Tag: trout
By Derek Flor
Guest Contributor
I was on San Antonio Creek this morning after a podiatry appointment for a sore heel, and this is what I hauled out of the creek from the washed out bridge down to the Fire Station interpretive area.
I take a little bat bag for carrying an extra flyrod and for carrying trash out. Water temps were 57.2 degrees when I got there; air temp was 65 degrees and the water was flowing very well. Sure, it’s all “dammed up” by the weekend crowd, but actually it was cleaner than I expected. I did not haul out a big cardboard box, nor the 15 empty Modelo’s. I just didn’t have room for them in the bat bag.
I carried my Rocky Mountain Tenkara “Chico” rod and fished a wet fly upstream with no results for the area most heavily trafficked and affected by the weekenders, and had no results fishing, even in the fishiest of spots.
Up above the bridge, there is a spot I have caught fish before, but in much skinnier water when we were still drought affected, and when I caught the little 5-inch trout there. I wasn’t surprised. Once I caught a trout, I stopped. It told me as much as I needed to know.
Trout are still in there. I saw no evidence of dead trout in any of the areas you’d expect them, trapped by debris. The water was clear, and there was no fire debris in this lower area.
I decided to stay down from the Baldy Village area given the earlier concerns about fire. Everything goes downstream and I thought I’d learn all I needed down where I was. I was on the water for just shy of two hours and covered about a third of a mile of water. as the crow flies, maybe a little bit more. Lots of raspberries, but I left them for the birds and other wildlife, meaning perhaps, the weekenders.
I neglected to take my phone with me so the little guy didn’t get to pose for photos. I don’t like to keep them out of the water much anyway.
By Malachi Curtis, Guest Contributor
it was a pretty normal day on the East Fork for me. A few fish here and there, but not seeing any fish until they took my flies. When I came up on a spot that I had caught a nice one the weekend before, I saw these two fish swimming right in front of me, seemingly in their own world. I wasn’t moving particularly stealthily, but they didn’t seem to mind and came with three or four feet of me.
After a few minutes, they moved upstream and I continued on with the day. I was looking for other fish displaying similar behavior but those were the only fish I saw in the open that day.
I’m not too familiar with trout spawning, but as far as I could tell by some quick Google searches the earliest you normally see trout spawn is January, whereas this video was taken on Nov. 12. I know steelhead generally spawn a bit earlier so maybe this is their genetics kicking in here.
Either way super cool sight to see, and a good sign for the future of the population.
riverboy
Malachi – what great footage. 2023 has defied many rules. I have a report of RBT trying to jump a barrier in effort to “migrate” in early fall – prompted by an artificial dam release. I am always pondering this balancing act between seasonal behaviour and opportunistic behavior. You got to witness a curious moment – whatever they were up to. Stoked for you and a teeny bit envious 🙂
If there’s one waterway that encompasses the struggles of nature in this post-modern age, it’s the West Fork of the San Gabriel. While it provides a respite from our metropolis, as a place to learn and practice fly fishing, ride a bike as far up the canyon as you can, or just hang out wondering what the hatch is, you can feel the magic, a renewal that goes deeper than natural beauty, radiating from the land itself.
I used to take my now-grown son here, pulling him along on his inlines behind my old bike. I’ve had my heart soar with uplift current-riding red tail hawks, had it broken by endless amounts of trash left by the careless, had it lifted again by volunteers who worked tirelessly to save the remaining fish after the devastating Bobcat Fire. This is the place I come to mend my broken heart, a place to gather strength and hope for the future.
So on this Earth Day, I offer a video from the intrepid Steve Kuchensky shot on April 15. Steve reports water temperature was 56 degrees. The silt is gone; the mud is gone and that beautiful water flows like no other! Meanwhile, CJ Vapenik, talked with an angler who caught a trout on a dry. We love to stretch the truth on the water, but this truth is gold. A guy caught a fish on a dry while he was wading on the West Fork in 2023!
Now that makes my Earth Day complete.
See you on the water, Jim Burns
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We’ve never experienced anything like this year that’s coming to a close, both collectively and individually. As my wife and I watched the Christmas star last week, its first appearance in some 700 years, it made me wonder. As a writer, I’m all about signs and portends, so I thought it could either mean the coming apocalypse or a brighter future, as it did so many centuries ago. I chose the latter.
As we have all watched so many of our systems go haywire or barely hang on, there is still much to cheer. Here are my Top 10 in no particular order.
- Election of Joe Biden on a climate agenda
- The former president’s environmental record is beyond abysmal. Start with the shrinking of Bear’s Ears National Monument and rushed move to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Both are a disgrace to our heritage of enjoying federally owned open lands.
- Women embrace fly fishing
- From April Vokey’s podcast, to Montana Rodsmiths’ Aurora Lady Flex, unique rods build for women, to #chickswhofish, the sport is taking on a much-needed feminine side.
- Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, some major corps pledge to cut emissions
- It may not be perfect, but it’s a beginning with a goal of zero emissions by 2050 or 2060, depending on who you read. Climate change is real and caused by human activity. May disdain for science and disdain for experts now live only in the past. My grandson will thank you.
- Defeating Bristol Bay
- Alaska’s Trout Unlimited brought the heat and, as a result of a sustained community effort, the Pebble Mine isn’t being dug. The effort was two decades long, and we should all thank TU’s Meghan Barker for the many days she personally devoted to this defeat.
- Bring down the Klamath Dams
- As CalTrout writes “The removal process for the four Klamath Dams will start in 2021 and extend into 2023. We look forward to celebrating the day when the Klamath River flows freely for the first time in over a century, and more than 300 miles of spawning and rearing habitat are once again accessible to native salmon and steelhead.” The Iron Gate Dam will be the largest in history to come down.
- New sentiments and community effort: the Eklutna Dam in Alaska falls
- From Trout Unlimited: “Return to Us chronicles the historic effort spearheaded by Eklutna, Inc. and The Conservation Fund to remove the abandoned Lower Eklutna Dam and kickstart the return of diminished salmon runs to the river in Southcentral Alaska, near Anchorage.” In 2019, 90 dams in 26 states fell, setting a record number. I don’t currently have the 2020 figures.
- Beginnings of a fish passage on the Los Angeles River
- Planning has begun to deepen part of the river to allow the endangered Southern California Steelhead access to its spawning grounds in the mountains. We are still a very long way off from the entire river being navigable for these fish, but it’s a start.
- There are still wild trout in the San Gabriel mountains
- The loss of the West Fork is a devastating experience for those of us who love the outdoors. I wrote a story for the upcoming “California Fly Fisher” (hard copy only) in which those in the know recommend other spots for fish and enjoy. My last outing, I was surprised to catch three native rainbows in a couple of hours in our local mountains. They were small, cold and beautiful.
- The first Native American to be nominated for the Interior Department would replace former oil lobbyist David Bernhardt, as part of Biden’s climate-forward agenda.
- Plus Jennifer Granholm for Secretary of Energy, Michael Regan for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Brenda Mallory for Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, Gina McCarthy for National Climate Advisor, and Ali Zaidi for Deputy National Climate Advisor would all join Deb Haaland.
- LA River Fly Fishing turned 10!
- I never thought this site would last past a couple of years, but here I am clicking away. The site remains ad-free and has garnered around 235,000 views since I started writing and curating. Thanks for your support over the last decade. We’ll see how the LA River improves in the coming year.
Happy New Year and see you on the river, Jim Burns
Update: The Bishop Chamber of Commerce has announced significant changes for this weekend’s Blake Jones Trout Derby. In light of rapidly evolving concerns regarding Corona Virus/COVID-19, “social distancing” and “mass gatherings,” the Bishop Chamber is taking measures to at reduce risk to derby attendees, staff and volunteers for the event.
“We’ve given careful consideration to the situation including consulting with the Inyo County Public Health Officer,” Tawni Thomson of the Bishop Chamber of Commerce said. Dr. Richardson stated he feels the event is low risk and did not recommend cancellation; however, in order to minimize chances of virus spread, the Chamber Board of Directors has decided to eliminate the traditional awards ceremony “mass gathering” portion of the derby and all prizes will be awarded via raffle.
How will this work?
Everyone who has pre-registered for the derby will automatically be entered into the raffle.
Winners will be chosen on Monday, March 16, then notified by email or phone.
Winners will have the option to pick up the prize at the Chamber or have it shipped.
People that have pre-purchased a t-shirt will have the option to pick up at Chamber or have it shipped.
There will be no fish-weighing and no prize ceremony at the fairgrounds.
Anyone who does not wish to be in the raffle will have registration fee refunded.
“The fish have been stocked, the prizes are all ready to go,” Chamber Event Coordinator April Leeson said. The Bishop Chamber understands the annual derby is a beloved tradition that draws anglers from near and far to enjoy the family-friendly fishing event. They also understand the derby is very important to our local economy. “Although less than ideal, we believe this plan represents a good balance between preserving the fishing tradition and accommodating current health care concerns,” added Leeson.
“We’re calling our new format Plan “C” for Coronavirus,” Thomson said. “We are keeping a good sense of humor about the situation and we hope everyone that chooses to fish near Bishop this weekend has great luck and a great time.”
Opening Day in the Sierra is almost upon us (April 27), and according to writer Darcy Ellis, it heralds at least a decent season. Ellis penned “Epic season taking shape,” but after reading her piece in the Inyo Register Eastern Sierra Fishing Guide, I’m not sure “epic” is exactly the word the average fisherman would use.
“All of the elements have come together in 2013 for a banner fishing season: plenty of water, even more fish and lots of angling-related action for fishermen and their families,” read the article’s lead sentence.
Ample water is based on an interview with a Dept. of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist, quoted as saying that “… we’re not anticipating low water this year.” Adequate water is one of the key criteria before the DFW will plant fish.
With the Monrovia fire still smoldering as I write this, it may surprise parched Southern Californians to hear this sort of prognostication. It also surprised the California Dept. of Water Resources.
“The snowpack is at 54 percent of normal, so it’s not looking good,” said Jennifer Lida, an information officer for the department.
The last manual survey of the year, in which DWR surveyors actually go into the mountains instead of relying on electronic sensors, is scheduled in about two weeks on Echo Summit, near Lake Tahoe. This measurement traditionally documents the wetness of any given season. Snowpack normally provides about a third of California’s water as it melts into streams, reservoirs and aquifers. The short-term good news is that “most key storage reservoirs are above or near historic levels,” according to the department.
Given this scenario, I’d get my fishing in early. Last year in the Golden Trout Wilderness, one favorite creek had turned into runs of unconnected water by August.
Still it looks like there will be lots of trout in the middle Sierra, the L.A. mecca for fly fishing. According to Ellis’s article, DFW plans to plant just shy of 1 million pounds of trout this season. You can check the planting schedule here.
Finally, there certainly will be family events during the summer. One that’s new is Trout Fest on June 29 at the Hot Creek Hatchery outside Mammoth. The flier promises kids going to the event that they will be able to “catch a fish, feed a fish, taste a fish, touch a fish.”
See you on the river, Jim Burns
lariverflyfishing 