Mercury Rising

Fishing large mouth bass by morning, dry fly fishing for wild trout by evening, running down lost fishing buddies by midnight.  It was a long day... however I still woke up by 5:30am for the morning hatch.


The plan was to backpack a short ways into the wild trout section of the Kern River.  Tuck and Joseph were to meet us on the river sometime in the evening.  Erika had some red and white lacey string to mark our campsite.  I told Tuck to stop when he finds lingerie string hanging from one of the trees.  By midnight, beams of light and muffled chatter rattled Erika awake.  A shoulder shove later, I was awake and disoriented.  We figured it was the guys and I scrabbled up the trail and began  running.  Nearly forty five minutes later our fishing party is finally united.  A few Sierra Nevada's and a few hours later our fishing adventure begins.


The first evening prior to meeting with Tuck and Joseph had phenomenal dry fly fishing.  I only fished about one hour that evening.  Between 7pm-8pm one of the largest Caddis hatches I have ever witnessed unfolded in front of me.  Countless trout were rising, tail whipping, jumping in a feeding frenzy.  My hands trembled as I couldn't seem to tie my knots fast enough.  A tan size 16 deer hair caddis tied on a TMC 2312 did the trick. 

With the epic hatch I had experienced the prior evening, I was expecting  legendary dry fly fishing all day.  By mid morning, yellow sallies, golden stone flies, caddis, sulphur duns were all buzzing around.  Yet.. not a single rise.  The air temp was already pushing into the high 80's.  By noon the temperature must have already hit 100 degrees F.  But lots of bugs.

Golden Stonefly

Yellow Sally

PMD

I abandoned the dry fly and setup a two nymph rig.  Large stonefly as the point fly with a yellow sally nymph as the trailing fly.  I gave Erika a primo piece of water and instantly we were rewarded with rapid fire takes.

Talon Scars

By 3pm the fishing died.  It was hot and we were tired.  We hiked a few miles back to camp and met up with Tuck and Joseph.  We all snoozed for a few hours to rest before the evening hatch.  I headed downriver with Erika while the guys went upriver.  The hatch wasn't as impressive as the night before, however we both got more than we could count.  I was most successful on a size 16 x-caddis.

We were entertained by hundreds of swirling caddis surrounding a Black Diamond Apollo light,  as the center piece of our night.

Land of The Lost

June gloom is here in full swing in southern California.  Overcast days were hit and miss in May, and unfortunately the last Perris outing was a bust.  This time, we may have got more than we asked for... The morning was overcast for sure, however the visibility was less than 20' when we arrived.  The shoreline was hidden behind the curtain of fog and distant outlines became mind bending illusions.  I was expecting velociraptors and pterodactyls to appear as if we fell through a wormhole. 

As the fog slowly lifted, Charles and I finally realized that we had nearly lapped the middle island of the lake.  Nearly an hour was wasted fighting through the fog and weeds, we finally find the cove we were looking for.  I only brought one rod with me on this trip, my Sage XP 890 with RIO Powerfly floating line.  I started with a size 2 frog popper, working the reed lines and sticks.  It didn't take long to get my first and last topwater take.

 

The water in this cove was only a foot deep in sections.  Carp were tail walking over the reeds and making a ruckus.  Not many large mouths were found in this cove when compared to a few weekends in the past.  We left and headed east.  The sun pierced through the cloud layer by the time we reached the east cove and damselfly activity increased.  We switched to a foam backed adult damselfly that I tied the night before.

The damselfly got several takes but failed to connect due to poor timing or distractions.  Working fly line and flies in the sticks required zen patience as it will quickly wear down ones mind and spirit.  I will most likely tie more of these patterns and experiment with different hook types per Charles recommendation.  Once we left the east cove, Charles tied on his fugly fly which saved him from the skunk.  On our way out, the motor died yet again.  We rowed to the launch ramp this time as carrying it out of the beach was a hard lesson learned.  Hopefully covering distance will be easier with Cruise n Carry 6600 gas motor I picked up over the weekend.  Lets hope this Japanese machinery from the 80's will be as dependable as the cars from that era.

Headwaters

I woke up semi charged from the brutal lake Perris beat down.  My breakfast consisted of two advil chased with a cup of black coffee.  Without hesitation, I pulled the creekin' gear out of storage and drove off into the morning mist.

It just happens that exactly one year ago I backpacked into this fishery with Erika and Charles.  It was a much different fishery back then and I knew that the future of this fishery depended on it's headwaters.  Many pools that held many 14"+ trout had receded deep into underground aqua firs. I hiked on determined to find water and wild trout.

1yr ago this pool filled halfway up the boulder.

 Mariposa Lilies were showing their blooms, however the population seemed smaller this year.  I believe the species in sequence is C. plummerae and C. invenustus. 

The big-cone Douglas-fir were fruiting along the trail.. One of my favorite local conifers as it is endemic to the transverse range mountains. 

I finally find what I am looking for...

and plenty of these...

I also noticed a species of Mimulus that I do not remember seeing in the past.  At first glance I thought it was the common monkey flower M. guttatus.  Although, the flowers looked larger, the stems were shorter, leaves were smaller and overall plant was more compact. 

The remaining pools at the headwaters were loaded with a healthy population of rainbow trout.  If these pools remain through summer we should have a healthy supply of trout ready for downstream migration.  Let's just hope we get a wet winter.

Ouch!

Charles and I left for Perris at 5:15am to get on the topwater bite asap.  The weather forecast was calling for hot and sunny conditions all day.  By 5:45am the sun was already blazing with no cloud cover.  I had a feeling it was going to be a tough day. 

We fished the shallows and threw poppers most of the morning.  Not a single bass came up for my fly.  Charles had a handful of missed opportunities and eventually we switched to streamers.  I rigged the 6wt with T3 Outbound sinktip.  We switched flies several times and Charles finally got a take on his fugly fly.  I tied on the swamp mutant bugger that I have success with at Prado lake.  Eventually I got a hard take and hard fight from am angry foul hooked bluegill.  Ouch!

If the fishing wasn't hard enough why should it end there?  The trolling motor limped about halfway to the boat ramp until it basically died.  About a quarter mile later we paddled and carried the lifeless pram to the parking lot.  What a day...

My Happy Place

I took advantage of the three day Memorial day weekend and returned to my happy place with Erika.  Not much to say other than it was as beautiful as ever.  The river was not as low as I originally expected it to be either.  The water temperature was incredibly cold.  So cold.  Wet wading could only be tolerated in short bursts until I felt body parts turn to ice. The golden stoneflies were hatching as well as sulphur dun's and a blizzard hatch of midges just before sun-fall.  Most of my fish were caught on a size 10 golden rubber legged stimulator.   I suspect this fishery to be prime mid June- July. 

Setup the garage.  I think it will make a nice place to tie flies and drink some brews during a sierra storm.

I am returning for you soon.

Alone at Prado

Since I got off work at 8:00am, I returned to Prado Lake to scratch away the topwater itch.  The lake was calm and glassy.  Clouds were just beginning to burn off and the topwater bite only lasted about an hour before I had to fish subsurface.  Considering that the lake was all to myself, I had expected the bass action to be more intense.  Large clumps of algae floated on the lake's surface and the water had a unusual tint to it.  Not thinking much of it at the time, I later asked a work buddy that used to control algae on lakes.  He confirmed that my description sounded like a copper sulfate treatment. 

The fishing was slow all morning and I called it quits around 1pm.  Water temps in the upper water column was 75degrees according to the finder.  It may be awhile before I return to this lake.

Topwater

Off guard and struggling with limited resources, our unexpected journey to Lake Perris was a hard battle.  The fishing partner showed up around 5:45 thinking that Prado Lake opened around 6:00am.  Tough times for us continues and I wasn't going to sit around until Prado opened their gates at 8:00pm.  We returned to my place to collect extra needed gear and made a mad dash to Perris.

Thinking that we were going to be fishing Prado, I did not bother charging my trolling motor battery or fish finder for that matter.  Nothing went as planned and we sailed off with a 50% charged battery and dead finder.  We were to fall back on good old instincts.  Luckily the sky was cloudy however wind made the topwater bite difficult that day.  I managed three topwater bass all on the frog gurgler fly.  I did get to fish with my new Winston BIIMX saltwater 6wt fly rod that I got for a steal on eBay.  It can really throw large flies with authority all while busting through wind.  It's my new versatile streamer stick that has accompanying me to the bay, bass lakes and eventually large trout water.

The new streamer rod.

Life support.  We limped into the boat ramp with 5% battery power.

Leviathan

Several tough outings have been endured since my last report from Newport Bay.  Saltwater and freshwater Bass have been a love hate relationship for me the past few weeks.  With the exception of Prado Lake giving me a semi great day with about seven LMB in the boat within a few hours.  A juggernaut Prado largemouth muscled my 6wt into a maze of criss crossing braches where I lost it.  This trout fisherman has strayed too far from the creeks and rivers where he belongs...

The original plan was to fly fish for LMB at Irvine Lake.  I was looking forward to topwater explosions with my 8wt early in the AM.  Since most of my local  bass fisheries have just gone into post spawn, the bass have been tight lipped and wary.  Usually I am gung ho when fishing is involved, however this time I felt skeptical since my success rate has been devastatingly low this season.  With great reports coming out of San Diego and tide showing a good swing, the decision was made.

We met up with Tuck and Joseph on Coronado Island around 7:30am.  It was lowtide but the tide movement was decent.  Charles and I were in the Pram while Tuck and Joseph fished out of a tandem Kayak.  Erika contributed a birthday gift for the Pram.  A humminbird Piranhamax 175PT.  Depth finding is no longer a mystery and bottom structure can now be easily identified.  This old pram is slowly but surely getting it's upgrades.

I tied on a size 6 ghost shrimp pattern and stripped about 30' of fly line out until I noticed knots and tangles within the spool.  The fly line was beginning to look like a giant rubber band ball and I stubbornly tried fixing it without having to cut the fly off and strip all the line back in.  Instead, I cast the fly out and let it sink while I untangled the mess.  Within five minutes the fly was hit and I hand lined the bay bass in with half a reel and a pile of tangled fly line at my feet.

After getting the line straightened out and back on the spool the tide movement slowed and the bite was off for the next few hours.  We moved location and followed the depth finder to appropriate holding grounds.  Charles managed a few spotties and I had nothing until the big pull.

 The fishing was incredibly slow in the AM and Tuck and Joseph paddled over to our boat to get an update.  I was stripping my ghost shrimp pattern with short controlled strips.  The line went tight, I set the hook and it felt like a pit bull was thrashing on the other end.  I hand lined it thinking it was a large saltwater bass species.  It wasn't long until the leviathan ripped line out of my hand, off the reel and into the backing.  My Sage One 590-4 and Lamson LS-2 engaged in a David vs. Goliath duel with this creature from the salt.  A fine tuned trout rod at heart,  It was lacking muscle that my Sage XP 890 would have had.  It was up to me to orchestrate a precision fight with the overpowered fish.


The drag was set loose since I wasn't expected a fight on my reel.  I waited for an opportunity for the fish to stop so I could adjust my drag.  Every pull on the rod translated to vicious head shakes  and another long hard run.  The lactic acid was beginning to put the burn in my forearm and this rod has no fighting butt.  I impatiently switched hands to tune the drag.  It gave a sudden hard run and the line went limp.  Devastating.

I sat quiet for the next thirty minutes in contemplation.  Next time I'm letting it run and I will pursue with my trolling motor.  Lesson's learned...

The rest of the day was lukewarm fishing.  Several bay bass came to hand and a rather heavy one was lost.  We all rallied at some local mexican food joint and I left San Diego with both heart break and heart burn.  I can only speculate what I lost.  Some exotics such as the cortez bonefish have been known to come up from the Baja Peninsula.  A large croaker species, and white sea bass are other guesses.  I'll never know.