Become one with the chum
Sierra and Tahoe Area
CA opening weekend 09 – West Carson River
Apr 27th
Headed out Sunday morning to fish the West Carson. Been since closing day in November, so I was curious to see how the river weathered the winter. The weather cooperated and the flows were high, but the water was running only slightly off-c0lor. I have seen it much worse, and as runoff starts up, it will get worse. The West Carson in one of the Alpine County waters that the DFG has been instructed NOT to stock until further notice. Even though Alpine County will most likely take stocking into their own hands, I was doubly curious to see what kinds of numbers of fish are in the water, and will be keeping an eye out for numbers of fish as the summer progresses. I know this is a put and take river, but I plead with anyone that will listen to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE practice catch and release until fish plantings resume.
In a nutshell, I spent 2 hours fishing, caught 2 dinks and missed a very nice Rainbow. Since the water clarity was about 6-8″ it was easy to see fish moving about in the shallower sections. I was very please with the numbers of fish that I spotted.
I stopped at gauging station and there was already someone there. I strung up and got ready to fish while observing the river. I then hit the car and drove downstream to the parking area at the bottom of the meadow. I proceeded to walk into one of my favorite hike-in spots. Some serious bushwacking and two ticks later, I am staring at a beautiful greened out stretch of water. In this section, the river splits out and creates a nice island that allows you to fish both river channels while also sneaking up on trout. Normally this works, but not today.
One observation is that there is a ton of downed timber in the river right now. Hope that when the river blows out in the next few weeks, that some of that timber gets blown out as well. I lost 6 flies, all to branches and logs in the river.
I also did a driving reconn of the river starting about Woodfords and turning around at Pickett’s Junction. There were 12 cars at the bridge at Pickett’s, and cars lining the highway all the way down to Sorenson’s. That mile or so took the brunt of the fishing pressure. As I drove down canyon, it was evident that no one wanted to brave the raging river in its element – the canyon. There was one car and one fisherman at gauging station, but anyone who reads my posts knows that I only fish there if I am the sole person. There is just too much good water requiring light hiking.
With everything open for the season, I hope to have more excuses to get out and fish!
East Carson River – 08/25/08 Early AM
Sep 12th
This Monday dawned bright and early for me. I was meeting my friend Dave at hangman’s bridge for a quick outing at 7am. That means I am out of the house by 6:15 so that I can get some gas and a cup of coffee…you have to be crazy to be a fisherman.
Our plan is to hit the trail at Hangman’s, hightail it to the Creek hole, fish for an hour or so, and hike back out. Dave and I both have work, but I know that the boss is out of the office, so I figure that if I check in around 9:45-10:00, no worries. Anyone that has done this hike knows that it is an easy hike after the first hill, and a great time to catch up so that you do not waste time chatting while actually in the water.
We arrive at the Creek hole and I notice rising fish in the big pool below the hole. Question is – what are they taking. Not being able to identify the bug that is hatching, I take the safe route and tie on a #20 Parachute Adams to try to match what I see. No takers.
West Carson River – 08/19/08 Early AM
Sep 12th
Back from Utah and back to my home waters. I am finding that I am super busy trying to get caught up with three weeks of email, phone messages, honey-do’s, etc. I start to burn of the catch-up routine, so the best remedy is to head out fishing. Since this is a work day, I have to do one of my early morning slams.
Leave the house by 6:45am. On the water by 7:15am. Done fishing by 8:30am. Back in the office and ready to work at 9:00am.
I decided to keep it simple and hit up the West Carson at the gauging station up the road from the house. The first thing I notice when I see the water is how much lower and clearer than even a month ago. I guess that I hoping it would be the same, but that is an unrealistic expectation. As I string up the rod, I am diligently keeping an eye on the back wall of the gauging station hole. I see some gentle rises in the slack water, so I tippet down to 6x and tie on an olive-bodied spinner. I slowly creep into position and start casting. Up comes a fish to look at my offering – refusal. Another fish comes up to take a gander – refusal. Hmmm…..
After about 10 more drifts with no activity, I change to a #18 Para Adams. First drift, a fish comes up to take a gander. Nope! Then another. Again, refusal. Now I am getting flustered. In total frustration, I try a #12 Royal Trude. This fly is like NOTHING that is on the water and is much, much bigger than any fly hatching. But, a friend once told me that you sometimes have to “give them a reason” to react. First drift and I nail the 12″ ‘Bow that seems to prefer the back wall between two rocks. She is easily the biggest fish in the hole in this thin water and she fought nicely. I figured that she spooked the entire hole at this point.
A quick readjustment upstream to the cable hole, and I grab a super spunky 10″ trout on the first drift. He was tight agaist the bank, under a rock that I have seen many anglers stand on to fish this hole. Just goes to show you that just because you fish the same river freqently, does not mean you have to fish it the same was every time. Mix it up a little and you might be surprised.
West Carson River – 07/21/08 Early AM
Jul 23rd
I know that I said I was not going to fish the West Carson anymore, but I had no idea when I opened my mouth that I was going to jinx the works. We had several small storms in quick succession and now my favorite river, the East Carson, is a muddy, off-color mess. I hope it comes down before I leave on my work trip.
I arrived on the river at about 7:30am which is “just a hair” late in the morning for the current water and air temps. As always, the gauging station hole was in the shadows. I crept down to my usual rock and was observing bug activity and enjoying some peace and tranquility when a large cinnamon bear sow popped out of the trees not more than 30 feet from me. I do not think that she saw me in the water as I was kneeling behind some rocks and being still, but when I yelped in surprise, she jumped as well and took off running. Just watching her run reinforced the fact that there IS NO WAY to outrun a bear…man was she moving fast.
That excitement over, I go back to my observing. I see very little bug activity, so I decide to tie on a #16 yellow humpy with a soft-hackled hare’s ear dropper. I got some half-hearted strikes right off the bat, but nothing serious. I quickly move up to the next hole and start casting. Same responses. Refusals. I snip off that rig and I tie on a #16 Royal Trude. Again, more refusal strikes. This hole is now spooked from all the rejected casts.