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.

Home

Originally, I had intentions to explore the south fork of the Kern river in search for large brown trout this weekend.  It has been a few years since I have fished the south fork  and I remember monstrosities that lived within.  Reading that the water level is frighteningly low throughout most of the south fork, I decided to abandon that adventure for another year.  My most recent fascination has been focused on the Trinity, for my longtime quest for Steelhead Trout and Chinook Salmon.  Being from southern California, it is difficult to find the time or finances to pursue a proper steelhead adventure.  Instead, I get to quench my thirst for fly fishing on some beautiful local creeks.  Always in search for that hidden giant.

The water level was low for the most part.  These boulders were nearly submerged not long ago.

 

 

Overall, the fishing was challenging.  Since the water was shallow, the fish were on edge and spooked easily.   Approaching the water had to be careful and a gentle fly presentation was demanded from these fish.  I managed two brown trout, one was a juvenile and the other was mature and had the signature markings and color of a quality brown trout.  All fish were caught on dry flies and released.

A forest of conifers, consisting of Big-cone Spruce, Sugar Pine, and White Fir.

We took the ski-lift up to the mt baldy notch for our sunset dinner reservations.  This is the first time I have seen this area of the mountain devoid of snow.  This is my favorite local mountain to snowboard after a massive snow storm.

Colorful lichen and a gnarled root decorate this rock ledge.

Halfway to the top.  Its about a 20min ride one way.

Blazing star at the baldy notch with a pollinator.

We ended the day with a few cold one's and a nice steak dinner at the baldy notch.  The enchanting tunes of Hawaiian music set a relaxing mood and as far as I knew, I was thousands of miles from home.  

sun setting at the notch.

Unicorn Trout

A rare colored rainbow.  Even the pelvic fins were a rare translucent form.

Since exploring a new stretch of water in my local mountains this past weekend I've been captivated by a truly rainbow colored trout.  As I stood above a shallow run, my eyes were captured by colors of aquamarine and sapphire blue oscillating  in the hypnotic flow of the water.  Never have I seen such striking colors in our mountain creeks.  As Erika and Charles stood watch, I stealthy approached the trout from downstream.  With a blink of my eyes the trout had vanished... While many fine trout were caught this day, the unicorn trout haunted me all day and night.  I had to return.

It took me three attempts to hunt this trout and I finally made it rise to my size 12 orange legged stimulator.  What a fitting colored trout for the fourth of July! It was more spectacular than any firework display could offer me.  The trout shimmered in the clear water like a hologram as it slowly slithered out of my hand and back into the depths.  All I can say is that I left the creek that day with a big smile. 

A fine trout Erika caught all on her own.  Awesome job!

Small but beautiful.  Reminds me of the Kern River Rainbows.

One stout socal trout.

Erika working upstream.

My main bug.  The rocks were loaded with size 8 stone fly casings.

Delphinium cardinalis

  

Calochortus plummerae

 

 

 

 

Caddis larva. Approx. size 16-18.  The body is olive green with a black head.

I've had three days of glory on my local trout stream despite some unnecessary obstacles along the way... such as attempting to tow out a dug in truck about twice the size of mine... and nearly shattering my windshield for payment of my effort.  Happy Independence Day!

Bad Roads and Sore Feet = Good Fishing

A robust wild socal rainbow

I trekked deep into my local mountains in search for "big" socal wild trout.  One of my favorite things to do besides fly fishing and fly tying, is studying topographic maps.  I've always had a fascination with maps and would find myself getting lost in time following trails and watersheds.  Sometimes I find some untapped fisheries in our local mountains that hold some fine fish for our small creek standards. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to wander the trout streams in my local mountains and cast dry flies.

Erika and I explored what has become one of my favorite local trout streams.  The trout are surprisingly large for the size of this creek and willing to take dry flies.  We both fished 3'wt's and I started with a size 12 foam hopper  and Erika proudly used her "ugly ant" fly.  I approached a large pool and with the first cast, a fat rainbow leaped for the hopper and missed.  On the second cast, it was more wary however it eventually took the fly.  The trout nose dived and the fly came unbuttoned when I tried setting the hook.  I consistently missed hook sets with this fly and I eventually changed to a size 12 PMX.  Erika was having a hard time hook setting with her foam bug as well, and maybe the trout were just biting the foam and letting go.

My new toy

I picked up a few new toys at the REI sale and one of them is the Steripen Adventurer.  Since I was getting tired of carrying multiple bottles, I thought this would be a efficient way of hydrating myself.  I have a sweetwater mechanical filter that I use for backpacking, however it is far too bulky for day hiking.  The Steripen kills bacteria, viruses and protozoa with UV light, and it only takes a mere 30sec to treat .5L.  Since it has been three days since I drank the treated water without suffering from Montezuma's revenge, I'm going to say it works...

One of the many beautiful spots along this creek

It is surprising where trout can be holding in this shallow pocket water.  While there are some pool's that may be 6' deep, most of the larger fish that were caught were in shallow runs.  I caught and lost a rainbow at least in the 13" class and it bullied me into a tree branch where it went free.  Erika was fishing a pool just upstream from me and had a large trout take a black caddis.  She was stunned by the size of the fish and failed to set the hook.  We fished upstream and I sighted another trout at least 13".  On the second cast, the fish slowly sipped the black caddis  and dove.  I told her to set the hook and the fight was on! This fish pulled like no other socal trout she has fought, without much room to let the fish run she had to hold the line tight.  The trout eventually broke the line at the knot and I could see the look of disappointment in her as the trout disappeared into the pool.

This rainbow has a strange forked tail and quasi motto humpback

We had a great day exploring the socal back country.  The weather was perfect and it would have been nice to camp for the night.  Were going to return with Charles this weekend and find the big ones that got away.  There is still at least 5 miles to explore upstream and it gets me amped thinking of what may be lurking ahead of us.

Some native flora along the trail:

Calochortus spp. One of my local favorites in the lily family.  There was a significant population in the area.

Manzanita on steroids.  I wish there was someone in the photo for scale.  Among the largest specimens I have ever seen.

Leptodactylon californicum.  A plant the polemonium family.

The forest is dominated with Alder, Big Leaf Maple, Califonia Live Oak, Sycamore, and Incense Cedar

Discovery

Anaxyrus californicus

After years of exploring the local trout streams, we finally see an Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus).  These toads blend in with granite incredibly well, so well that I would have walked right passed it.  Since these toads are considered a federally endangered species, they can not be handled or harassed in any way.  In fact, one of the management strategies to secure the survival of this species is to reduce trout population.  Apparently,  the trout are eating the toad eggs and tadpoles... Some creeks are going as far as installing fish barriers.  Obviously this Arroyo toad has survived these wily trout despite their abundant population in this creek. Hopefully these animals can work out a deal...

Dudleya densiflora (left), Pellaea andromedifolia (right)

Saturday was a day of discovery.  Not only did we see the federally endangered Arroyo Toad, we found the rare and endangered San Gabriel Mtns. Dudleya (Dudleya densiflora).  We also found a White Globe Lily (Calochortus albus), which is a "fairy lantern" form of one of my favorite local wild-flowers. Only one White Globe Lily was noticed growing along the main trail, while many common perennials such as yarrow and yellow monkey flower were showing off their spring display.

Calochortus albus

 

This was also a day where I was fortunate enough to fly-fish on a new creek in my local mountains.  It was reminiscent of its neighboring streams, however it had a look and feel all its own.  It is always exciting to explore a new trout stream in our local mountains.  It is the kindling that add fire to my tireless search for the "big one" in our local mountains.  The two times that I caught my record fish in these mountains I was without a camera! however, there are two witnesses out there that can testify my catch.  The two largest rainbows that I have caught in my local  creek were on stimulator patterns.  The first rainbow was a fat 13incher with a beautiful rosy pink gill plate and lateral line, the scales were silvery and lacked dark parr marks.  I was fishing with Tuck on this day and when him and I saw the fish, we were stunned.  I felt like I hit the jack pot and I could not even imagine catching a larger fish.  It was almost a guilty feeling when I approached the next hole to cast my fly.  As soon as the fly hit the water I saw a monster head rise to take my fly that ended with one aggressive tail-whip.  The line went tight and the fight was on.  This particular hole was rather small and log jammed with fallen Alder trees.  The fish was going to flee into the log jam and I had to stop it.  Without hesitation I jumped into the hole to quickly net the brute before it made a tangled mess.  What came out of the net was one hefty dark colored rainbow that easily pushed into the 15inch range.  While a 15inch trout may seem average on a big river, it is definitely a "monster" trout in our local creek.  I'm sorry Tuck, I'll give you every perfect run and pool from now on.

The trout that I caught on this new creek were small-average, however they were plentiful and willing to strike dry flies without hesitation.  It seems that nearly every cast produced a fish that day and it was becoming annoying to catch the dinks as I would have to constantly re-dress my fly.  I fished with the same ice dubbed size 18 caddis the entire time without even trying the giant Chernobyl ant.  

Possibly the smallest trout I've caught.  Look at those dark parr marks!

This is an average sized trout for these creeks.  For what they lack in size, they make up with fighting spirit and admirable colors.  These trout resemble the Little Kern River Golden Trout that I caught in the Golden Trout Wilderness.

The beauty of these creeks never tire me. 

Even though I did not catch a Henry Fork 20incher, these local creeks are gems to me that provide countless hours of fun dry fly fishing.  Until then, I will continue my search for the 20incher in one of my local creeks... I know your out there somewhere.

Cushenbury buckwheat

While this is not a fly fishing post, this small botanic gem shares the same geologic range as the wild trout that inhabit the San Bernardino mountains.  I was fortunate enough to receive this Cushenbury buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. vineum) from Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.  So, I did not commit a federal crime and poach it.  This plant is listed as federally endangered and is endemic to California. It's range is restricted to the northern calcareous slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains.  So folks, be careful if you find yourself trekking through the Pinyon Juniper woodland while bushwhacking to find that secret trout stream.

Culturing such a rarity is somewhat of a mystery.  It is impossible for me to replicate the conditions of it's native geographic range.  Since I have never actually seen this plant growing in the wild, I can only assume that it prefers dry calcium rich soil.  I mixed some potting soil composed of peat moss, sand, pumice and dolomite lime (I do not remember the ratio).  The plant seems to accept the soil mixture and the light levels where it grows in my patio.  It bloomed without much care or water and it has been flowering for at least one week now.  The flower arrangement of this plant is an umbel, and each individual flower has a pedicel connecting it to the stem, like the spokes of an umbrella. Each flower is cream-white and approx. 3-4mm across.  The flower is perfect meaning it has both male and female reproductive parts and the anthers are pink-burgundy in color. It seems that the younger anthers are pink and turn burgundy as they age. The leaves are spatulate and tomemtose and measure 4-5mm across.   

This is not a plant that most people would regard as a garden plant, however it does have some ornamental value.  The compact nature of this plant would lend itself well to the shrinking urban environment.  The prostrate growth habit would do well as a ground cover and the silvery tomentose leaves would contrast nicely with certain plants.  As a purist, I would not mix this species with plants outside of its native range.  If I were to plant this I would create a rock garden with a mild-steep grade.  The plant composition would be simple and sparse, allowing the rocks to be the main showcase.  Some other herbacious-woody plants that I would incorporate would be Abronia nana, Erigeron parishii, Achnatherum hymenoides and Artemesia tridentata.  I would limit the trees and shrubs to only a few which would include, Arctostaphylos glauca, Juniperus utahensis and Pinus monophylla.  I would finish the rock garden by sowing annual wild flowers common to it's wild habitat.