Snorkeling

[Rob]

How many of you like snorkeling rivers that you fish. This is a photo of Cody and Jason on one of the forks of the American river. We use floatation vests at all times.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/DSCN1438.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/DSCN1437.jpg

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Rob,

I know that Dunsmuir based fly fishing guide Fred Gordon used to (many years ago) snorkel the lower American River around August many years ago where he would anchor his aluminum boat and dive for stuff that rafters lost. Sun glasses, lures, money and who knows what would be found settled on the bottom.

Fred also fished with a spinning rod and bait for stripers way back then. He could spot them and then drift a crayfish into them and watch them eat it.

Fred is way into snorkeling and scuba especially when he goes to the Bahamas for a month. I hear he is the "lobster man" on those trips.

Andy Guibord use to float and snorkel the lower american as well.

Fred also has floated his river, the Upper Sacto, snorkeling with wet suits for many miles checking out the trout populations.

I did this when I was younger snorkeling in the lower American River with my brother Dick. We actually would catch crayfish with weeny tongs and put them in a floating minnow bucket we pulled behind us on a line.

I also snokeled the South Fork of the Yuba River up by Cisco Grove in the late summer. It is very clear and you can see all the trout swimming on the bottom. I actully fished for trout with a spinning rod and crayfish tail when I was a youngerster there.

I snorkeled in Folsom Lake at Beals Point years ago to see bass and also a large school of Kokaneee once.

Now much older, Bobby Murry, famous Pro Bass fisherman, said he snorkeled his home town lake in the South to see what the bass where doing to become a top guide there and later top bass pro fisherman.

I always snorkel when Iam in the tropics. I think I enjoy that as much as fishing.

I think snorkeling and scuba is a big part of the life of many fly fishers.

[Eugene Graham]

Some of my favorite Memories are Scubadiving in some of the Sierra Lakes. Swimming through the middle of a school of over 50 trout, and being completely surrounded by them. Seeing Largemouth Bass Hanging around sunken logs and not moving. Watching the gracefulness of large Lake Trout in Lake Tahoe Swimming.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v57/computrout/tahoecrawdad.jpgCrawdad Lake Tahoe

http://www.computrout.com/images/egscubalanaiphotographer.jpgMe cavern Diving

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v57/computrout/natoma.jpgCouple of buddies at Lake Natoma

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Eugene is our contact now with the scuba world. He has really gotten "deeply" into this sport. He is even an instructor now.

Eugene and I are planning on some group trips to the MX Yucatan and Belize to some Scuba/Fly Fishig Lodges.

[Rob]

One thing that is so cool when your in the water with the fish is they don't seem to be scared. You can get close to them. I have fished areas on the North and Middle Fork of the American river dozen of times bypassing areas that did not look tike they wood hold fish. But snorkeling the same area I was surprised to see large trout 20''+ in areas that a passed up fishing.
Rob.

[Andy Guibord]

I use to snorkle the American River in the Eighties when working on my masters in Fine Arts at Sacramento State college. I got pretty dam good at holding my breath. I spent many hours free swimming with snorkle and fins from Sunrise to Goethe Park in search of treasures trapped on the bottom. I found wallets, 20 dollar bills, knives, fishing rods, rings, a Seiko divers watch, diving masks , a boom box that still worked, unopened beer and once a bottle of champagne and sun glasses - lots of sun glasses!!!!! I would go around to the coffee shops and sell the sunglasses.
Tree snags wedged on the bottom were natural treasure traps. I would spot one from the surface through my mask, and if the current wasn't to fast ,I would quickly dive to the bottom, grab a branch so the current wouldn't sweep me away, and proceed to pull apart the tree limbs to see what was hidden. Crawfish would shoot out left and right and sometimes I had a school of stripers following me. I was there human roach coach.

[CW]

Snorkeled the Upper Sunrise area with Putnam just before salmon season when it was nice and hot outside, it is truly unbelievable how much you learn. Saw no half pounders, but saw hundreds (probably thousands) of sucker smolt. If you disturbed the bottom/gravel, they would rush the area and ball up, as if they were predatory fish chasing "bait balls." We would hold WD-40s on 6x and they would ignore the thing until we'd slowly raise the fly up the water column and sure enough, 3 or more juveniles would rush the fly. Saw a few smaller stripers cruising, they would ignore us at a distance, but if we swam towards them, they would slowly swim off. As soon as water temps allow, I'll dive with a buddy who was a dive master on Bikini Atoll's largest dive operation, and also a resident scuba instructor @ Dolphin Dive shop on El Camino. He has multiple American river dives already logged, and has some of the most interesting stories - about HUGE resident fish that simply swim at him and run into him, these fish weren't afraid at all, simply saying "hello."