Bill Kiene semi-retired
08-17-2012, 10:16 AM
.....Sacramento from his new home in Southern Oregon to visit family and friends.
It was late August and the traditional time to look for schools of fresh run "Half-pounders" in the Lower American River.
We usually look for them very, very early in the morning from Watt Avenue down stream to the Cal-Expo/Paradise Beach area.
Al and local fly fishing friends Cal Guin and Jim Potter went out very early to check out the water off the Campus Commons golf coarse side of the river just above the Log Hole near State College and River Park.
Al reported to me that they hooked dozens of fish near the gravel bar island off the golf coarse side of the river. He said most of the fish were 15 to 20 inches but several were large fall run adults with a few between 5 to 7 pounds.
In the history of fly fishing for early fall fish in our river this was a special morning.
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The next day Al invited me to check out the "Last Chance Riffle" which is fished from the Cal Expo side of the river below Paradise Beach. I had never fished that riffle which is accessed by parking at the south end of Ethan Way in a big cultisack then walking a path to the river and going a little down stream on the bike trail.
We got down to the river and I started to wade out in the river. Al stopped me and said it's early, lets just fish it from the gravel and not wade in yet. We fished only a few feet of fly line and caught several fish in a few feet of water, right were I would have waded.
After that pass down though the riffle Al said, now lets wade out a few feet into the run and make another pass. We did and caught a few more fish.
On the third pass down the run we were croch deep and got a few more hook ups.
All the fish that day were 15 to 20 inches. No big ones......
I have learned a lot from fishing with top guides and with top fly fishers..........
__________________________________________________ _____________________
I was in the shop the next day talkling about catching some nice fish with Al. One of my best old friends George Martin was there and said that he had heard there were Half-pounders in the river and had gone out for 3 days without a fish. I asked George where he had been fishing. It was all up river well above Watt Avenue. I told George that I would take him to the run we fished the next day.
Very early that morning I met up with George, Chris Malory and a new comer I invited as well.
I let George go down through the run first because I think he thought I was full of bull and he hooked 3 on the first pass. We all dropped in and fished down through the run with everyone hooking a fish or two. We took turns rotating down through the run then walking back up to the top of the riffle and fishing back down through it.
I was at the bottom of the run helping the new guy when Chris Malory was starting down the run at the top, about 100 feet above us.
Chris hooked one of those unusually large fish over 5 pounds which was going aerial on him because he had locked up on it and was backing out with it. I tried to yell at chris to let it run but was too late as it broke off in mid-air on a big jump.
This was a very memorable morning for us all........
PS: According to Aaron Stiny that run is not the same as it once was and might not be as good for wading now.
.
.
It was late August and the traditional time to look for schools of fresh run "Half-pounders" in the Lower American River.
We usually look for them very, very early in the morning from Watt Avenue down stream to the Cal-Expo/Paradise Beach area.
Al and local fly fishing friends Cal Guin and Jim Potter went out very early to check out the water off the Campus Commons golf coarse side of the river just above the Log Hole near State College and River Park.
Al reported to me that they hooked dozens of fish near the gravel bar island off the golf coarse side of the river. He said most of the fish were 15 to 20 inches but several were large fall run adults with a few between 5 to 7 pounds.
In the history of fly fishing for early fall fish in our river this was a special morning.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
The next day Al invited me to check out the "Last Chance Riffle" which is fished from the Cal Expo side of the river below Paradise Beach. I had never fished that riffle which is accessed by parking at the south end of Ethan Way in a big cultisack then walking a path to the river and going a little down stream on the bike trail.
We got down to the river and I started to wade out in the river. Al stopped me and said it's early, lets just fish it from the gravel and not wade in yet. We fished only a few feet of fly line and caught several fish in a few feet of water, right were I would have waded.
After that pass down though the riffle Al said, now lets wade out a few feet into the run and make another pass. We did and caught a few more fish.
On the third pass down the run we were croch deep and got a few more hook ups.
All the fish that day were 15 to 20 inches. No big ones......
I have learned a lot from fishing with top guides and with top fly fishers..........
__________________________________________________ _____________________
I was in the shop the next day talkling about catching some nice fish with Al. One of my best old friends George Martin was there and said that he had heard there were Half-pounders in the river and had gone out for 3 days without a fish. I asked George where he had been fishing. It was all up river well above Watt Avenue. I told George that I would take him to the run we fished the next day.
Very early that morning I met up with George, Chris Malory and a new comer I invited as well.
I let George go down through the run first because I think he thought I was full of bull and he hooked 3 on the first pass. We all dropped in and fished down through the run with everyone hooking a fish or two. We took turns rotating down through the run then walking back up to the top of the riffle and fishing back down through it.
I was at the bottom of the run helping the new guy when Chris Malory was starting down the run at the top, about 100 feet above us.
Chris hooked one of those unusually large fish over 5 pounds which was going aerial on him because he had locked up on it and was backing out with it. I tried to yell at chris to let it run but was too late as it broke off in mid-air on a big jump.
This was a very memorable morning for us all........
PS: According to Aaron Stiny that run is not the same as it once was and might not be as good for wading now.
.
.