Gettin' to the good places

[jjjewett]

that place is rad.

the crazies are the ones who kayak down those falls!!

[Dan LeCount]

further proof that -

the harder it is to get to

the easier it is to catch fish

what were the fish taking Ralph? I wouldve thrown an ant or maybe a weighted wooly bugger into the falls.

[craigfalk]

Ralph,

Thanks for sharing. I completely understand the desire to reach and fish a pool like that one. There's a pool on a tributary of the NF Feather that I discovered in the early 80's. I could only reach it at lower flows and even then it took some swimming and rock climbing - a completely remote pool less than a mile from Hwy 70.

I also sent you a PM.

[Ralph]

Dan: The only fly you ever need is an E/C caddis! That said, they were eating salami skin and cheddar crumbs, so a salami and cheese pattern would work too. The fish were pretty unremarkable, it was the setting that made an impression.

Craig: 10-4. Fly fishing is a wonderful excuse to explore cool places. Thanks for the PM, kayakers are a breed unto themselves! In another lifetime I was one, so I get it and excuse their lack of better judgement.

[Dave Neal]

"Dan: The only fly you ever need is an E/C caddis! "

True that, Ralph, your E/C Caddis is one incredibly effective pattern, in so many situations. You should feel very proud of that fly. I personally thank you every time I pull it from a memorable trout's lips!

As for the rap access that was very cool. It would be nice to utilize that approach on some spots on the MF San Joaquin, here locally. Some old school Yosemite rock legends, that fly fish a lot here on the Eastside, just solo into it! No fear. But rapping/jugging would be the way to go for me!

[Dan LeCount]

EC caddis is a killer, although I always have a tough time seeing it in the twilight(when the caddis go nuts!) so I have to fish it behind a higher floating Elk hair caddis half the time.(or even better a yellow sally) Being a dropper doesnt stop the fish from eating it though! Not the flies fault though, just my bad eyesight. The myth of guides having eagle eyes is broken with me.

[Frank Roepke]

STRONG!!!! can you post more pic's?

[Tracy Chimenti]

I've fished a few isolated falls like this, once on Big Granite Creek, near the wild an scenic NF American. We didn't have rope gear, but could see them finning below, ignorant of us. Try as we might, we hurled our floaters down into the holes only to have the summer's noon inversion stop the entire wad, a mere yard above the water, and blow it back up the cliff into our faces.

Hint: A hide-away spinning rod and a crappie jig are alot lighter, cheaper, and safer than splipping in to these holes. Just not as glorious! You still need a little adrenaline, don't you (you ol' smoke eater)?!

[Ralph]

Hi Tracy-
Lisa and I had the same experience on some cliff pools in the Upper Stan. Fly would drop just fine to a certain level then start to rise or catch some weird strata of breeze and coast sideways.
The rap and jug at this place is pretty straightforward, not much pucker factor to be honest. The hard part were the paper wasp nests that were under the overhangs. You couldn't see them until your feet swung into them. Not much fun getting attacked on a rope.
How are the mandarins looking this year?