. He threw on a third fly (a nymph ) so I boulder hopped to the other side of the area and was ignoring him because of the no-fish-in-the-net syndrome he was having, and within ten or fifteen minutes he got his first fish of the day. I was on one side of the area and he was on the other so I came running over large and small boulders thru small spots of water and never missed a rock or slipped one bit and to this day I don't know how I made it there, in waders no less! But i met him right as he got to the side to measure the fish - a 35cm one not bad for a tough day on low and cold waters day fishing .   Read more: Kern River Tournament

March and April Lower Owens Trips

Since the last meeting, we have had two trips to the Lower Owens in the Bishop area.

The first trip was during the spring break at schools and we were once again fortunate to go to Dave and Pam Parker’s home in Swail Valley for an evening meal of home made beer, wine and some of the world famous tri tip that Dave makes.  Many fibs were told and much conversation about the one that got away was heard.  Once again, thanks to Dave and Pam for their hospitality and kindness for letting us invade their home.

The fishing during the March trip was very good, with both the Lower Gorge (up stream from the Pleasant Valley Powerhouse) and Hot Creek being the two best places to fish.  The upper Owens was slow, but the largest fish was caught there on a purple streamer (a 24 inch rainbow).

Dave Parker took a number of folks to Hot Creek and they had to walk about a mile through the snow to get to the stream.  However, I believe that a legacy of our trips to the area will be the fine instruction Dave gives on fishing this difficult water and all the club members that are becoming quite proficient at fishing there.

Gary Applebee took another group to the Gorge and they all caught fish.  This part of the Gorge is not like most places in this stretch of water (hard to fish pocket water and bolder hopping), but actually has some open water with riffles and runs and even some small pools.  It is strictly hop and drop territory with stimulators and small bead heads trailing.

Rob Wilcox took others to the Upper Owens above Benton Crossing Bridge and they fished there.  Fishing was ok but catching was not good!!!  Much was learned here about fishing diversion channels and main channels of the Owens and which parts hold fish and which parts don’t.  If this is not clear and you need further explanations, see Rob and he will expand on this.

The second trip was in early April and much like the first trip, the fishing was good in exactly the same places.

I would like to mention that on both trips, the Lower Owens was at flow rates above 500cfs and for all practical purposes was unfishable and not wade able

All in all, both trips were successful and as the many pictures below show, all had a good time.

Mike Wright
Education Director.

Training Notes

Unfortunately, as of this issue, the trip to the Kern River has been canceled. I spoke with Guy Jeans and he indicted that due to the large snow pack this year, the time the trip was scheduled would have flow rates that will make the river unfishable. Please make sure you cancel any reservations you might have made.I will be rescheduling the trip as soon as possible with Guy’s input and will inform all of the new time via email, newsletter and web page/calendar.

A New Trip will be scheduled this year to the Lower Sacramento and details will follow soon.  This is a great trip and you will see that the prices (club prices) are really quite reasonable.

Next month, I will be publishing the training schedule for the second half of the year.  If anyone has any input to this, please contact me by email or phone.

Mike Wright

Education Director

EDUCATION/TRAINING OUTINGS are scheduled throughout the year.  These are the outings where we put to use the things we learned in other classes plus we get in some great fishing on some of the well-known trout streams in Southern California and the Eastern Sierra’s.  We go to the Lower Owens, Kern River, Upper Owens, Hot Creek, the San Gabriel and the Santa Anna Rivers.  These are great outings where those who are old hands just fish and help other newcomers to the sport plus we have on stream clinics on how to read the water and demonstrations of fishing with dry flies, nymphs and streamers.