5.27.2013: MERCED RIVER w/ The Bob

Got up at 5:00 and left at about 6:10.
Went straight to the El Portal Mercado and started fishing.
Lost one right away when I fished the B and Y PM from the shallow calm to faster depths.
Lost another, and then a bit later hooked into a nice 'Bow.

I took the following video, but what it doesn't show clearly is that the fish made a beeline for the rocks. I put the rod tip out to the water and dragged him out. As I did I saw this huuuuuuuuuge shadow of a fish, three times the length of my 'Bow.
Geoff Malloway @Central Coast Fly Fishing said that it was probably a big brown or squawfish.
I thought it might be either, but my memory isn't as good as it was... : )



We then went to the Picnic Spot, and had no luck there.
We met some peeps fr/ Colorado and Kansas, who just had to decide to picnic right behind us, even w/ all of the wilderness to park...whatevs.

At Rocky Curve Bridge I had one solid take and missed him while focusing on getting a good drift. I was hitting the calmer seam where the brush met the swirls, across the river, where I had the rushing white water to contend with.
There were at least three or four other fish in that pool, as I saw them chasing my B&Y P.M.
I'll come back next time w/ those Super Dupers!

That 10" 'bow was an accident. I was picking up to begin casting again and lo! fish on!
It took me a couple seconds (maybe 5?) to think about landing the fish.
I have an old (and in a certain light, bad) habit of pulling on the line with my line (left) hand to set the hook, instead of simply clamping down with my index finger and raising the rod tip. (However, I have heard that this isn't as bad a way of setting the hook; in fact, I've heard it mentioned to be preferable in some circumstances.) I formed this "bad" habit on my first trip to the Stanislaus River last year.
The video from that trip proves my point.
Anyway, I remember consciously thinking that, "Okay, I've got a fish on, I'll just slowly release the pressure with my line hand while keeping the tension and meet my left hand with my right hand, handing the line to right index finger. From there, I'll just strip in the line."
And that's all she wrote! Bagged a beayouuuuutiful rainbow.
The interesting thing was, as video and photographic evidence show, the elk hair caddis (green, size 12?) I caught him on was pretty much destroyed by this fish. I am somewhat confident that the elk hair caddis I had still had the elk hair attached.

In this zoomed in photo there are still remnants of the elk hair:

In this later photo, you can really tell that the elk hair is almost nonexistent:

However, I will say that this hook was really in him good, and he didn't and couldn't spit this hook out until I took it out. Thus, I think he "chewed" on the fly for a bit and beat it up while it was in his lip, and thus a lot of the elk hair is gone.
At first I had assumed that the fly tier did not do a good job, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
One fly, one fish landed, and I'm happy to retire the fly in my fly box seeing as it's the first fish I've gotten off of a fly rod in 2013. Besides, the hooks are still pretty sharp!

At the South Fork->Main River I caught a 9" smallmouth bass on my first cast!
I had a good feeling, or good vibes about that location.
It's interesting. I've heard it called confidence as well.
It's that feeling where you just know you're gonna get action.

After catching the smallmouth, I moved down to some of the casting "portals" or "windows."
There are 4-5 of these windows, and each of them give a different view.
I've a mind to head down there sometime w/ my waders and hit those spots w/ the Fly Fishing setup.

All in all a good day, and I'll be heading back for sure before the summer's end!

ASTAK ACTIONPRO CM-7200!!!

Got it in the mail for $125 out the door.
I should've listened when Jr. said to buy the $115 out the door, but oh well.
The chest mount works great (after a little fiddling), and all of the mounts and the extra batteries I got work as well, so I'm glad it's not a lemon.
170-degree viewing for super wide-angle stuff, but we'll see if I end up taking it on any long trips...
Might need to get a super-small case for it...

The waterproof housing shows its worth in how HARD it is to open the case, meaning that there's no way it's gonna come undone by itself.

Thinking about putting one of the 3M mounts on the end of my electric guitar, but we'll see...

Also thinking about selling one of my 2 extra batteries on the eBay, so we'll see if I end up needing the third battery, even w/ a 32GB MicroSD card that's on the way...

Already turned in the Salinas City App. last Friday (?), and planning on turning in the Santa Rita App. mañana.

Had a fun second time/team around w/ Jr., Jamie, Alyssa, and Wayne/Jenny.

Thought about fishing the Merced tomorrow w/ the Bob but it's a little too late...

Merced River Day Trip

Took a trip to the Merced River last Tuesday (March 26) and had a great time.
It's roughly three hours from home to the River, and once there you can fish it all the way up to the western entrance of YNP.
Stopped at the confluence of the South Fork and main river, and looked for spots on from there.
Since the road's on the right of the river (for the most part), we quickly decided to drive up the the entrance of YNP and then drive back downriver, since it'd be easier to do this with the parking being on our easier-accessible right side. (We'd basically be able to pull off wherever we wanted since there was no shoulder on the right side of the road when heading east toward the Park.)

It was my first time nymphing, and boy was it...interesting!
I tried out the Palsa strike indicators, clipped on 2 split shot, and tied on the BHPrince Nymph.
It was quite different casting with all that weight on the line, and things didn't really go too well.
I actually got hooked in the cheek from the nymph from trying to pick up the cast with the line downstream and to my left as I looked perpendicular across the stream...I'll (hopefully) never do that again!

The most frustrating part of the day cam when I found a really great pool after some hard water. The big rocks at the head of the pool created a calm, large pool to form behind it, and a young fly fisherman had already caught 2 or 3 when I got there. I tried the PM, but w/ no luck.

Then I tied on a Parachute Adams, and still no luck.
The fish were rising, and I just had to find what they wanted to eat!

I then tied on an Elk Hair Caddis, my only one that Pastor K. had given me.
After contending with the wind and current (which eventually led to my downfall), I had made a fine presentation and was getting a great drift when I saw the Japanese F.F. and his buddy come by watching me and all the fish rising in the pool. I waved, then got back to the action.
I had one really good rise and take, but was too slow to set the hook. (The fish may have rejected my fly as well, but this didn't come into my thinking until reading the FF library books.)

Anyway, after that, I had a horrendous time, contending with the following diagram I made both for Mr. John Kim of http://troutuort.blogspot.com/ and for myself:

This isn't entirely exactly how it looked, but the main part was the currents.
The currents and the gusting wind really gave me grief.
As you can tell, I had currents going upstream and downstream, and I tried mending up and downstream, but to no avail. I could only get a natural drift for 1 or 2 seconds, and was getting wind knots, snagged in trees, and frustrated as the trout continued to rise.

To add insult to injury, while stopping at different spots after my defeat, I got my lone EHC snagged and lost the fly.
*(This sad fact is only bearable in that I just purchased 36 Elk Hair Caddis flies off eBay for $19.17 total!)

All in all, it was a great scouting trip, and I'll definitely be going back in the near future.
Things are moving pretty rapidly with dad, work, Al, and hopefully we'll see dad out there swinging the 9' 6 wt. fly rod I got him for Christmas!

 candid shot by the Bob.

1st Fish of the Year!

Got up circa 9:30.

Helped dad out in the house and w/ the KIA, plus had to buy a small padlock for the bike from the 0.99 cent store.
Finally got out there and was going to bike the road.

A farm worker stopped by in his truck and asked if I had 4WD. I said, "Yeah, but I don't know how to use it!" So he takes a look at the stick and says to use 4H (I guess 4L is for really slow and/or steep). So I wade into the mud and I'm praying I don't tip over into the water and mud or get stuck, but finally get through to the parking lot.

I get the bike out, and read all the signs below:

I bike down the immediate trail to the right and see this sign:

So I then turn around (after some exploring) and do the loop back and then around. Again, I'm met with the same sign as above, so I call the hotline phone # fr/ the sign and the lady doesn't really have any idea whether or not I can fish and where I can, but says I should follow whatever the signs say. [I had issue because the DFW (formerly the DFG) has a rule that the Salinas River can be fished during this time until March 7.]

So I turn around and head toward the ocean, stopping at the bike rack (as there was no bike access allowed past this point.

I walk maybe 20 yards and decide it's not worth it.

So I head back to Sally's bridge (after getting back through the mud again) and bag this guy at 3 o'clock.

                                      

He didn't take a long time to bring in. As you know, the river's bottom has some junk on the bottom, so you're used to getting a little snagged on the bottom. As a habit, you always set the hook when something doesn't feel right or you think you might be snagged just in case it really is a fish. So I set the hook, and something was pulling on the line!

I wish I had a picture of my lure in his mouth, because he just engulfed that thing! The head of the lure was just behind the front part of his mouth, and the hook was so far back I had a little trouble getting my pliers back to remove the hook. I stayed 'til ~ 4:00 and then left for home.

2 days later I filleted my first striper!

It was different from the many trout I'd gutted because with trout, you just have to gut them and that's it, but w/ Striper, you have to fillet the meat and have some good fillet knives. (Thanks to Jer for the great fishing CutCo knife!)

We're planning on heading out to kayak the river as I've heard some pretty good things from the kayakers!

Hopefully more posts coming with pictures of more fish!

LPD: End-of-Season Fishing Lessons & Notes

Use the Black/Yellow Dots PM for murky/stained water;
-> Better silhouettes

Use the Durango / 1500 reel when fishing in low conditions, especially with structure/brush present
-> there's too much opportunity for the fish to dive and wrap the line around the branches
-> the Ugly Stik doesn't have enough power to put pressure on the big boys

Use the extendable net, even if lures get caught
-> a landed fish and a snagged lure is better than a lost fish

KEEP DRAG LOOSER rather than TIGHTER
-> too many fish lost with drags too tight
-> e.g. snapped lures, lost fish, broken line, play fish, etc.

Tips from Mr. George Malloway of CCFF

At LPD:

Use sinking lines. The big fish (browns) lie on the bottom and eat up the crayfish/crawdads.

Use a woolly bugger. Brown colors work because of the crayfish/crawdads.

You can use a floating line with a long leader, but it'll only sink ~3 feet. This will work if you're working the shallows in the back third where it gets quite murky.

Stanislaus Fishing and Camping: July 2012

July 20-25

On Friday we arrived circa 2 o'clock and set up camp at Fence Creek Campground: Campground 8. It was a bit dry, but that's to be expected with the warm-hot weather.
We went out to fish the Clark Fork. Jr. lost a 8-9 incher, and I had 1 or 2 takes that I missed.
I had a really hard time getting into the casting/shooting/stripping/false casting mode, but by the end of the trip I didn't have a problem.

Saturday we went to Kennedy Meadow, and didn't catch anything there, although we did do some reconnaissance, and found some good spots. We found Spot #2, and I found Spot #1 when we split up. I had some pretty harrowing moments getting back to Jr., but finally did, and saw some good spots on the way.

At the end of the day, we decided to eat at the Kennedy Meadows Resort Restaurant. We'd heard good things from Pastor, and were hunnnnnnnngreee! We both decided to have the Family Special for $13.50, which included soup, salad, main course (for our purchase it was SUPER RARE but DELICIOUS Roast Beef) and dessert (ours was an apple crisp). It was goooood, and satisfying after a HARD DAY'S WORK or fishing! ; ] We also had our first taste of Sarsaparilla, and, after contending and showing proof that said beverage was $2.00 and not the $2.50 they had charged us, the waiter kindly gave us the difference!

Sunday was Herring Creek Reservoir. It took a while to get there, plus a dirt, bumpy road down to the (free) campgrounds. We caught zilch, nada, nothing, and I had a harrowing experience with a leech that attached itself to the top of my left foot! That freaked me out!

I had gotten out of the kayak to try to fish in the shallows, a muddy, reedy place in Herring Creek Reservoir, and must not've noticed (or felt!) the leech attach itself to my foot!

A little while later my foot feels itchy, but I figure I'd rather concentrate on fishing than scratch my foot. However, the itch become VERY noticeable, and when I pull my foot up to scratch it, I see this 2-inch-long, 1-inch-wide flat thing sucking my blood! YIKES!

On my first attempt to pull it off, I failed, because it was still intently sucking and attached to my foot! My second attempt was much more spirited, and with no little effort, was able to (with shivers) rip off the leech and throw it into the water! All this time I'm wondering whether or not leech bites are poisonous, or if they carry any toxin. (I later find out that leech bites are harmless, other than the blood lost and scar left. As I edit this on 10.13.2012, I still have the scar and it still itches!)

While leaving, we were asked to (and assented) to take a survey by Michael, who was quite nice. I almost cracked up when he mentioned Beardsley Reservoir, because of his stubbly whiskers.









I believe that we then went up to Dardanelle to see if they had gas (which the did not have), but we bought ice, and then on the way back found a SWEET spot off the 108. I had about 5-6 rises to my flies but couldn't seem to hook any of 'em. Jr. got 2, and those were the first fish we'd ever caught in the Stanislaus.
Here's the setting and catch:

Monday was the Beardsley Afterbay. It felt like a long drive (which it kinda was), but it wasn't, if that makes sense. Jr. caught a 14" German Brown Trout within 10 minutes of fishing. He caught him on a silver Kastmaster thrown right into the white water after the swirlings. He later caught a fat 13" rainbow off the same lure, but we threw him back because he wasn't a keeper.

Meanwhile I was getting severely ticked off because I kept getting snagged. Aside from  the very beginning of the afterbay, there is no place to actually walk to the middle of the river, so I was forced to try to cast from the shore. The steepness of the grade and dropoff into the water, the wind, and the brush behind me caused me to get snagged; a LOT. I was especially irked when I snagged into a thorny bush...took a longgggg time to get that one out.

So we left to get gas at Cold Springs, and then went up to find the spots in the Clark Fork. It was a hike reminiscent of the grade on the way up Half Dome. It took a bit, but we found a big rock with swirling water, and I threw my parachute Adams in. I got nothing, so Jr. threw his in, reeled up, and then accidentally threw it short right into the rapid. He started to reel up to recast, when he had a fish on! He reels up and it's a beeeyoooootiful brook trout!

Here's a photo of the 9 incher:

Anyway, we hike farther, and see a pretty good spot, but think there might be better access farther up, so we hike up the hill, and find there's really not much better ahead, so we go back up the hill, and find a log crossing the river. To our left (upstream) is a sandy flat and calm area, and just above that is the a little cascade. I think to myself, "This is a great place to fish!" And fish I did.

Here's a photo of our spot:

I had many fish rising to my fly, but just couldn't manage to set the hook on them soon enough. I actually had 2 fish on, but I lost one due to him taking flight, and lost the other due to inexperience. I found that my problem was this: I would set the hook (incorrectly) by pulling the line with my left (nonfishing) hand while NOT keeping contact with the line with my two fingers on my right (fishing) hand (my index and middle fingers. Part of this was due to the friction causing an uncomfortable heat on my fingers and making me lift the fingers off the line and rod while stripping, and this caused me to lose contact with the line and the rod when setting the hook. (I later watched a video with a "professional" doing the same that I did, although he had a way to recover: he simply brought the rod high over his head, and reconnected the line with his left his to his right hand, thus keeping tension and not losing the fish.)

After missing and missing, I finally hooked and bagged my first fish ever off a fly rod!

Here's a picture of my little rainbow:

Jr. caught a little brookie that I'd missed 2 or 3 times after my first rainbow.

Here's a closeup of 'im:

We decided to head back to the car (after checking out the old guys' little spot that's right off the end of the road; he caught a little brookie of his fly rod, right on the other side of the rock), and as I was driving, I stopped and checked out a cool spot. After climbing over a rock, I looked down and saw 5 rainbows just sitting there! Excitedly I ran back and got Jr. and the poles, but alas, nothing we threw at them garnered any hits, but only a couple interested looks. I went downstream, scared a fish, and wasn't feeling it.

Meanwhile Jr. yells, "I got one!" so I rush back and see his fish. It's a 9-inch rainbow. We release it, and I decide to head upstream to the next spot I see. It looks promising, and this look is confirmed when I see 2 rises. I throw my trusty Parachute Adams (PA), and within 10 minutes I got him! It was a 10" 'bow! The take was unbelievable, and I'll remember it for the rest of my life. I made a perfect presentation, just above the lip of the cascade (after false casting my fly dry), and as it floated down the river, the 'bow exploded out of the water! It was ridiculously awesome! I set the hook and had some anxious moments as I had him on some of the dry rocks, but finally netted him.

Here's a picture of 'im:




Anyway, the next day we decided to go back to Kennedy Meadow, and we split directions: Jr. going back to the big logs and I went along the river up to the logs. I missed a couple takes here and there, and then went back to the place where I'd seen a guy hook (and lose) a nice trout. It was a place where the river was split, and the side closest to the shore cascaded down sharply toward the bank at a 45 degree angle. At the base of this was a large log, and the shore was next to the log. (The log was along and parallel to the shoreline.)

I threw my trusty PA, and immediately a fish rose to take it, and I missed him! I threw it there again, and, nothing. I threw it a third time, and WHAMMO! The 11 inch trout took it, I hooked him, brought him to the bank for a not-so-graceful land into my net (he actually was flopping around on my fly and then off my fly on the dry rocks for about 15-20 seconds before I netted him). It was the largest I've caught on a fly rod yet!

Here he is:

After these photos were taken, we released him, and he went right under the big logs where Jr. was. In plain view were large rainbow trout, but we were unable to entice them. Jr. did have one on when he dropped the Corn PowerBait on 'em, but after he came off, they weren't interested in anything else. I cast toward the far shore and hooked up with a 5-6 inch 'bow.

I wasn't feeling too good, so Jr. crossed the river alone where we'd seen guys using Pautzke's Salmon Eggs, and Jr. caught a nice rainbow off the aforementioned PowerBait. By that time I really wasn't feeling good, and we decided to hit the road back home. After a longggg stop at a Porta Potty, we went to the car, and Jr. bought me a nice Root Beer soda, and ice cream for me and him as well. We stopped at the spot for roughly an hour, but Jr. didn't get any hits at all.

The rest of our time was filled with Jr.'s first full dinner made at the campground, and me on the toilet. The following day I still wasn't up to fish, so we (or Jr.) packed up camp and we headed home.

I'm really thankful that God allowed me to catch my first fish(es) and let me get sick only after we had done all that we had wanted to do. 'Tis true that we could've explored so much more of Clark Fork and the Stanislaus, but there will be much more time (God willing) in the coming years for that!