Tag: Los Angeles River
River advocates have been waiting for months to see what the next step in the river revitalization
would be, and that shoe might have dropped. In a nutshell, because of a new tax-sharing law, a portion of property taxes might be used for the revitalization effort, which has a $1 billion price tag.
According to this morning’s Los Angeles Times, L.A. City council members have ordered a feasibility study to cash in, so to speak, on creating what is believed to be the state’s first Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District. These districts would replace redevelopment agencies statewide that Gov. Brown dissolved during the Great Recession.
There’s already opposition to the plan, coming within council from Gil Cedillo, whose district includes several of the river’s projects.
“It’s great to talk about how great the river can be. I’ve got four of the six major projects in my district. But I’m concerned that we would be doing river work in lieu of housing,” Cedillo said in the article.
See you on the river, Jim Burns
Grove Pashley, of L.A. River Kayak Safari, spotted this odd-looking river denizen near Victory Boulevard and wondered what in the heck it was.
“Plecostomus,” replied biologist Sabrina Drill by email, “we’ve spotted them in that area before.”
Aquarium lovers might know this heavily armored bottom feeder as a “janitor fish,” one that comes from the Amazon to clean the algae off your tank. In this case, looks like when he got too big (the species grows to 2 feet), plunk, the river became his new home.
Remember besides sending in pics here for an ID, you can also use the INaturalist app.
See you on the river, Jim Burns
Hey Jim,
Thought you’d like to see this shot, although you may have many by now. This is at the Glendale Blvd. bridge, notice the amount of vegetation and small islands that are completely submerged. Those are some serious rapids. L.A. River, in all her glory!
Take care,
Ryan Anglin
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
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
By Ansel Trevino
Guest Contributor
Age 12
It was just starting to get dark. Me, my dad, and my dad’s friend had decided to go fishing together, while my grandpa walked the dogs. After a long day of catching nothing, my luck changed. I knew then that this was going to be a big catch. I felt the weight of the fish as I started to crank the reel.
Luckily, my dad’s friend brought a net to get the fish out of the water and put it into the bag to weigh.
The fish barely fit in the bag, and had its tail hanging out.
We weighed it and the fish weighed roughly 10 pounds. We then measured the fish, at a length of 25 inches. It was now time to let the beautiful fish go. I saw the sun reflect off the fish scales as it touched the water. It rested there for a short while, waving its tail back and forth, and eventually, its silhouette disappeared.
Last week, LARFF guest contributor Roland Trevino brought his son, so this time I got to bring mine. Their age difference is only a matter of two decades.
Will hooked up on a couple of small bass, which had green sides instead of the whiter version we’d caught last week. Bass are now fairly abundant in the Glendale Narrows stretch, which is a far cry from the lonely one caught in the Friends of the River fish study in the later 2000s. It’s a great story and one maybe a commenter can help us to untangle. How are they getting into the water? And what’s with the white body color we’ve seen?
See you on the river, Jim Burns
lariverflyfishing 