Good Meal But Bad Fishing

Chul helped me out on a house project so I treated him to dinner and afterwards we attempted for an hour to coax a few bass on a popper in the darkness but had no luck.  Maybe next time.

Quick Session

Spent about an hour on the local brown water managed a carp within the first few minutes.  After that I did some exploring of new sections of river that was loaded with carp sunning in skinny water.  Winds were already blowing hard when I arrived so I didn't spend too much time fishing.

Morning Carping

Spent couple hours in the late morning chasing down some carp.  Managed three to hand before I started filming off a mini tripod.  Once I did that it seemed like the fish got video shy and refused to take even at the most perfectly presented fly.  I could have sworn some of those were taken but it seemed only to spook the fish off.  I later learned my hook had broken off and would have at least doubled my tally for the day had I known.

Hiked 18 Total Miles To Catch One Fish Among Us

After monitoring weather reports, we decided to hit up the backcountry as cooler weather was predicted.  This cooler weather though came at a price, thunderstorms in the high country.  Despite knowing this we risked the tough fishing in the hopes we could fool a fish or two.

We left Thursday afternoon hoping to beat the holiday weekend traffic.  We arrive at the trailhead and with headlamps readied began our hike into the canyon as the sun was setting.  Knowing a full moon was in our future I packed a few mouse patterns in the slim hopes of getting an aggressive trout to come up at night.  We made camp and I threw a few casts without any success.  We noticed even with our headlamps the water was murky and visibility low.  Fishing tomorrow was going to be tough.

The plan was to hike in deep to an area we never seen before so we awoke made our breakfast and started our trek.  We tried not to let the murky water let us down but add the fact that it was going to be warm did not ease our minds.

Fishing was tough.  I tried every method possible- dries, dries and dropper, indicator nymphing, high sticking, Czech nymphing, drop shotting, streamer fishing with both floating line and sink tips.  Nothing.  To add insult to injury, cicadas and hoppers were abundant which would have been epic fishing had the conditions cooperated.

Chul finally hooked up with our only fish of the trip on a caddis pupa.  We pumped the stomach for contents and the fish was loaded with caddis pupa, larvae, mayfly nymphs of various sizes and a cicada.

We tried fishing a bit upstream until we decided to call it quits and head back to basecamp.  My new lightweight Patagonia Rock Grip boots I bought specifically for backcountry fishing disappointed me as it caused both heels to blister.  These made fishing even more miserable.  Moleskin didn't even help.  When we arrived back at camp we started preparing our freeze dried meals while we waited for the food to rehydrate we fished the twilight hours in the hopes of getting a trout to rise.  None were willing.  In fact we only saw four fish come up at this time.

In the morning we awoke, packed our gear and fished on the way out.  In retrospect we should have simply hiked out in the cooler early morning weather as the fishing was no better than the previous day despite the water clearing up to some degree.  We made it back to the truck treated with cold Gatorades, mango and oranges from the Yeti.  Our call to avoid driving home on Sunday was a brilliant move as the lower section of the river was an absolute zoo.  We headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch before heading home in time for the light show.

Happy Independence Day!

Canyon Lake Topwater Action

Lately I've been itching to catch some bucketmouths on poppers so when my buddy Luc texted me if I wanted to fish Canyon Lake, I jumped at the chance.  Originally Luc was to fish with guide Vaughn Podmore chasing yellowtail at Catalina this weekend but winds made Vaughn cancel the charter.

With his trip canceled Luc decided to fish Canyon for the weekend.  Yesterday he invited John and they did well with 20 fish among them in a very short 3 hour window.  And as always Luc doesn't lower himself to fish anything but poppers (at least on his lake).  Today I would join him to try our luck on the opposite side of the lake they were fishing.

Unlike public Socal lakes, Luc can launch his boat and fish anytime he wants.  So we fished prime time topwater hours hitting the water at 5am which meant I woke up after 3 hours of sleep at 3:30am to arrive at his house on time.

I started with the monster pink popper fly that I caught a beast at Barrett last year.  Luc was the first to hook up and after he managed a handful he suggest I change flies to a white or chartreuse popper.  When Luc makes a suggestion, it is wise to listen.  So I did as I only had one blow up (that I missed) as Luc was already managed a couple.

It was not long before I was on.  My first fish was a four pounder with many more that followed.  As always when Luc thought there was a fish sure enough a fish would come to the surface.

The intention was to only fish to about 9am as the topwater bite shuts down naturally once the sun hits the water but as we had some cloud cover we stay past 10am.  We could have continued but it was starting to get hot and most holes were already hammered by other fishermen so we packed it in.  I lost count of how many fish were landed but it was several, but I lost at least 3 and missed just as many if not more.

As It Used To Be

For the longest time I wanted to get a clopping carp.  So I hit up the local brown water to see if I could get a carp on a dry.  It was a calm overcast morning.

When I arrived on the water the carp were clopping but just not in the numbers as they were yesterday.  I put on a cottonwood seed fly I tied last night but it had no takers.  I'm not sure what they are feeding on but it must be small as I don't see anything coming off the water.  I switched to a parachute Adams.  Seeing several fish mudding and eating on the bottom, after an hour I gave up and decided to go subsurface. 

Frustrated I couldn't get any fish to take I moved to another section of the river.  This area was loaded.  The river is low and fish can be easily sight casted.  Humps could be seen all over as these they fed.  I managed more fish than I recall mostly in 6 pound range with the smallest at 4 pounds.  I did hook up with a fully charged carp that was at least 10 pounds and fought him for ten minutes until the fly popped out of his mouth 20 yards away.

This place used to be like this but its been years since I saw action this good.  It's good to see it back.  While I didn't get my clopper it was a great day.

Not Exactly The Yellow I Was Looking For

Tuesday I finally made it on board my buddy's boat.  We were chasing the yellowtail that are now up and down our coast.  Unfortunately the trip was a bust.  I didn't even take my fly rod out of its holder.  All we got were a few mackerel on the sabiki rig we were to use as chum.  Called it quits after a few hours when I started turning green.  So much for Dramamine.  It used to work for me.  Now I need to find an alternative.

This morning I had a desire to feel the tug so I hit the local brown water.  I debated whether to target bass or carp.  The morning was still overcast, ideal for some topwater bassing, but since the rod was already rigged for carp that was what I'd go after.  Once I hit the water I saw carp clopping.  I've only seen this once before and that time I had no dry flies in my box.  I changed out fly for an emerger dry.  I made several cast but none rose for my fly.  Eventually the cdc got wet and sunk my fly.  I continued to strip the fly as I saw a carp feeding beneath.  It took and spooked all the cloppers out of there.  So much for my chance at getting my first clopping carp.  The carp I hooked was in the five pound range.  I managed another similar in size later on a nymph.  I moved to another area, bushwacking through the reeds only to emerge out of there with a cramping right butt cheek.  I tired to stretch it out and then decided I had a enough for the day.

Articultated Squid Fly

Getting ready for the Summer bite.  Trying it on Tuesday.

Cachuma Lake. First World Problems

Yesterday I spent the day driving up to my old stomping grounds in Santa Barbara with buddy Joel.  He was to pick up his boat at the marina from repairs and drive it back to Redondo.  I would take his truck back while he and his buddy sail down the coast.  Since I didn't want to drive the truck through LA's weekend traffic I stayed in town until it died. 

I had a few things I wanted to accomplish while I killed time but since retrieving the boat took longer than anticipated I scratched all of them but one, fishing Cachuma Lake with the goal of landing a smallmouth. I didn't get on the water until past 2pm and the winds were already howling.  When I finally got my boat I set up my gear and after about ten minutes of struggling I was about to give up and turn the boat back in.  The boat was being dragged around and without a trolling motor my fly was swimming at an unnatural mach speed.  But I persisted and tried to make the best out of a crappy situation. 

I eventually found a somewhat sheltered cove to hide out but no fish were there at least none showed on the fish finder.  I left and started to keep the engine on while fishing using it was a trolling motor to slow down my speed.  When I started to figure this out I finally got my smallmouth for the day.  I rarely get a chance to fish for smallies and while he was no trophy, he was the largest one I ever caught.  By the end of the day I managed a small catfish and by then I figured I accomplished enough.  The wind was brutal and the greatest accomplishment for the day was that I didn't stick myself in the back with the fly.

After waiting  a month for repairs, Joel's boat is back on the water.  We'll be looking for yellowtail sometime next week.  Hopefully I'll get my first on a fly soon.  He and his buddy threw irons at paddies on their way back but came home empty-handed.

Complaining about the wind while fishing on a workday and living without a boat for a month.  Yeah, we have first world problems.

Long Time No See

Last night I headed out to the local brown water to try out my articulated mouse.  The outing was a waste of time as I was using the wrong rod (Sage DS2 8wt), one with not enough back bone, and a flyline that was at minimum in dire need of a cleaning if not replaced.  Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen this water in ages I had no clue where the possible bass holes were now located.  I came home empty handed but did managed to spook several large fish splashing in the darkness.

This morning I decided to return and try my luck at carp since I haven't really targeted them in a few years.  Without any polarized glasses and with the June gloom overcast day made it nearly impossible to see these fish.  I considered at one point of going after bass but decided against it and stayed with plan to stalk carp.  After searching and searching I finally saw a blob, a possible carp, in the water.  I concentrated hard on the object trying to figure out which side was the head and which was the tail.  Once I determined the carp's direction I made my first cast of the day and managed to hook him up.  Lazily it gave a half-hearted fight, using it's weight only to avoid being dragging in.  Eventually I landed him and released him.  I searched for more carp but none were easily sighted without polars so I gave up and headed back to the car.  On the way I ran into a coyote chasing a squirrel that he ended up devouring.

Mice Part Deux

After watching youtube videos of mice swimming, I've rearranged my articulated mouse pattern.  Mouse swim like dogs with most of their body submerged and only the head above water.  To mimic this I decided to wrap the tail end with rabbit strip and add a foam collar to add buoyancy to prevent it from dragging the whole fly down.  If only I had a legitimate trout water to try these out.  There is always largemouth but it's not the same.

Articulated Mouse Fly

 The trout's view.  About the size of the mouse at our campsite that ate through Chul's tent.

For the next backpacking trip...

A larger version I tied last summer that I forgot to add legs to.

Disappointing For Sure

Bow and Arrow Cast Required

Wanting to fish for trout, Chul and I hit up a local small creek that I knew would hold fish even with this drought.  I've fished this stretch of water many times in our last drought cycle and back then the fishing was good.  So much so for a long time this was my favorite local stream.  But it's been over a decade since the last time I fished here.  The water is canopied with trees so the water generally is flowing enough to sustain trout even with the lack of rainfall.  This stream always has been some of the most challenging water in our locals.  Casting lanes are few and far between and requires a fair number of rolls casts or bow and arrow casts.  Flies were lost but none on trout.  Fish are spooky, more so than I ever remembered.  Tough day all around as fish were not too readily willing to take and those that did came off as quickly as they came on.  Movement in and off the water is slow and time consuming.  Disappointing all around to say the least.

...To Those Who Wait

Last week it was cool and cloudy, ideal temperature for trout in our Sierra waters.  When I finally had some time to plan a backcountry trip, a heat wave comes in that almost put an end to that trip.  As days drew closer, we continued to monitor the weather in the hopes by some miracle the weather would turn but it did not look that way.  We considered all our other options and with drought conditions now for multiple years it looked like our options were nil.  We pressed ahead with our original plan.

Friday late morning we headed out with our backpacks ready.  After a 5 plus hour drive we made it to the trailhead and started our 2.8 mile hike down the canyon.  We arrived at a suitable campground and dropped our packs, rigged our rods and headed upstream.  With only about an hour of light we fished a few holes.  I managed a pair of rainbows and Chul managed one himself none larger than 10 inches.  All caught on dry flies.  So we managed to get the skunk off the for the day.

The next morning we finished our breakfast and headed upstream.  We started with dry.  Chul would add a dropper and began catching fish.  I followed suit afterwards.  At one section Chul spotted a hog but spooked when he tried to get his nymph in front of it.  After marking it on his GPS we moved on to come back for Hog Johnson.

With the heat beating down on us we continued to hike and fish.  It seemed every time I turned my head down the river Chul had a fish on.  I continued to struggle to manage any fish so I switched to a nymph rig figuring in this heat the fish would be down.  I managed a dink on my trailer fly and it came off.  At this point I had a few fish strike my flies but only to have them come off after a head shake.   Frustration grew as the day went on, after at least a half a dozen lost fish I was at my wits' end. We decided with this heat we would make it back to fish a few hole we bypassed earlier while heading upstream.

At on spot over a shallow cliff Chul spotted two nice fish feeding on emergers.  He gave me the hole knowing I was at critical anger levels.  My first cast, the wind picked up and blew my size 18 dry straight into a branch.  Stuck and not able to free the fly Chul took over and managed to land a beautiful 14.5 incher.  

As we made it back to basecamp, we overlooked the hole where Chul saw Hog Johnson.  There he was again facing downstream as this section of the river was creating a reverse current.  Chul stood above while I made my way down.  Tired and mentally exhausted I stumbled down the rocky side and created just enough vibrations to spook the fish.  Frustrated I climbed out and headed to camp.  We would return later and try again.

We rested our aching bodies while trying to keep cool in the shade in anticipation for the evening hatch.  At about 5:30pm we made our way back.  Our first destination was for Hog Johnson.  He was there again facing in the same direction.  I managed a few casts to him but he spooked again.  He left heading upstream to come back for him again later.

On the same section of river that Chul managed a few fish earlier I tried the same technique but was unable to hook up.  I looked downstream and Chul was on fish again.  What was he doing different than me?  I went down there and took his hole after he had some troubles releasing a fish.  I had multiple rises on my dry but could not stick any of them.  I was seriously in danger of the skunk.  We headed back for one last attempt at the Hog.  Chul spotted me from above as I made my casts at his direction. At this point canyon grew darker and I could now no longer see my dry fly so I had to rely on Chul to guide me. Drift after drift without a reaction my chances of getting the skunk became more and more a reality.  Finally Chul told me to put my fly just right of the faster current and hold there.  So I did and moments later Chul yelled "STRIKE."  I did as commanded and he was on.  The beast took and gave a half-ass fight.  Chul netted him and by the looks of it, he commented that with it's vibrant colors and less than enthusiastic fight he must be in post spawn mode.   Looking at him again, even with a thick body, it appears with his huge head and tail his body was somewhat disproportionate leading us to believe that theory to be correct.   The day long frustration turned to relief and jubilation so we ended the fishing on that high note and headed back to camp for chow and must needed sleep.

At camp we decided against fishing in the morning and head straight out of the canyon first thing on to beat the heat.  We rose at 5am began packing our gear.  It took about 1.5 hours to hike the 1200 feet of elevation.  We headed toward town for brunch.  Tired of heavy backpacking food I chose to have shrimp cerviche before heading back home.  The ride home was the usual banter of toilet comedy which is always entertaining and keeps the trip fun.