craigfalk
07-17-2010, 01:01 PM
I enjoyed reading PaulC's report. Great job getting your son out there fishing with and without pants!
We (my wife and two boys), just returned from a six days in Mammoth. There is still a lot of snow in the mountains in that area. Here's a shot from the Upper Owens:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/OwensR.jpg
It was my first time on this river and I managed a couple of fish, but didn't really get it figured out. It's so different from the Truckee, American, and Yuba where I spend most of my time. Incredible scenery.
I also spent time on Hot Creek. Another big change of pace for me as this is a very popular spot. I believe the public section is about one mile in length and I counted 12 cars in the parking lot I used (apparently there are three parking lots). Even though the flows were high according to the regulars I spoke to, it was still a shallow creek and not all that wide - about 30 feet at the most. No wading is neccesary and there are few trees to get in the way of your back cast. One challenge is there is a lot of aquatic vegetation at the momment so I spent a lot of time removing that stuff from my fly. While it's crowded, everyone was friendly. I was throwing an olive streamer and the regulars recommeded black. One guy offered to give me one! After an hour without any grabs, I thought about the big black rubber legs stonefly nymph I had in my fly box. It's meant to be dead drifted, but I tied it on and fished it as a streamer and was rewarded with this 17" rainbow!
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/HotC.jpg
I also fished the San Joaquin near Agnew Meadow. The water is high, but clear. Due to the high water it was very hard to move up and down the river. It can't be crossed and you can't wade along the edges. At the most I was actually fishing maybe 20% of the time. The rest of the time I was scrambling up amd down canyon walls and crawling through very heavy vegetation. I covered about 1.5 miles of river and this was the only sizable fishable run I found:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ1.jpg
It was just below this water fall:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ3.jpg
I caught fish on my first four casts in this run. :) Here's a photo of one:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ2.jpg
These fish have some orange on their bellies and I've heard they're a hybred of rainbow and golden trout. I also caught browns and rainbows in the few pockets of fishable water I could reach. Great fun, but it was quite a workout.
We also enjoyed mountain biking and wonderful hikes in the area.
We (my wife and two boys), just returned from a six days in Mammoth. There is still a lot of snow in the mountains in that area. Here's a shot from the Upper Owens:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/OwensR.jpg
It was my first time on this river and I managed a couple of fish, but didn't really get it figured out. It's so different from the Truckee, American, and Yuba where I spend most of my time. Incredible scenery.
I also spent time on Hot Creek. Another big change of pace for me as this is a very popular spot. I believe the public section is about one mile in length and I counted 12 cars in the parking lot I used (apparently there are three parking lots). Even though the flows were high according to the regulars I spoke to, it was still a shallow creek and not all that wide - about 30 feet at the most. No wading is neccesary and there are few trees to get in the way of your back cast. One challenge is there is a lot of aquatic vegetation at the momment so I spent a lot of time removing that stuff from my fly. While it's crowded, everyone was friendly. I was throwing an olive streamer and the regulars recommeded black. One guy offered to give me one! After an hour without any grabs, I thought about the big black rubber legs stonefly nymph I had in my fly box. It's meant to be dead drifted, but I tied it on and fished it as a streamer and was rewarded with this 17" rainbow!
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/HotC.jpg
I also fished the San Joaquin near Agnew Meadow. The water is high, but clear. Due to the high water it was very hard to move up and down the river. It can't be crossed and you can't wade along the edges. At the most I was actually fishing maybe 20% of the time. The rest of the time I was scrambling up amd down canyon walls and crawling through very heavy vegetation. I covered about 1.5 miles of river and this was the only sizable fishable run I found:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ1.jpg
It was just below this water fall:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ3.jpg
I caught fish on my first four casts in this run. :) Here's a photo of one:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/craigfalk/SanJ2.jpg
These fish have some orange on their bellies and I've heard they're a hybred of rainbow and golden trout. I also caught browns and rainbows in the few pockets of fishable water I could reach. Great fun, but it was quite a workout.
We also enjoyed mountain biking and wonderful hikes in the area.