Ecology, Quick mends

Quick mends: Devil’s Gate Dam final Environmental Impact Report hits L.A. supes Wednesday
Wild trout, such as this one, still swim the waters of the San Gabriel Mountains. (Jim Burns)
Wild trout, such as this one, still swim the waters of the San Gabriel Mountains. (Jim Burns)

UPDATE: Despite strong opposition from neighbors and recreational enthusiasts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a five-year project Wednesday to remove debris from a basin above Devil’s Gate Dam in Pasadena. — Los Angeles Times

Generations of fly fishers have relished the area above the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which before the massive 2009 Station Fire and subsequent flood the following year, enjoyed a reputation as an enjoyable fishery. This reputation, for now at least, has certainly faded. On top of back-to-back environmental disasters, we’re in this ongoing drought. But remember, these skinny waters still contain native trout, and this region was once one of the coveted destinations for returning spawning Southern California Steelhead.

The area is important to protect, even though, for some mysterious reason, it was left out of the final draft of the San Gabriel Mountains national monument. That will be the topic of another blog post.

So today’s question: Do we need a human-made disaster on top of all of this?

Take a look at this PDF from the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the environmental voice of our conscience for this area. Anyone with a brain would want the “Pasadena Alternative” — unanimously approved by the Pasadena City Council — instead of the much more invasive one proposed by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. As the Pasadena Star-News put it:

The City Council this week unanimously approved a set of recommendations for the county’s sediment removal plan in Devil’s Gate Dam, in its ongoing fight to prevent the treasured Hahamongna recreation area from turning into a giant ditch.

For example, the original county plan counted 400-plus trucks per work day, for five years, to haul away sediment, while the Pasadena plan calls for a quarter of that amount, an estimated 120. The county’s plan for habitat impact — a euphemism for “no more fishing” — measures more than 120 acres, while the Pasadena plan calls for 40 acres, including a 10-acre “conservation pool.”  From what I read here, the county has somewhat backed off on its original proposal, but not nearly to the degree concerned homeowners want.

The final Environmental Impact Report comes before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, as the flood control district seeks approval for its chosen alternative. According to this story La Canada city officials are scrambling to get their objections heard before it’s too late.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Events

Rain leaves LA River blown out
A mere three-quarters of an inch of rain left the river blown out today. (Jim Burns)
A mere three-quarters of an inch of rain left the river blown out today. (Jim Burns)

UPDATE Roderick Spilman says:
November 9, 2014 at 6:30 pm Edit
Well, we went to test things out … not great. I hooked three small bass. One was 10-to-11 inches. Julia caught one tilapia, and my wife got skunked. There were a few fish jumping here and there. We also saw a dead largemouth that was around 3-to-4 pounds. There are fish around, but they’re not feeding actively.

If you were like many Angelinos, the whooping and hollerin’ erupted Halloween eve, as the area got three-quarters of an inch of rain. Didn’t seem like much, but after our dreadful drought, it was like gold falling from heaven. But for river fly fishers, the blow out was real today.

Will and I walked four of our favorites spots, all around Atwater, and didn’t get a strike. If you follow this blog, you know that as recently as last week, 50-plus takes were reported. And I received an email over the weekend saying that Friday a guest contributor caught four largemouth bass.

Aside from the dearth of fish remember that our river changes so much from rain, it’s pretty incredible. Where once there was a smooth eddy, now there is sand; where that sweet carp holding water was last week, this week just a wrecked tricycle appears in the water.

Of course, the river and its creatures will return, but I do wonder about all the tilapia, bass, green sunfish — in other words, all the fun game fish we’ve been catching. Will they be able to withstand what most surely is coming, the rain of a mild El Nino? The carp can withstand just about anything. They come back for the spring spawn in large numbers, year after year.

So, if you are a river planner, what does this pattern tell you? Pretty much, recreational fly fishers want safe havens for the fish so that their habitats aren’t ruined and they are still where fish stalkers expect them to be.

And just as a reminder: stay out of the river when it rains. Don’t get caught in sudden water that could cost you a real lickin’ or worse.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Guest contributor

Quick-thinking fisherman performs emergency rescue, lands mirror carp

John Tegmeyer and his daughter got more than they bargained for when they caught this beautiful mirror carp. (John Tegmeyer)
John Tegmeyer and his daughter got more than they bargained for when they caught this beautiful mirror carp. (John Tegmeyer)
By John Tegmeyer
Guest Contributor

It wasn’t until recently that I once more began fishing in earnest. My uncle taught me and my sister to fish when I was 11. From then through high school graduation I was on the water as often as possible.

Once I began college though, I didn’t have time for it and that trend continued when I moved to LA. After researching various fishing holes around the city my curiosity piqued in regards to the LA River.

I grabbed my pole and some corn and have been enjoying fighting the carp ever since. The day this picture was taken started as most of my other fishing days. I packed a bag with corn, drinking water and of course mine and my daughter’s fishing poles. After getting our hair rigs set up and cast out I explained to her about knowing when a fish was biting.

It wasn’t long after that when her rod started twitching. I set the hook for her (she’s 3) and immediately something felt wrong. After a few confusing moments the problem was obvious–a coot had become tangled in her line.

Without anything to cover the poor bird with I had to improvise by using my t-shirt. Once I could see properly, the coot had only tangled her foot in the leader and wasn’t hooked at all. Her safe release was met by applause from onlookers who had gathered.

No sooner had I released the coot than the unmistakable scream of a reel filled the air. This was a good fish and with an audience there, I felt the pressure to land it. After seven-eight minutes, I pulled out this beautiful mirror carp. I had never caught one prior to this and I was quite excited. After taking a few photos I let the fish go. I hope to catch more just like this one.

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: When river etiquette falls apart
This sign should stand for a peaceful experience in the heart of 4 million people.(Jim Burns)
This sign should stand for a peaceful experience in the heart of 4 million people.(Jim Burns)

I ran across your great site a few months ago — I just started fly fishing this summer on the river and really love it.  Some very “trouty” spots make for great practice too.

Today I ran into a guy while fishing the area between Los Feliz bridge and Glendale Ave on the Atwater side that completely spoiled my peaceful and otherwise very enjoyable outing.  I always see him feeding the birds from a large black bucket.   Maybe you’ve seen or met him.

As I passed him in the evening on my way out and gave him a friendly “hello” he decided to start to yell at me for fishing on the river, using all sorts of obscenities, telling me to stick my poles you know where, calling me everything he could think of — in short, a very nasty and bitter person who does NOT like people fishing.

I think his issue is that he finds lots of line and sinkers polluting the river, and I can understand his frustration.  But he doesn’t even know me so to speak so rudely to me is way out of line.  I had to restrain myself from stooping to his level, but this guy was literally yelling at the top of his lungs — so angry it was crazy. I tried to be reasonable but he wasn’t having it. I’m mentioning this in case others run into him or have encountered him.

But also, he began by telling me I was going to get a citation and that it is illegal to fish the river except between Fletcher and Figueroa and then only between certain dates. I’m not aware of that law.  Do you know if that’s true?  He seemed very upset when I told him it wasn’t true, and that furthermore I have a California state license.  If you have any official information or person I can check with I would appreciate your input. I couldn’t find anything online — but also I assume there would be very conspicuous “no fishing” signs if that were the case.

PS – I think feeding the wildlife may be what’s illegal…

Rod Cervera

Dear Rod,

Thanks for your letter. The gentleman — or not — sounds very much like Tony Taylor, a.k.a. “the birdman.” I have never had such a terrible encounter, and count myself lucky from your description above.

For years, it was illegal to be in the bottom of the river (and still is), whether for fly fishing, kayaking, walking your dog, whatever. And Taylor was known to have had the Griffith Park rangers on speed dial. Now, it is legal to fish and kayak from Fletcher down below Marsh Park through the summer. But the truth is, nobody is going to be giving out any citations because of the change in the political environment. With the 2012 passage of SB1201, the river became a different place:

     Existing law, the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act, establishes the Los Angeles County Flood Control District
     and authorizes the district to control and conserve the flood, storm, and other wastewater of the district.
     The bill would amend the act to include in the objects and purposes of the district to provide for public use
     of navigable waterways under the district’s control that are suitable for recreational and educational purposes,
     when these purposes are not inconsistent with the use thereof by the district for flood control and water conservation.
And, while being on the river bottom is now in a nebulous area legally, feeding the birds is not. Take a look at this statute:

CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS TITLE 14

  • 251.1. Harassment of Animals.

Except as otherwise authorized in these regulations or in the Fish & Game Code, no person shall harass, herd or drive any game or nongame bird or mammal or furbearing mammal. For the purposes of this section, harass is defined as an intentional act which disrupts an animal’s normal behavior patterns, which includes, but is not limited to, breeding, feeding or sheltering. This section does not apply to a landowner or tenant who drives or herds birds or mammals for the purpose of preventing damage to private or public property, including aquaculture and agriculture crops.

Perhaps, reminding Taylor of the above would get him to calm down.

Meanwhile, FOLAR is very keen on creating an education policy about fishing trash — addressing discarded weights and lines, which I completely support. Watch for more news on this front very soon.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Events

Drum roll, please … yes, we have a winner!

imageThe challenge: Hook up on two L.A. River species, same fly, same day. Take a pic, write a story, submit.

The prize: One fabulous LARFF T-shirt.

The winner:  B. Roderick Spilman

The Quote: “Within three casts, I had a small bass.  A couple more casts and I had a green sunfish.  Then, the fun really started.  A nice-size tilapia struck the fly hard.  Several more of varying sizes hit the same fly.  Each time, they were hooked perfectly on the lip, so that I had to barely touch the fly to remove it.”

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Creatures

At long last … L.A. River tilapia
Yes, Ernest, the tilapia also rises. (Jim Burns)
Yes, Ernest, the tilapia also rises. (Jim Burns)

Who knows if it’s true, that the city planted tilapia in the river in the 1970s to combat mosquitoes. Whatever, great story. All I know is that I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever for a LARFF commenter to send in pics of the critters — basically the same ones that grace Trader Joe’s frozen foods section.

Well, today, after Will and I watched three red-tail hawks, who in turned watched us from the high sycamores. And after they awed us with their fishing ability, in which they literally descend and pluck their prey from the moving water, without missing a wing beat, Will hooked up. Result: tilapia.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Citizen science

News Flash! Rare Leather Carp needs a name
Mirror, mirror on the wall What name should this carp we call? (Ryan Anglin)
Mirror, mirror on the wall
What name should this carp we call? (Ryan Anglin)

Last week, a local fly fisher sent me a crazy hero shot, saying “One of the fish I caught today looks like a Mirror Carp. Your thoughts?”

Anxiously, I paged down to view the snap and promptly dropped my coffee cup. Ryan Anglin not only had a beautiful 5-pounder, but also a type I’d never seen on the river. I enlisted the help of our resident biologists, Rosi Dagit, Sabrina Drill and Camm Swift. Here are their comments:

— Pretty clearly a Mirror or perhaps more precisely, Leather Carp, mostly lacking scales.  Mirror Carp refers to those with more enlarged, irregular scales that have a shiny appearance, and this fish is more of what is often called Leather Carp with a thick leathery skin.  — Camm

— In several fishing trips on the L.A. with either Camm, Jonathan Baskin, or both,  I have observed a wide variety of scale patterns on carp — both what I would call “leather” and “mirror”  — though I actually had not heard this terminology! I believe they are all C. carpio,but am interested in Camm’s answer. Can goldfish also vary this much in scale pattern? — Sabrina

— Wow, it is hard to tell exactly, but definitely has that kind of look …  Did he keep it? I wonder if there is a photo with the dorsal fin extended? — Rosi

She goes on to ask that when folks catch something really unusual they keep and freeze, and let her know (via LARFF) so the experts can actually figure all this out. Also, don’t forget you can join the iNaturalist project and post.

Now, there’s a side benefit to catching these kinds of crazy fish: you can name them just like the Brits. Consider this headline: “Anglers mourn Benson, lord of the lakes.” Benson was a 25-year-old Common Carp who weighed a mere 64 pounds and was worth around $40,000. Her companion, Hedges, died in 1998. Meanwhile, the largest Mirror Carp, who as far as I know is still living, outweighs Benson by 3 pounds and goes by the handle, Two Tone.

So, let’s vote on a name for Ryan’s catch!

 

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Events

Contest: bag an L.A. River deuce, win a fab LARFF tee shirt

So here’s how my day went:

Actually, I got a rolling start last night by donating a couple of old reels to the Southwestern Council FFF charity effort at Orvis in Pasadena. That got me 20 percent off a new Battenkill III, which is a reel about as minimalist as they come. In other words, the palm of your hand and fingers supply most of the drag to slow a running fish down.

In other words, it burns so good.

A.M. off to the L.A River with my 5 wt., armed with a fine new line, new leader and, of course, the new reel. Throw in, hook up within five minutes (rare) and — bam — knot fails after three sharp tugs. Blame the new 5x leader, curse the gods, curse the river weeds, curse anything but the fish. From the size of the pull, think the better of a 5x leader and get on down to a 2x. Toss in, wait a bit — bam — same result, including failed knot.

Burn! Slowing down this carp old school gave me a hot palm. (Jim Burns)
Burn! Slowing down this carp old school gave me a hot palm. (Jim Burns)
And then this largemouth bass grabbed the same fly, a work-a-day glo-bug. (Jim Burns)
And then this largemouth bass grabbed the same fly, a work-a-day glo-bug. (Jim Burns)

Curse Orvis, maker of the slippery leader, curse limited knot skills, curse Lou Ferrigno, for no reason. Look up at monochrome sky and ask “why?”

Sit on rip rap. Retie. Walk upstream, toss in, hook up — bam — fish on. Big fish on. Mental notes intrude on sweaty, running experience … Play him on the reel. Slow down the narrow spool with palm, getting hot, ouch. Turn head, tire him out, another run, fingers, ya oh, man that smarts, more mental notes. What’s with the mental notes? Blame golf psychology book, “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect” that is current read.

Walk back, walk back slowly. Runs again, remember that knot fail! Ease it up, running, slow him down.

In close now. Gold shine, liquid undulating gold. We see eye to eye. Back up, back up, and … he’s ashore.

Heart pumping, mental note, take the IPic. Fumble in pocket. Curse the white-hot September light, so bright I can’t really image the picture. A Mexican guy on a bike on the bike path, says “Take a picture,” as both a question and a statement. I think to myself, “but I am taking a picture,” and then realize maybe he wants to scale down the rip rap and take a snap of me and this California gold rush.

Elation. Snap. Fish back in water. Heart beats hard; left hand hurts; praise Orvis, praise my limited knot-tying ability, praise the very moment, alive, so very alive.

I right myself, put back in, same fly, and quickly get a different kind of tug, bass tug. Oh, yes, this is so easy, haha, nothing two-to it, and will it ever happen to me again? Snag an L.A. river deuce, same day, same fly.

Hallelujah.

Let 'em know you fly fish the L.A. River.
Let ’em know you fly fish the L.A. River.

In honor of this twofer, I propose an unofficial contest: if you hook up, two different species, same day, same fly, send me the story and pics, I’ll send you an lariverflyfishing tee shirt. Only got three left from the derby, all extra large.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Guest contributor

Snap, crackle, pop (per): Homemade Tenkara fly fishing meets bad-boy bass
Here comes popper! (Roland Trevino)
Here comes popper! (Roland Trevino)

By Roland Trevino

Guest contributor

The heatwave had imprisoned me indoors, and on the first cool day in over a week, I looked forward to an evening  of catch-and-release fly fishing on the LA River.   My friends would meet later to continue our ongoing competition, the object of which was generally vague until one of us caught a big fish, many fish, or a really interesting fish.  Today I aimed to set the bar pretty high – and I did!
I took my 4-foot ultralight fly rod and used no reel.  I have found this setup to have serious limitations, yet these are easy to overlook as it casts great in tight conditions and is ridiculously fun to use.  I was armed with a small array of poppers and beadhead chironomids.
My beadhead fly went mostly unnoticed, excepting a beautiful yet naïve 4-inch Green Sunfish.  I switched to a size 14 popper and the bite was on!  The serenity of the river was shattered as the bass violently struck the popper like an 11-inch  locomotive.  This is no sunfish, I thought, as the fly rod almost bent double.   I held my breath and tried to keep the line tight as the fish broke the surface, trying to throw the hook.   Then it seemed to dive down – perhaps looking instinctively for a submerged branch to break the line off against.  A friendly onlooker watched the battle and inquired about what “bait” I was using.

Bass a poppin': Eleven inches that fell for a No. 14 popper. (Roland Trevino)
Bass a poppin’: Eleven inches that fell for a No. 14 popper. (Roland Trevino)

When I landed the bass, I snapped a couple of quick pictures of it, measured it against the fly rod, removed the hook with my hemostat, and released it back to the river.   As I watched the bass swim back down to the depths, I felt honored and excited to have caught this fierce and beautiful fish — I was also glad to have photographic proof for my incredulous friends.

Their arrival was marked, as per usual, by a mocking remark about my casting — but I knew today’s competition would be mine – or would it?