Fishing before I could hold a pole.

He started me early.

A bit on the Sespe and other Local Streams.

I've been looking around for good references on where to fish here in VC.

This website has a nice short article on the Sespe creek, just above Ojai. http://californiaangler.com/sespe.htm

Here is the site for the Sespe Flyfishers, which Joe and I plan to join soon. http://www.sespeflyfishers.org/index.php

This website has great directions to the Sespe, plus excellent reviews and directions to other local streams. http://www.fishingla.com/local_streams.htm#Sespe%20Creek

A few photos of the deep pools here: http://www.shopoutdoors.com/sespe.html


While wandering around looking for Sespe information, I came across this news:

Wilderness Protection Bill Gets House OK : http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/26/nation/na-lands26

The legislation gives maximum federal protection to more than 2 million acres in nine states, including more than 700,000 acres in California. Obama is expected to sign it into law this year.

By Richard Simon
March 26, 2009

Reporting from Washington — In the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 15 years, Congress today sent President Obama legislation that would conserve a wide swath of the West, including stretches of California from the desert to the Sierra.

The lands bill, which passed the House 285 to 140, is expected to be signed by the president this year. It would give the highest level of federal protection to more than 2 million acres in nine states -- prohibiting new roads, the use of motorized or mechanized vehicles, most commercial activities, logging, new structures, new mining claims and new grazing. That is almost as much land as was designated for protection during George W. Bush's entire presidency.

In California, which currently has 14 million acres of wilderness (second only to Alaska, which has more than 57 million acres), the bill would protect 700,000-plus acres. The measure also would authorize $88 million to fund restoration efforts on the San Joaquin River and provide $61 million toward cleanup of polluted groundwater in the San Gabriel Valley area.

......

California land that would be designated as wilderness includes about 40,000 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County. The bill would create the Magic Mountain Wilderness -- named after a mountain northeast of Santa Clarita, not the Six Flags amusement park -- and the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness, west of Angeles Crest Highway.

Also designated as wilderness would be about 428,000 acres in the Eastern Sierra, about 147,000 acres in Riverside County -- including parts of Joshua Tree National Park -- and about 85,000 acres in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park.

This really makes me nervous. I'm not a big wilderness fan - more like managed use! Wilderness doesn't allow for responsible use. It allows for no use except hikers. I don't see why mountain bikes or hang gliders aren't allowed, I don't see why you can't bring a little red wagon with you, I don't see why jeep trails aren't allowed. OHV use, if responsible and well managed, is the best advertisement for "wilderness" areas. If people can access their wilderness, they will want to protect it. Not everyone likes hiking.

Here is a link to the US Forest Service maps for the proposed areas. Some of the maps don't work yet, but a few are up and running. http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/Wilderness-Act-2009/index.html

Many of the areas that don't yet have working maps can be found here, not with maps yet but with descriptions and proposed rules/regs. Once you have the name of the proposed area, you can look it up on this site. http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=AtoZ

It's been a long time...

But at last, I have decided to bring this blog back from the dead. In part, you can thank Robert at SierraFlyGuide.net. This year Joe and I decided to take his intro to fly fishing class during our trip up to Silver Lake. I nearly took one from the Troutfitter in Mammoth and am quite glad I took the SFG class instead.

A 4-hour class featuring some classroom time and a short trip down to the river turned into a 7-hour marathon of fishing goodness. I learned to cast. And judging from my little practice session at the park this afternoon, much of it stuck with me. In about an hour I landed perhaps five beautiful casts, two or three decent roll casts, and was able to successfully shoot line straight out in front of me. Despite the efforts of two unsupervised chatty children and one overly friendly spinfisherman who kept asking about bass. Who cares about bass? Really.

My arm is throbbing and I couldn't be happier.