The Carson

[Matt Frey]

Headed up the Carson on Friday night. We didnt think much of the fact that the roads up there we wet. Got a campsite at Indian Springs Reservioir. Saturday morning we hiked down to the East Fork near the Airport. When we got there we were disappointed. The river was like chocolate milk.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0119.jpg

Since we hiked down there we decided to throw a few casts, but after an hour of nothing we decided to hike out and try a new venue. Since much of the East Fork was muddy we decided to head up to Wolf Creek Meadow. We fished Wolf Creek for a couple of hours with and caught only a small brookie and a smaller rainbow both on BH PT nymphs.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0135.jpg

We left Wolf Creek and did a little fishing on farther up the EF Carson where the river wasnt muddy. It fished well with all three of us hooking into a few. The hot color was red with Red Copper Johns and Red Brassies hooking fish. A black Bird's Nest also worked well.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0143.jpg

The river started getting crowded with spin casters so we moved on in search of a spot to stay for the evening. We decided to drive over to the West Fork.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0152.jpg

On the drive some thunderstorms rolled through. We got to the West Fork and no one was there, but this guy was.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0156.jpg

We saw a number of big fish but they were unresponsive to all of our efforts. About an hour after the rain stopped the spin casters showed up. We were still looking for a place to fish the hatch if there was going to be one and headed back to a nice spot on the East Fork that we had scouted earlier. There were not many bugs on the river but a few fish were rising and we got to catch a few on the dry fly.

The next morning we drove and checked the water clarity on the East Fork. It looked good so we decided to hike down to the spot near the airport where we had gone the day before. Again we had the whole river to ourselves and it was clear we had a lot of fun down ther. Olive Bird's Nests seemed to be the ticket. We also had fun successfully throwing dry fly throughout the day. All three of us agreed that it was definitely one of the better spots we had been to all season.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0173.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0207.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/mattpfrey/Carson/IMGP0185.jpg

[DonCooksey]

Great photos! I've never been there, but now it has moved up on my list of places I have to try!

[SteelieD]

That's a killer report! Looks like fun!

[Adam Grace]

Nice pictures, I especially like the macro shot of the little sally.

[jfkowalski]

Unfortunately, or fortunately, there is very little access the the catch and release section of the East Fork. Consequently, it is getting crowded, and there is a lot of pressure being put on the fish. I went to hangmens bridge last thursday, and there were 7 cars in the upper parking lot when I got there. I did get three nice fish out of a riffle that most people were walking past. Very few bugs in the air, and dry flies would not work, though some would come up to look at a caddis

[Wednesday Caster]

Matt,
Great report and pics.
Pretty manly of you to hike the EC at the airport TWICE. I did that 2 years ago with my nephews (16 and 20something) and we all thought our hearts were going to explode from our chest on the way up the ravine. We were only able to find one fish each on that outing.

I was out (8/9/06) on the EC above Hangman's bridge, actually 1/4 mile above the campground and fooled eight 10-12" rainbows on light combination caddises size14. Surprisingly, the couple of FFers I spoke with did poorly with the nymphs they were using. Tried nymphs the next morning and caught only 1.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Matt

Great job with photos and report.

[PaulC]

That section of wolf creek is beautiful in the fall. Brings back memories for sure.
Thanks for sharing the pics!
The tree looks bout the same as years ago except you got greener grass.
There are some decent fish in there for a small creek but they're uber spooky.

-Paul

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Cronin/wolf_tree.jpg

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

That's pretty wild that you both have the same photo.

[bigtj]

Based on the number of people I have seen the couple times I've been there I bet half of california has that same photo!!

[PaulC]

Hey bigtj,
Definitely a bummer that many people are out there now. It was always empty when we were there. Mainly a spot we knew we could find isolation.
The tree is the only one out in that meadow predominately by the stream.
Wouldn't surprise me if there are more pictures.
-Paul

[Matt Frey]

We didnt see anyone when we were there either.

[Ben-doc]

Us either. I did sit down under that tree to set up my rig. Forgot my leatherman there as well...realized when I got back to 89. Wasn't about to waste an hour of fishing and a drive back up those gravelly slopes for it. Hope someone enjoys it! :)

[bigtj]

Well then I guess I've got to get back up there! Will try mid-week next time.

Of course my post was a bit tongue-in-cheek, sometimes I'm a little too free with the sarcasm.

Cheers,

-John