Southern Sierra Grand Slam
Just got back from an extended trip to the Kern drainage, where our goal was to catch all four rainbow trout sub-species present in that drainage, the Coastal Rainbow, Little Kern Golden, Kern River Rainbow, and the California Golden. We met out goal! As usual, I do not post on the internet any stream names that I believe to be environmentally sensitive waters that can not handle any increases in fishing pressure, but would be happy to discuss specific streams/locations with any board member via e-mail or IM.
California Coastal Rainbow (CCR)
No trip to the Kern drainage would be complete without the common and widely available CCR!
Little Kern Golden (LKG)
These fish were all caught from a tiny creek that is mercifully only a short hike from the trailhead (and this old phart is thankful for that!).
Doesn't look like much when you first hit the headwaters, but ...
... walk a little farther and you get to some nice water to fish ....
... and you just might catch one of these LKG....
... or one of these LKG....
... or one of these LKG....
... or one of these LKG...
But you better be stealthy like Chris .....
and you will catch this LKG on the next cast!
Kern River Rainbow (KRR)
The original plan was to hike down the Forks of the Kern trail. Well, we started down the canyon and made it to the first set of switchbacks where you can finally see the bottom of the canyon, and I almost had a cardiac when I saw how much elevation and distance we still had to go! Needless to say these old phart legs (and lungs!) would have none of that so we went with "Plan B" and picked a less ambitious hike. For general knowledge, any rainbow caught in the Kern drainage above Durrwood Creek is considered by fisheries biologists to be a KRR.
Man, these KRR are tiny ....
.....and very spooky .....
.... finally one that is big enough to stay in my hand!
and the "trophy" KRR of the trip!
California Golden Trout (GT)
I will name the destination for this one, since it's golden's are not 100% pure strain and are heavily hybridized with CCR. But for you HTC'ers I think these fish still qualify since this is indeed a historic native range. Yep, this is the South Fork Kern at Monache Meadows. First a word about the Monache Jeep Trail.... yes you do need a high clearance 4WD vehicle as there are a few spots where it's needed. The USFS classifies this trail as "excellent for beginners and all 4WD users". And it must be true because this was my first "jeep trail" and I made it with no problems with my new Toyota Tundra Double Cab 4WD (it's maiden voyage!) and only hit the skid plates twice and got two minor scratches (Sierra Racing Stripes!). But the trail is very rough, even in places where 4WD isn't required, and it took me 1 1/2 hours to do the 13 mile trail to my campsite along the river at the northern edge of Monache Meadows. As an aside, there are some beautiful unimproved campsites, and in the three days we were there only saw one other person (local horserider gal and her five dogs!) and had the whole river to ourselves! I'd go soon, because the brown trout are slowly taking over the river from the GT, and we caught about 10 brown trout for every golden.
Some CG pulled from the SF Kern
The "trophy" of the trip, a CG about 15", the largest CG I've ever seen caught from a stream
Chris being stealthy (actually crawled there!) and got a nice fish from the small pool.
Chris admiring his very first CG!
View of the SF Kern from our campsite
The Monache fish barrier to keep the browns from moving upstream (much needed, but a little late!)
We caught far too many of these
Hope you enjoyed our little adventure as much as we did!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks