Save the Mokelumne
Mokelumne Wild and Scenic from Mikey Wier on Vimeo.
EBMUD is attempting to get approval to raise the height of Pardee dam. If they succeed, miles of the Mokelumne river will disappear under the raised dam. In my humble opinion, the potential recreational opportunities provided by the expanded dam will not even come close to the destroyed recreational opportunities buried under feet of water.
I understand the argument that several years of drought have depleted water reserves for Bay Area and Southern CA water users, but I propose that BEFORE we spend billions increasing water storage and transportation, that we spend a few million educating people on water conservation. I know that folks “think” they are conserving, but the majority do nothing. Most waste considerably more than they should. We need education programs, subsidies or credits for installing water saving devices, and in certain communities, restrictions and enforcement.
For more information, please read Mikey Wier’s blogs on this topic here and here. You can also find more information on the Foothill Conservancy’s website as well as over at Friends of the River.
East Walker River (03/27/09)
Did a quick morning session on the EW Rosachi section today. Temps were in the mid-50′s, light to moderate winds and definitely less crowding then last week. I drove straight to my favorite starting spot and there was one car there, but no anglers in sight.
A short hike later and I am in the water. The flows were also noticeably higher than the previous week and a look at the flow reports that evening showed they were at 125 cfs…perfect! Water temps were still pretty cool…but no specifics. I forgot my thermometer (again). There was no evidence of any hatch activity on the water at 9AM when I arrived. Throughout the morning, I kept vigilant watch for noses and hatches, but they remained elusive, at least to my observations.
I fished my favorite spots pretty hard and was able to hook into two nice browns on a #18 Copper John. I was also getting some hits, but could not set up quick enough. Guess that I am still rusty with the reaction times, but getting better versus the previous week.
East Walker 03/18/09 – A new season begins!
First I need to clarify what I mean by a new season. NV fishing licenses run march 1 through the last day of February. This is my first trip on my new license, not 2009. The few trips I have made this year have all been winter fishing trips more about solitude and freezing my ass off, then about catching fish.
Today was a beautiful pre-spring day. Temps on the EW were in the mid-60′s, slightly overcast, little to no wind, and a flows that have been steady for several days. The reports trickling in from friends fishing the EW have all been good. The downside was that every angler much have been suffering from the fishing jones as there were cars and fishermen at every corner – it was pretty crowded for this section of the river. I could only guess at how crowded the Miracle Mile section would be if the ranch was this pressured.
I drove past the first 3 likely parking spots as they were all stuffed with cars. I decided to drive down to Red Wash and was the second car there…rats! No matter. I suited up and headed toward the fence that demarks the special regs from the put and take sections. I will admit that I almost never fish this section, always going in the opposite direction (as does everyone else when they start at Red Wash) and I am happy to say that I discovered some new water that will get more attention from me this spring and fall. In fact, one of my found spots produced the only two fish that I caught the entire day.
Yup…you read that right…only two fish. And I had such high expectations because I have been hearing about “20 fish days” and “fish on every other cast” stories all week. I tried a handful of flies, but the one that got the job done was an olive streamer that I call the green goblin. Pretty sure that is not this fly’s official name, but it’s what I call it. It is an evil fly that has caught some of my biggest fish.
I did fish all the way up river to my usual favorite spots. I only saw one of the three people that were in the other car, so we were all spaced out pretty well. Back at the parking area, the other crew was getting ready to split, but the word from them was that they had a tough day as well with a total of 4 fish netted between 3 angles.
Make no bones about it though, it is time to start fishing and I will start hitting the water with some frequency before spring runoff starts.
Mikey Wier release new video – Fish Eye 4 “Through Anglers Eyes”
FISH EYE 4 “Through Anglers Eyes” from Mikey Wier on Vimeo.
Mikey Wier is a South Lake Tahoe based Action and Environmental Video productions company specializing in fly fishing videos. Fish Eye 4 is his latest release.
FISH EYE Video Magazine Issue 4 “Through Anglers Eyes” is the latest release from BURL Productions. This issue features spectacular trout fishing in the California Back-country, Steelhead fishing on the Trinity River, The Bass N Fly Challenge for black bass in the Delta, Exploratory fly fishing in Panama and instructional advise on rigging and fishing hopper and dropper set ups.