Tag: Fishing

Los Angeles River Recreational Zones

Bingo! LA River opens for seventh season
Cut the ribbon
Then Councilmember Eric Garcetti opens a part of the bike path along the Los Angeles River in 2011. (Jim Burns)

Ah, Memorial Day, the traditional beginning of summer, baseball, eating hot dogs, drinking roadside lemonade from stands run by enterprising youngsters and, yes, that time of year when the Los Angeles River also opens for recreation. You may not have realized it, but the rest of the year, it ain’t legal. But authorities no longer raise an eyebrow if you’re wading through its Tide-scented waters, fly rod in hand.

So, dig in legally from Friday, May 31 (because of the recent storms), through Sept. 30 to try your hand at fishing and kayaking in either the Elysian Valley or the Sepulveda Basin. The dets are all here, provided by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority. And, to avoid getting a ticket for fishing without a license, be sure to pony up the $49.94 if you are 16 or older. There are also two free fishing days this year, both Saturdays, July 6 and Aug. 31. I get my license every year at Big Five sporting goods store.

If you want to know what the water quality is before you go, LA Sanitation and Environment staff sample and test water twice a week at two locations in each Recreation Zone, according the its website. I always keep hand sanitizer in the car for river visits and the city also recommends you:

  • Avoid/Minimize water contact
  • Wash your body with soap and water if you contact the water
  • Do not drink the water

That said, remember the river flows with recycled water that comes from reclamation plants, such as the Donald C. Tillman Reclamation Plant near the rec zone in the Sepulveda Basin. I’ve never gotten sick from wet wading in the water.

So, take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and visit the river this summer. Throw in a line, try some urban kayaking, or bring the binoculars for some birding. Here’s a trip down memory lane, from my story in 2013 when all of this was a pilot project.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

 

 

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Support a longer bridge over Trancas Creek for habitat restoration
trancas us to bridge 1.23.17
The existing bridge condition in January. Built in 1927 and supporting more than 22,000 vehicles a day, the bridge is now rated as “scour critical,” which means sediment is undermining its structure.  Alternative 3 would expand the bridge to the east into the green bank. (Courtesy Rosi Dagit)

 

Dear Fish Friends,

We have an amazing opportunity to have Caltrans repair the existing bridge over Trancas Creek with one that could actually support eventual lagoon restoration, development of a permanent ADA accessible trail from Zuma Beach to connect with upstream NPS trails and the Market complex, provide increased access for southern steelhead trout and habitat for endangered tidewater gobies.

One of the few proven ways to help recover steelhead is to provide them the habitat they need. Restoring Trancas lagoon requires a longer span bridge to be most effective. Here is a chance to make the great habitat upstream in Trancas Creek available for spawning again.

The Alternatives being considered include:

Alternative 1 No project – the existing bridge (84-foot span)  remains until it fails, which given the scour and tilt issues is inevitable.

Alternative 2 Short Bridge (120-foot span) essentially has the same scour and hydrologic problems as the existing bridge, and would require elevating the road bed 2.5 feet above current grade, with ramping along both north and southbound PCH to meet flood control standards, requires retaining walls and would effectively preclude any substantive restoration of the lagoon footprint.

Alternative 3 Long Bridge (240-foot span) provides the opportunity to not only build a bridge that would have a longer life span at the current road elevation, but also provide the opportunity for lagoon restoration and a safe trail connecting the beach upstream under PCH.

To review the documents, check out:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/d7/env-docs/docs/Trancas%20Creek%20Bridge%20Replacement%20Project%20Draft%20ISEA.pdf

Please send your letter by 5 June to: ron.kosinski@dot.ca.gov

Ron Kosinski, Deputy District Director

Caltrans District 7

Division of Environmental Planning

100 S. Main Street MS-16A

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Every letter helps!

Short and sweet will work.

Many thanks,

Rosi

Rosi Dagit is a Senior Conservation Biologist for the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The fisherman's life

What’s up with the cutty squeeze?
flyfishjournal
(Courtesy The Flyfish Journal)

Two years ago, I got pretty excited by the cover of The Drake, showing the ultimate in fish handling: this salt-water fav actually stayed totally submerged, with the fisher’s hands and rod in the background. I thought that was a model for handing catch-and-release fish, and one that made me question some of my own fish wrangling, especially when taking that all-important beauty shot.

Over the weekend, I received the latest The Flyfish Journal with the above cover. Doesn’t it look like this cutthroat trout is getting squeezed? The magazine features a bunch of excellent pictures from fishers in a photo article called “Rises,” but to promote this kind of fish handling on the cover I find questionable.

From that 2015 piece, something to ponder from Gordon M. Wickstrom, the author of “The History of Fishing for Trout with Artificial Flies in Britain and America: A Chronology of Five Hundred Years, 1496 to 2000,” who wrote about six periods in fly fishing for the Orvis News blog in 2011:

“In closing, allow me to play the prophet: I think that, in this New Period of angling, we are part of an important cultural shift toward a deeper humanity and mercy of the good Earth. We may find ourselves living quite differently, living better with less, with a greater delicacy, clarity, balance and honestly. Fishing a fly on a clear, cold stream may well serve as a working model and inspiration for what we want. It shows forth qualities — environmental, psychological, social, economic and political — that we need to incorporate into the future.”

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Wickstrom was right. We’re entering an age where understanding environment is the key to survival. Those who have a reverence for nature will have to set a template for the future. To what degree we learn the hard way remains to be seen.

Keepemwetfishing

 

Events, Fishing License

Memorial Day marks 4th opening day on the LA River
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This could be your summer to pull a carp, bass or tilapia out of the LA River — and then put it back. (Jim Burns)

Tomorrow is opening day on the LA River — for the fourth year in a row. Even though there’s actually sneak-fishing year around in its Tide-scented waters, from Memorial Day throughout the summer until Labor Day, anglers can legally fishing in two designated recreational areas, Elysian Park and Sepulveda Basin.

You may have your license checked by an MRCA ranger on patrol, so be sure to buy one. Hopefully, you buy one every year to help out the conservation and stocking efforts of the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. A one-day license is $15.12; resident, annual weighs in at $47.01 (What’s with the penny?)

 

 

Check out these maps to get your bearings (Credit MRCA):

Remember that you can also put in your kayak, or go with any of the following companies: L.A. River Expeditions, L.A. River Kayak Safari. Minimum age is between 10 and 12, depending on the locale, and the price runs between $50 to $75, depending on the company and the trip.Also, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, L.A. Conversation Corps is offering $30 tickets for the Sepulveda Basin excursion though Paddle the L.A. River.

And, if you’re chillin’ in Elysian Park near Benedict Street, the Frog Spot’s always a good place to take a break, swap river stories and get some food. Lots of music happens throughout the summer, as well as educational programs. The FS serves beer and wine after 2 p.m. Saturdays, and there’s always free water and wi-fi as well.

Take some time to wander the neighborhood, one which is quickly reinventing itself. There’s a new brewery in the works, as well as new, open-air Salazar, close to the Fletcher Bridge.

So, before it gets real hot, catch and release a carp, raise a paddle, get dunked, try downward-facing dog in a pocket park, spot a frog, make friends with a duck, pretend the roar of the 5 Freeway is actually a gurgling mountain creek (believe me, it happens), whatever, but get out there!

See you on the river, Jim Burns