This is a story of a fishing trip I took a few weeks ago. My fishing buddy, Tom Sakai, reminded me that our trip to Bishop last April was the last time I was on the water.
I was busy by my own doing and the end result was pretty keen. Going down the Rose Parade with the US Forest Service Packers and Firefighters was an amazing experience. Tom called me a couple weeks ago and said, "We need to make a run up North to the Owens Valley". Last Friday, we started up the hill for four days of fishing...catching...seeing old friends...trying some new techniques and having some great meals. I'm working on the photos I took and Tom is sending me his as well. For now, here is a taste of what we found just around another bend in the river.
We caught fish every day...some days more then others. This is one of our late afternoon sessions with the average size Brown running about 12-15 inches. The water was as low as I've fished it and I could wade most everywhere. Notice my normal upright and rock steady wading stance as I try not to jam the Tenkara rod into reeds..
Tom and I would take turns with the Tenkara....trading off fish for fish. Tenkara rods are telescoping rods with about 12 ft of line. They are easy to transport and set up and are great fun because of their incredible action. We fished with both the Tenkara and our traditional fly rods. These wild Browns were hungry...fought like the wolves of the river they are and brought big smiles to both of us. Watching Tom hook up was as much fun as when it was my turn.
These pictures don't do justice to the vibrant colors of these wild fish nor the sights and sounds of a river that never stops it's gurgling, never ending quest to carve new territory from the flat valley. To catch one of these wild fish on a fly we tied was never taken for granted and the thrill of the tug on the long nymph rods or the Tenkara was always good for several minutes of conversation about the take, the tug and the magnificent fish that we would release after some quick admiration. The barbless hooks that we both use were never a factor in bringing the fish to hand and every fish was released immediately.
Here's another look at the lone Rainbow that I caught. We had been fishing an extraordinary BWO hatch and the fish were just hammering our Klinkhammer fly. When the fish launched out of the water with the fly in his hook jaw, I knew something was very different because of the heft and and because of the bright red coloration. The Tenkara did a fine job of bringing the fish in quickly.
I had not realized that I had not fished pretty much since I floated with David and Tom last April. We would remedy that situation with four days uphill in the Bishop area. Flows were 75...which for someone like me is hero water as I can pretty much wade anywhere. Weather looked good with some cool, cloudy weather the first day and warming after that. Tom braved my dirt road once again and we talked about all the fish we were going to catch...based on David's reports and Mark's sharing his success.
There was a dusting of snow but the Eastern Sierra is definitely way behind on the water storage from snow. We grabbed the usual McD quick breakfast and motored North. We stopped at the shop and chatted with Trace and hit the water. It was pretty chilly and there was a pretty good wind, but we had a great time exploring spots we hadn't been to in years. Slow going until late afternoon and then we scored big with Klinkhammers in a BWO hatch. The Browns really loved that emerger and I liked it because I could actually see it.
The next morning....Jack's for waffles. I love the waitresses who have been there for 30 years and how they remind me of a little diner Los Angeles many years ago where they called you, "Sweetie" and scolded you for not cleaning your plate. It would be warmer and sunnier today. We explored new "old" waters and Tom did pretty good nymphing with the 45' leaders. We must have have walked five miles through the river but nothing real exciting fish wish. Once again, we caught an incredible hatch in the evening and the the Klinkhammer was exactly what they wanted.
As the Sun's final kiss of the Whites faded and the blues and reds took over the sky, we caught "just one more fish" and headed out for dinner with Andre (Jazz on fly) up in Mammoth.
Great company and great food at a reasonable price. The next morning, he met us for breakfast and we fished a stretch that was many bends upriver. Bright sun and three fly fishing clubs in town. The grasses were taller then all of us.
The hike wasn't as bad as I remembered and there were willing fish once we had gone around the right bend
Andre had the "magic fly" that Mark had given him and was determined not to lose it. There was a reason for that...it caught fish like crazy. Both Mark and Andre have been converted to the "new" way of nymphing and both were very successful. Andre ruled this hole.....
Tom had another good day as well.
I caught some fish on some flies I tied and just enjoyed being back on the water with good friends.
It was finally time to find our way out under a Robin's Egg blue sky and no wind. We had another excellent dinner at the BBQ place in town. Great day with good people.
The days became a blur of good food...wading and fishing all day and catching lots of fish on, yep, the Klinkhammers.
We were alone on the River...on Super Bowl Sunday and the only noise was the water and the birds. I watched an Osprey, flying right about the willows, wind around the oxbows looking for dinner. The muted colors of winter made for an ever changing backdrop
We fished till it got dark.
Anyone who fishes here knows that there are four constants....Moving water...Willows...reeds...and Beavers. Beavers are doing very well, thank you. You see their handiwork where ever you are and you have to be careful not to fall and impale yourself on these willow stumps they chewed. These remind me of the punji stakes i saw in Viet Nam and they could be just as lethal if you fell onto them.
Our final day was bittersweet and fast in coming. We checked out and had plans to fish till lunch and head down the hill. Well....we sorta stuck to the plan. We visited some water we had enjoyed earlier and were rewarded with some very fine top water action with....wait for it...Klinkhammers. We passed the Tenkara back and forth and thoroughly had a marvelous time catching fish....some very nice wild and feisty fish.
We drove down the hill and reflected on another fishing adventure in a place where you can only imagine what going around the next bend in the river might bring.
We had it all this trip....success-failure and more success but most of all we enjoyed the company of friends-old and new.
Oh...I thought about that incredible Rainbow. May he continue to swim free...
