Anyone fished the Mokelumne?

[brad_harrington]

I hear the Mokelumne can be a nice river to float and fish. A buddy of mine said that his buddy said that there is a stretch of nice water near Highway 49. Has anyone ever fished there? I don't hear about this river very often, Im wondering if it's worth checking out?

[Darian]

The Mokelumne is one of my favorite rivers . However, I found fishing in the area around Hwy 49 to be difficult for two reasons. One, access used to be controlled (restricted) by East Bay MUD . Two, the flows in that part of the river change constantly; making wading a dicy affair . In addition, the river has many PG&E dams on it used for power generation and water releases for irrigation, etc.

Having said that, the Mokelumne has some of the best Trout waters in this area in it; not to mention reservoirs . There're many lakes near it, as well. In it's headwaters (Mokelumne Wilderness), the scenery can't be beat .

Not gonna give up my favorite spots, but.... If you're up for it, you should acquire a USFS map (or a TOPO) of the area and look for some small PG&E reservoirs that're not obvious for some outstantding Brown Trout holes. Exploration is over half the fun of discovery .

Good Luck.....

[brad_harrington]

Darian - thanks for the info. Im hoping to get out there and explore the Mokelumne soon, maybe this weekend. Im thinking of floating the stretch near Hwy 49. But I'll look into the flows to make sure they aren't too high. Those little reservoirs sound nice as well. I'll be sure to post an update when I go..

[rrivera]

hey brad... I would check what section of the river is open to fish. I think the Moke is closed untill the last Saturday in May. Just an FYI to research, and save ya any disapointment.

-RR