It seems like this time of year the big fish move into the shallows and work the holes and slots around the rocks. I made several casts to this guy and nothing, until he moved out into a gentle current and I was able to place my mop fly just above him and twitch it right in front of him. One of those rare casts that went right where I wanted it.
Low light is best, morning or evening. Fish like the fishing birds. Move little, cast less. Spot your fish and watch their behavior, then place your fly a bit beyond them and tease ‘em with it.
Poet and river visionary Lewis McAdams would have been proud to see the next generation of river stewardship unfold. (Jim Burns)
Given the state of everything, I didn’t think that the rec zones, in Elysian Park and the Sepulveda Basin, would open, but I was happily wrong. It’s become a tradition since 2013 to have actual legal fishing (don’t forget your license), bird watching, jail-breaking the pooch, or just hanging out in these two designated areas, from Memorial Day until Sept. 30. This year, because of the pandemic, watch for posted public health guidelines. Know that kayaking is not in the cards this year.
We’ll miss two figures along the water this year, Friends of the Los Angeles River co-founder Lewis MacAdams, and river
Lewis MacAdams by his beloved Los Angeles River.
champion extraordinaire, passed away just over a month ago. Tip your hat to his statue what was Marsh Park and is now named after him. Without Lewis, none of us would be enjoying the water the way we now can.
And we won’t see the friendly smile of veteran L.A. Park Ranger Capt. Alberto Torres, who spent 40 years on the job, in various positions. Alberto defined public service for me, with his kindly manner and sense of humor.
If you love fishing, there is no better way than to celebrate easing the restrictions of the last two months, than to hang out on the banks of our very own river. Maybe I can even catch a carp, if I can remember how to start my car to get there.
Signs of spring are around us on the river, with the big carp schooling up for the spawn and bugs and birds starting to show. The big fish are both more conspicuous and harder to catch in spring – the curse of fishermen. (Caption and photograph courtesy Bob Blankenship)
Trout Unlimited’s Bob Blankenship keeps his eye peeled for steelhead after our latest storms. What he did see were spawning carp, this intrepid specimen near Long Beach. (Courtesy William Preston Bowling)
Trout Unlimited is currently pushing Congress to stop Asian carp before they reach the Great Lakes by constructing a barrier at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois.
In the latest episode of Zac Efron’s “Off the Grid” Youtube Series, he is joined by Matus Sobolic of @CaliCarpin, and his brother Dylan Efron. The trio then hit the famous LA River on the hunt for urban carp on the fly. The LA River offers an amazing escape from the urban spread of Los Angeles. Follow along as the group fly fishes, skates and explores this unique fishery. (From Flylords Magazine)
Trout Unlimited’s Bob Blankenship sent in this amazing photo he took. Here’s what he said: I was at the lower LA in South Gate a couple weeks ago, around Hollydale Park. I walked down into the river channel – the dystopian part where there’s nothing expect a hundred-yard-wide concrete slab. I wanted to check out the low flow channel there and as I walked upstream I came upon a fish – about 18 inches of carp that was headed who-knows-where? There’s about two miles downstream of concrete channel and probably eight miles upstream. Life finds a way, right?
lariverflyfishing 