tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39865784322201598532024-03-13T10:55:23.395-07:00Haunted by Waterstroutlust: <i>n</i>. insufferable desire to engage in pursuit of <i>Salmo trutta, Oncorhynchus aguabonita, Oncorhynchus mykiss,</i> and <i>Salvelinus fontinalis</i> using rod, reel, fly, lure, bait, hook, jig, line, seduction, prayer, and sacrifice.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-12442458212801561752009-09-25T17:57:00.000-07:002009-09-25T18:09:29.963-07:00Ready for the river. Very ready.By which I don't mean that I am prepared. My knots still need work, my roll cast isn't up to par. I mean I am ready. It's been a long week, a long 5 months since May and my little Sespe excursion in June yielded exactly zero fish. I didn't even SEE a fish. It was very hot and very dry and the water was so low they were all hiding away in the deep pools. My experimental (and very bad) casts landed me precisely squat. <br />But I've been casting at the little golf course pond near our house, trying desperately to straighten out my roll cast and establish a nice rhythm. Picking up rocks, looking for bugs. Practicing knots in the evenings and whenever it's too hot to go out. Drooling over the pictures in This Is Fly magazine. <br />My waders arrived yesterday, my brand-new LL Bean waders, all shiny and fresh. They actually fit, and I'm rather surprised about that. Unfortunately, if I was a 300-lb, 6-foot tall, buxom ginormo-woman, I would have had no problems finding waders. I could have ordered anything from $100 cheapos to $600 super waders. I would have had dozens to choose from. Being a rather uh, tiny 5 foot flat and just 120 even after a 5-course meal, I had some issues. <br />Fortunately, I found some that fit and now I'm ready. It's been 103 degrees on the average this week. Even at 10pm, it is 80 degrees outside. This week's high in June Lake was about 75. I'm definitely ready for that. <br />This time of year, the fish are the same color as the leaves and the sky is so blue it hurts. I'm trying to convince Joe we should move up to June and buy a rental property. I'm really trying. This SoCal heat just makes me nauseous. <br />I'm ready for ice cold streams and fog on the water and breakfast burritos and fresh grilled trout. Just two days...Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-20196950660116781522009-06-05T16:06:00.001-07:002009-06-05T16:24:40.785-07:00Fishing before I could hold a pole.He started me early.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3599384022/" title="Dad Fishing 05 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3599384022_38f9d89a73.jpg" width="500" height="331" alt="Dad Fishing 05" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3599384304/" title="Dad Fishing 02 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/3599384304_deb4b6a332_o.jpg" width="432" height="304" alt="Dad Fishing 02" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3598575187/" title="Dad Fishing 04 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3598575187_cd6279c380_o.jpg" width="432" height="304" alt="Dad Fishing 04" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3599384376/" title="Dad Fishing 01 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3599384376_4d87350a68_o.jpg" width="432" height="299" alt="Dad Fishing 01" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3598575263/" title="Dad Fishing 03 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3598575263_bdd4edbdbe_o.jpg" width="432" height="306" alt="Dad Fishing 03" /></a>Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-64184390927482210882009-06-03T12:47:00.001-07:002009-06-03T13:45:04.231-07:00A bit on the Sespe and other Local Streams.I've been looking around for good references on where to fish here in VC.<br /><br />This website has a nice short article on the Sespe creek, just above Ojai. http://californiaangler.com/sespe.htm<br /><br />Here is the site for the Sespe Flyfishers, which Joe and I plan to join soon. http://www.sespeflyfishers.org/index.php<br /><br />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<br /><br />A few photos of the deep pools here: http://www.shopoutdoors.com/sespe.html<br /><br /><br />While wandering around looking for Sespe information, I came across this news:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Wilderness Protection Bill Gets House OK : http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/26/nation/na-lands26<br /><br />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.<br /><br />By Richard Simon<br />March 26, 2009<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />......<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.</span></blockquote><br /><br />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.<br /><br />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<br /><br />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=AtoZIrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-8734880555406993852009-06-02T19:15:00.000-07:002009-06-03T19:24:10.384-07:00It's been a long time...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flaringshutter/3576370413/" title="camping07 by flaringshutter, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3576370413_b335df0615.jpg" width="500" alt="camping07" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />My arm is throbbing and I couldn't be happier.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-65214990724463324082007-05-18T14:53:00.000-07:002007-05-18T15:00:43.872-07:00Six days.Six days left and I'm antsy. I've done nothing today except look up fishing reports, read all your blogs, and lust after trout. We're headed up to Silver in six days now. I changed plans and decided to make one rod for my mother, one for joe- and the one for my mother is nearly finished. Four good hours of work left, I'd say. It looks pretty good. <br />Sad to hear that Rick of Throwing Feathers in a River has called it quits and decided he's taking his talents to exclusive waters, shall we say. I did rather enjoy the blog. Hilarious at times, poignant at others, and always an interesting read. <br />I'll be fishing with much of my father's gear this year. Without him to tell me I'm not listening and I'm doing it all wrong. Joe said it perfectly. "I just hope that when I hook a trout, I don't start crying." I hope so too. <br />We're going to try to fish Rock Creek now, since we couldn't fish it last year. Now I'm regretting that I never was able to fish any of the legendary little creeks and backwater streams that my father adored so much with him. I'll have to find all the best pools on my own. It's hard to imagine. <br />Six days left.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-45370521158803813402007-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:002007-04-04T13:38:14.353-07:00Spring has sprung.Well, not quite. I haven't caught a trout yet, so it's not officially spring. Though we have tried. The boyfriend and I took a day trip up to Cachuma this weekend, on a rare day that we both had off of work. I fished his little ultralight Berkeley and he took the long Browning, loaded up all our tackle and set out to catch some nice little rainbows for dinner. <br />We ended up with a little bass instead, son of a bitch. Hard to handle, hard to gut, prickly and ridiculously hard to knock out. Not to mention bony! When we went to eat the little bugger, instead of just filleting elegantly, skin and meat just falling off the bone, lovely trout, how I adore them - I would have been better off just chopping him up into chunks and picking out the bones. Talk about difficult to eat. Interesting taste, not bad, but certainly not trout. Maybe the larger ones are easier to deal with? <br />Anyway, I'm thinking of making the boyfriend a custom rod for the May trip. I found rodguild.com by accident, and looking at the photos, I really want to try this. Cabelas has a few kits to start me off, and I've already tried weaving around the "butt end" - using a dowel and some sewing thread. I think I've got the hang of it. It's supposed to be a surprise for him. So I'll probably order two kits and make one for each of us. It'll be nice. <br />That's the fishing report so far. <br />In other news, the Star had an article about the Piru trout, who are thriving because of the high flow in the streams below Piru dam. Apparently environmental groups are worried about a threatened species of frog that isn't thriving due to the high flow rates. So the Piru water district wants to cut down on the flow, and fishermen everywhere are mighty upset. <br />Also, the Castaic water district is looking to charge for the water they're releasing for the steelhead migration, so the fish have enough water to get up the fish ladder during the run. They think it's a significant enough amount that it might really cost them, so they want that money back. Of course, the article points out, in dry years like this, no extra water is released. So how exactly does that ensure there will BE steelhead to run next year, asshole? (As Lewis Black would say.) <br />Well, hopefully the trout will be nice and fat this year and we'll catch some on the next fishing trip. I'll post if we do.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-15599264041024885122007-02-06T13:11:00.000-08:002007-02-06T13:23:24.879-08:00Welcome to the NRRA.If only there was an NRRA - National Rod and Reel Association! Wouldn't it be great if we had a huge, frighteningly powerful lobby in Congress? If we had bumper stickers and a reputation as people you shouldn't mess with? We could demand fishing reserves and private islands for our military buddies! Who's with me?Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-81298891251451495582007-01-21T23:46:00.000-08:002007-01-21T23:51:03.590-08:00Small child i am most jealous of lately.<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/sablewolf/035p1_xlg.jpg"><br /><br />Here's the link to the Acorn article: <a href="http://www.toacorn.com/news/2007/0118/Community/035.html"> Click here</a><br />But the essentials are, he's 9 years old, it's a 20-lb rainbow caught on lime green Powerbait at Lake Webb in Tupman, CA. Nice work, dude.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-42044043030886374152007-01-18T14:22:00.000-08:002007-01-18T14:41:51.218-08:00I only wish I could go fishing with him once more.I keep thinking, if only I could rewind and take him out fishing one more time. If only I had known about this Johns Hopkins kidney exchange. If only I had searched online for a donor. If only... It was so simple, and I just didn't think about it. I feel as though I didn't try hard enough. <br />There was so much I didn't know. He always wanted to teach me how to fly fish, and we never got around to it. He and I argued about everything under the sun, except fishing. We could always go fishing. And he never caught that trophy trout. There were still too many fish to catch. <br />I suppose I'll just have to catch them alone. At least he waited until I had a good partner to fish with to leave us. I just miss him so very much.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-21907237862426871782007-01-10T09:47:00.000-08:002007-01-10T09:49:27.118-08:00Home Waters.This year will be the first without him. <br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/sablewolf/lakeview03.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Happy times, a few years back. <br /><br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/sablewolf/fambly01.jpg">Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-59185517729078953382007-01-08T09:19:00.000-08:002007-01-08T09:40:01.306-08:00An Un-fishing StoryI wanted to go fishing yesterday. Joe wanted to take out the mountain bikes. <br />Let's go fishing, I said. <br />We have too much to do, he said. I have this and this and this and this to get done... <br />Let's go for a bike ride instead, he said. <br />Let's take the civic and the bike rack up to the stream. We'll drive to the trailhead and bike from there, I said. <br />No, that will take too long. I have too much to do, he said. <br />Well then let's take the jeep up to the stream, I said. <br />No, I have to replace the bushings and the pitman arm, he said. Besides, we have to get new licenses. <br /><br />Needless to say, we didnt go fishing. Next weekend, he said. I have to plan these things, he said. <br />I try to be spontaneous. No use. <br />So we ended up going for a mountain bike ride. We had a lovely time out in Cheseboro and anyway, the weather wasn't really right for fishing. I'll just have to wait. Curses.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-62928089861740288932007-01-05T08:03:00.000-08:002007-01-05T09:34:08.135-08:00Why do we never learn about local history?Of course, I'm stuck in lovely Simi Valley, California, a landlocked little redneck town just too far east in Ventura County for access to all the lovely streams of Ventura and Ojai. Drat, I say. <br />The closest and easiest lake is Lake Cachuma, although I hear there are a few good streams in Ojai. <br />Speaking of Ojai, I've recently come across the Matilija Dam removal project, and I'm absolutely fascinated. I had no idea we had such a productive steelhead run through Ojai and Ventura. One of the largest in the state. Wild. This old dam is now in the process of being deconstructed to restore the ecosystem of Matilija Creek. I'm going to continue researching the project. My father mentioned the Matilija Dam in passing a few times, but I never knew about the controversy or the steelhead run. <br />I'm finding information at:<br />http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pjenkin/matilija/index.htm<br />and<br />http://www.matilijadam.org/<br /><br />Incredible. More news on this later.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-11621652279797999972007-01-03T12:58:00.000-08:002007-01-03T12:59:34.461-08:00Wise words."I am not against golf, since I cannot but suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout." <br />-Paul O'Neil<br /><br /><br />Bass fishermen watch Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts. Trout fishermen watch MacNeil-Lehrer, drink white wine, drive foreign cars with passenger-side air bags and hardly think about women at all. This last characteristic may have something to do with the fact that trout fishermen spend most of the time immersed up to the thighs in ice-cold water. <br />-Author UnknownIrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-28076208574486682322007-01-03T09:25:00.000-08:002007-01-03T12:52:07.898-08:00New Years in ReviewNew Years trip was fantastic. Another gorgeous weekend out in the desert. We never made it out to fish up those canyons, but as it turns out we're planning a separate trip up to the South Kern later in the spring anyway. We'll have to grab some new fishing licenses first, since we're into a new year. Happy new year! <br />We jeeped around and found some incredible rocks around the mines in those hills. If you're looking to find the spot, Google Maps it. We camp in the desert east of the intersection of Trona Rd and Stevens Mine Rd. The jeep is a wild little mountain goat. If you follow Stevens Mine Rd east until it ends in that little wiggly section, we jeeped up that wiggly section and over the saddle of the moutain, down into the canyon, and nearly got stuck. The ground is pure silt and boulders. After three amazing and totally wild attempts, I finally spotted a line that worked, and we made it out. Wild fun. Jeep jeep. <br />The desert makes me melancholy and quiet sometimes, thinking of my father and how much he loved this land. But for his health, he could easily have become an old desert coot. With a litte shack, some wood to work with, a few trout for dinner, and his girlfriend at his side, he would have been happy until the end of time. I miss him so. <br />We listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn's Pride and Joy back at camp, waiting for the New Year to come. I thought of him and showed Joe his silly little blues dance. <br />I'm still lusting after the golden trout in South Kern, but they will have to wait until the next trip. Until then, I'll be swimming and mountain biking my way into shape so all the hiking I plan on doing won't kill me. We've got a June Lake Loop trip planned in May, for my father's birthday... We'll most likely hike up to Parker, fish Rush Creek and Rock Creek (we tried to last year but ran out of time)... hopefully by then I'll have a good handle on flyfishing. Joe and I bought each other a pair of telescoping spincasting poles for christmas. Figures that we'd both get the same present for each other. Not only the same present, but the exact same poles. My sweetheart. <br />I ordered us two Shakespeare telescoping poles, but I ended up getting spinning poles, with the twist-lock reel seat, rather than conventional poles. Just wasn't paying attention, so now I have to send them back for spincasting poles. It works out, though, because the spinning poles are 5"5', the Big 5 poles we got each other are 6" poles, and the new Shakespeare ones will be 4"6'. We'll have packable lake and stream poles. <br />I highly recommend Outdoor World for ordering anything outdoor-related. Cabelas is nice, but Outdoor World is so much easier to deal with. Extremely helpful and polite employees. I spoke with Jackie and she was great.<br /> I think that fairly soon here we're going to go on a jeeping trip with Jim Pilon. He wanted to go during the New Years trip, but his excursion would have taken us a few hundred miles in one day, and we had too many other, closer, things we wanted to do. So we'll probably make that excursion a separate trip. <br />A very sleepy Max cat is hanging out with me today. It's my day off.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-88437970702977478062006-12-27T12:06:00.000-08:002006-12-27T12:15:06.891-08:00Upcoming New Years' TripJoe and I will be going out to Randsburg and the desert thereabouts for the annual New Years' get-together with his family. I've been scouring the interweb for fishing opportunities nearby. Best prospects seem to be: <br /><br />Upper Kern River<br />Including: <br /><br />Golden Trout Wilderness<br />Accessible by 395 > 9 Mile Rd<br />Lures only with barbless hooks<br />Two-trout limit<br />Last Sat in April - Nov 15 (meaning it's closed for us at New Years, but for future reference...)<br /><br />South Sierra Wilderness area<br />Accessible 395 > Kennedy Meadows > 9 Mile Cyn Rd (J41)<br />Elevation est. 6100-12,123 at Olancha Peak<br />Standard fishing reg. <br /><br />Monache Meadows & South Fork Kern<br />Accessible by Monache Jeep Rd<br />Begins @ Powell Meadow on Rd 21S36 and ends @ Bakersoven Meadow<br />Standard fishing reg. <br /><br /><br />I'm having a great deal of difficulty finding a comprehensible map of the area. I may just have to find a paper map. <br /><br /><br />Possible sites: <br />Along Grapevine Cyn Rd<br />Along Indian Wells Cyn Rd<br /><br />If we go into Ridgecrest I'll ask around about fishing up in those canyons. Possibly some golden trout? If it's not frozen up there. Who knows.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3986578432220159853.post-10971077414107036802006-12-27T11:11:00.000-08:002006-12-27T11:13:48.991-08:00California, the great.California's state fish is, of course, the lovely golden trout. O. aguabonita. Agua, meaning water, and bonita, meaning beautiful. Beautiful water. <br />And a golden trout finning just below the surface certainly does make for beautiful water. <br />I love California.Irishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11272594978437799623noreply@blogger.com0