Last Day of the Trip

Having gotten more than enough fish the previous days, the last day for the most part was a travel day.  I did wet my line early in the morning near camp just to see if I could get on to rise.  No luck as it was still to cold.  After breakfast and some packing up we made our way out but not before checking out the meadow area.  The conditions were sorry and water low and all I saw were fingerlings.  I did see two fish rise that I casted to but considering I was fishing a size 12 and 5x tippet it was futile.  The water here was barely moving and a long 7 or 8x may have been more appropriate.  My gear still in the truck, having only grabbed my rod, I decided to call it quits.  I figured the fish were not big enough for me to bother rerigging.  Additionally we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible so we could avoid the Sunday traffic.

Day 2 Slump Busting

Over half the year has past and my fishing buddy had yet to catch a fish and not from a lack of trying.  This trip was intended to be a confidence boaster and a slump buster.  And it sure was with fish readily willing to take a dry.  I can't speak for him but I easily had 100 fish to hand.   Fish ranged from local mountain sized dinks to fish in the 12 inch range.  My Sage SLT one weight was the perfect rod for this trip and made each fish quite sporting.  Saturday was the water quite busy, more so than either of us had experienced on this water.  Also it was a lot hotter than expected which caused us to stop fishing and take a midday siesta until just before five.  By then all the fishermen had quit and returned for supper.  This gave us the run of the river.  I looked for my "glory hole" from the day before in the hopes that that foot long golden had returned.  My initial hike to it, I overshot and missed it.  When I realized I'd passed it, I decided to backtrack but not before casting into a run with some rising fish.  Here I managed my best brown of the trip around a 12 inches.  After a few here I headed downstream to find my trophy.  I found it and made my cast into it and had a solid 10 inch golden take.  While nice, it was not the fish I wanted.  No other would take after that ruckus.  So we moved upstream heading to an area of slower water where huge fish could be seen in the submerged grass.  It was all but impossible to make any good drift to these fish and so we continued.  At the beaver dam I stopped to cast to rising fish.  From here we had no shortage of willing fish and we only added to our fish count.  Exhausted we headed back before dark to prepare dinner.

Huell Howser Country Day One

Ever since the Sherminator introduced me to golden trout well over a decade ago, I've shared his quest to land one at least 12 inches in moving water.  The foot long marker is an easy feat in our high country lakes but pretty tough in our rivers and creeks.  The closest he ever came was 10 inches.  I managed to reach the foot long goal only to have the fish escape my grasps while I waited for the camera to focus on the fish.  The above picture was a conciliatory fish of about 10 inches I caught moments after losing my trophy golden. 

We started our trip Friday late morning hoping to beat the weekend traffic.  Of course with Southern California that's hit or miss.  This time it was a miss and getting out of the IE was slow.  We managed lunch in Adelanto but we needed to eat outside in the 100 degree weather because Chul had brought his pup and we couldn't leave her in the truck.  After deciding on Rubio's we waited for our food in the patio area, one without any shade.  Being in the high desert high winds picked up it blow my cup of water and salsa cups right in my lap.  As if I wasn't already annoyed with the traffic as well as agitatied from seating in the heat without shade, now I had a lap full of salsa verde and I look like I just pissed my pants. This is one hell of a start.

After rushing through my lunch, as all I wanted to do was get out of the desert heat and get into the air conditioned truck, we made our way north.  After elevated somewhere around 10,000 feet, we made camp.  The only campsite left on the river.  By this time it was sometime just before 7pm giving us about an hour and a half of light.  It did not take long before my one weight was being bent.  I managed several dink goldens and a handful of respectable browns.

I reached a small pocket that required me to make a curve cast so not to hit the fallen log behind it or the overhanging branch in front of it.  I made the perfect cast and was rewarded with a strike.  With the rod bent to the cork it felt heavy and I had to gingerly coax it away from tangling itself in the overhanging branch I just avoided.  Once landed, it was my trophy golden after all, I held it waiting for the camera to focus before I clicked the shutter.  In that time he gave me a squirm and was away before I could document it for the Sherminator.    I can hear it now "Pics or it didn't  happen."  Damn, what next salsa in my pants?  Oh wait...To Be Continued.

Sorry Koj

Koji was here on a business trip which ended in Bakersfield, so Saturday I met up with him on the river in the hopes of getting him a KRR.  Unfortunately it was a bust and with only a few hours to fish before he had to catch a flight back to Japan, we only managed  to fish a couple holes before he had to leave.  It was skunk all around.  The water looks sorry.

Preseason Turkey Scouting

Putting a Stalk On a Ground Squirrel.

With turkey season right around the corner, it was time to scout our areas for signs of birds.  We decided to check out an old area and scout for some new ones.  We spent the morning glassing meadows and the tree lines looking for birds but found none.  Though there were some tracks of various game, we saw only a few indications of the big birds mostly under the oaks scavenging the remaining acorns.  After an exhaustive search we switched gears and having brought my Beeman RX1 .20 airgun I started my attention to ground squirrels.  I managed to put a stalk or two on a couple but failed to connect despite having a perfect opportunity.  My gun was recently rebuilt and I only had a chance to zero the gun with JSB Diabolo Exacts but mistakenly brought Crosman Premiers that were in my pellet pouch from the last time I hunted.  I thought I had switched them out but apparently not.   A chump move.  Without knowing the exact zero of the gun I failed to connect on different two occasions shooting above the intended target of the head. 

After those failed opportunities it was time to head out.  We did look for other spots but none were promising and we called it a day.  The heat is back in Southern California and made scouting tough as it felt like summer.  I hope the cool weather comes back.

Vet Gives The Go Ahead

After Kaiser's bout with bloat in December I accepted the fact that the wingshooting season for us was over.  But after a visit to the vet, she had given us the all clear to begin normal life.  With only one week left in the season, I decided to bite the bullet and buy all the bird stamps.

We made it to the Eastern Sierras late afternoon on Tuesday.  I tried a small creek that usually produces but without any luck.  I then paid a visit to my old friend Dave who let me know that the LADWP had dried up some ponds and diverted it to a new location.  So we went to check it out only to find a pair of hunters leaving the area.  No birds in sight.

The next morning we hunted the river and managed to flush a pair of mallards too far out of range. Not long after I managed a shot at a drake ringneck only to miss.  Afterwards we decided to head to the Upper to do some fishing and found the river loaded with fishermen on every bend.  What the heck?  Why some many people midweek?  I didn't even want to bother so we checked out some nearby areas for duck but without any luck.  So we headed down the valley.  I was looking for some old ponds but ended up wasting time driving around.  I didn't really hunt the area last year as Jeff invited me to his duck club most weekends so my memory was bit hazing as to where these locations were exactly.  When I did find these areas they were void of ducks.  So I tried some parts of the river I knew usually held birds.  The Owens is getting harder and harder to jump shoot.  There simply is too much overgrowth.  You can barely get to the water anymore.  In a year or two a lot of the water will be inaccessible.  We did mange to see a covey of quail but they were in a residential area likely wild "pets" of the residents.

Thursday morning I decided we will head to the Upper and fish for a couple hours and hunt the rest of the day.  On the way up we saw a herd of 40 or more deer all does.  Geese lined the river but would have been impossible to hunt as there is no cover to conceal a stalk. Anyway I wanted to rest Kaiser somewhat as he is not in full hunting strength.  I did not want to push him too hard.

Jeff had suggested a new streamer technique for the Upper that he used with great success in the past so I wanted to try it.  By 9am there were all ready four cars on the river.  I managed a spot on the river and tried my luck for two hours.  No success.  We headed down the valley in search of birds.

The old man asked to stop by a shop to get some beef jerky.  I said I can do better and took him to the Mahogany Smoked Meats.  After sampling a few we ended with the elk and wild boar jerky.  We started our way south stopping a few locations.  I managed to jump another pair.  After missing the first shot I carefully aimed at the second.  Clearly missing even more.  I completely stopped my swing and shot under him as he was raising.  Eventually we flushed another pair, I connected and saw the drake mallard fall on the opposite bank in the reeds.  I had to navigate a way for the dog and I to cross.  When we did we looked for the bird only to lose it.  I can't believe we lost it.  We looked for at least half an hour or more.  I marked it well but it either dove or somehow swam away while we were trying to cross the river.  The wingshooting season ends this Sunday and it is unlikely we'll head out again but at least Kaiser was able to do what he loves at least once this year. I think in the future I will forego cast and blast type trips.  For me it's too distracting, either focus on fishing or focus on hunting.

Still Looking For Those Monster Snowbows

After last Sunday's outing and with monster snowbows were still on our minds we headed out Friday for another shot at this migratory beasts.   Friday's fishing was tough.  I manged to get two to bite but just could not get them to stick.  I saw the first one perhaps in the 20 inch range come out of a shallow undercut and take my nymph but he spit the fly out just after I tried to set the hook.  Though I did not see her, the other slammed my streamer hard in a deep undercut.  While trying to set the hook I yanked the fly right out of her mouth.

Saturday we fished in near blizzard conditions.   Snow dumped on us off and on in the morning.  By the afternoon the storm passed.  With it our hopes of activating the fish.  I could only manage a 10-12 incher for my all my efforts and lost another of similar size. Well it's better than the skunk, it's still disappointing.  Time is running out for these winter beasts before they head back to the lake.

I'll try again.  Hopefully I'll get my beast before time runs out.

Suicide Run

Long story short.  Six hour middle of the night drive.  Fish for four hours. Lost one.  Chul lost two; both in the 20 inch range.  Managed a modest 15 incher to hand.  Another six hour drive home.  Back by midnight.

Sinn 856 UTC back on the wrist.

A Different Type Of Hunting

Given the fact that hunting with my dog is likely over for this season, I decided to head out to the outdoors to find a different quarry all together.  I'm a complete novice when it comes to mushroom hunting but I thought I'd give it a try.  If anything it would be nice excuse to get some much needed exercise.

From my understanding it's not really mushroom season in the traditional sense but the way the California weather has been acting nature is in a bit off it's schedule.  Much of the woods acts as if it's spring.  Ferns are out which normally grows after winter.  We did not find any edible mushroom but we did find a few polypores.  Some may have been Turkey Tails and I believe the ones pictured above are Gilled Polypores but I could easily be mistaken.

Above are some pictures of the mycelium.  When conditions are right, the mycelium forms a fruitbody, pushing the mushroom up in order to disperse spores.

On the way back to the truck, we were shocked to see some domesticated turkey in the parking lot.  Apparently someone abandoned them recently and left them to fend for themselves. 

Will Always Remember Her First

On the day before New Year's Eve, my niece's full last day in California, I decided to take her our fishing in an attempt to get her her first fish.  I knew Mission Viejo Lake had recently stocked the day prior and I called my mate to see if he could get us in.  Without hesitation he obliged.  Since I do not own any fishing equipment other than fly I asked if he could bring his spin gear and some powerbait.

I planned on both Chul and I fish flies and Juliette mess around with the spin gear.  It was not long before we were on a fish.  Chul had casted the rod for her and in no time at all was on a fish.  He handled the rod to Juliette and guided her on fighting the fish.

We landed the 15 inch Tailwater stocker in my new Brodin net.  We ready our selves for pictures to text back to her parents.  After a few I lost the grip of the rainbow and as it flopped around in the boat it scaring her somewhat.  But it was not long before she regained her confidence and began admiring her first catch.

The fishing essentially shutdown after that and both fly fishermen came home without a catch.  After two hours we called it a day.  I've never seen Juliette so proud and excited.  When we came home she could not help but let everyone know how she did and to show off her first fish.  We had planned to watch the new Star Wars movie together in the afternoon but decided to memorialize her catch and make a gyotaku print of the fish instead.

Rough Way to End The Year

It was a rough last few weeks of 2015 as Kaiser was taken to the emergency room in the middle of the night and operated on for bloat.  He has since recovered with the staples and Elizabethan collar removed but now is treated for heart arrhythmia.  Looks as though the hunting season is officially over.  It ended before it began.