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| One of many beautiful pools and waterfalls in the area |
Day 2
The sound of song birds filled the cool morning air. It must have been about 5:30am when the sunlight began to penetrate the forest canopy and our restless slumber came to an end. I got up and began boiling water on my snowpeak gigapower stove. I surprised Erika with her new snowpeak 450ml mug in titanium green. We drank some Japanese earl gray tea that came in powder form. We ate some more random odds and ends and began cleaning camp to begin our trek upstream. Erika was fishing with my beloved 7'6" RDP custom 3wt. This is the fly rod that I used to complete the California Heritage Trout Challenge (I will someday post my report). I tied on my favorite warm weather fly for her, a size 14 yellow ice dubbed Stimulator. This is a common fly, however it was been a hot fly for me on most western freestone rivers. And especially our creeks. I tied my trusty standby fly for myself, a size 16 black caddis. We rigged up and headed upstream.
We reached a fork and followed a tributary for about a 1/4 mile. There was no evidence that a trout lived in this small stream and the stream side looked as though a hurricane hit. Downed trees and loose debris were everywhere. It looked dangerous and we headed back to the main fork.
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| Erika and Charles working some pocket water on the tributary. Look at all the debris! |
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Once we got back on track, things began looking much better. We found a nice pool that held more fish than it could probably support. Most of the fish were small. By this time, I switched my fly to the radiated Chernobyl ant. It's bright orange legs and foam body seemed to attract the big boys in the creek.
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| A granite water slide |
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| Erika connects her first fish of the trip! |
All three of us fished a giant pool and immediately Erika hooks up with a feisty trout. The fish was a fighter and put a nice bend in the rod. It was a respectable fish and it always makes me happy to see Erika's big ole smile when she lands her fish. We scouted up to the next pool and I sighted the real deal. This trout looked to be at least 13" in length with a well formed body. I told Erika to take the pool, that fish had her name all over it. Charles and I guided her and reminded her to time her cast properly. After a few casts, she managed to get the big boy to rise for the fly. It was only on momentarily until the fly came unbuttoned. The disappointment on her face was unbearable but we re-assured her that she would get it next time. It was all the pressure she says... I believe you.
Just upstream was even a larger pool. Charles got first cast on it and connected with some nice fish. I was casting to the right side of the pool, which gave me an awkward casting angle. I aimed for the waterfall and let the current drift my Chernobyl ant. In a flash I saw a enormous rainbow rise for one ultra aggressive take. The take was so big it created a wake in the pool. This trout must have been in the 15-16" range at least. The nervous energy jolted me and I missed the take.. second cast and the take was much weaker. The fish had become tight lipped and that was a Que for lunch.
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| It looks like the foot of a tree ent from Lord of the Rings. |
We allowed the pool to reset and Charles fished a mouse pattern with no result. I switched to a small streamer pattern which also produced zero takes. Hmmm... We will have to return another day. It was slightly passed noon and we all decided to hike out and fish some pocket water along the way. Some nice fish were caught along the way, however nothing compared to the rainbow that I caught the day before and the trout I had missed earlier. Our quest to find the champion trout of the socal trout streams will not end. We shall be back. It is an honor to have such beautiful and healthy trout fisheries so close to home. Sometimes I feel that we are spoiled, as many of these fine streams are over looked for the more famed sierra Nevada blue ribbons.
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