I arrived at the Rainbow Pools rec area around 6:30am. The fishing was nice for a few hours until the crowds showed up. It was a hot day and there were a lot of people swimming in the area. Made fishing a little difficult.
I wandered as far upstream as I could safely go. This was the only way to get away from the people. There were some decent sized rainbows, probably 18 inch or slightly larger in the deeper pools. One pool was around 12 feet deep and you could see more than a dozen trout actively eating. Sorry I can't be more specific. I simply don't know how to accurately describe it. It was no more than 1/2 mile upstream from the parking lot.
I was able to catch a half dozen or so fish, the largest was around 15 inches. Again, it was an assortment of wet flies that got the most interest. Soft hackle hare's ear are always good producers.
Fish count: Under 10
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Aug 25, 2007
Aug 15, 2007
Trip Report: Tuolumne and Cherry Creek
Yesterday was another 12 hour fly fishing marathon, this time it started out on the Main Fork of the Tuolumne and ended up on Cherry Creek.
After arriving at the Tuolumne around 7:15am, I suited up and walked the path for approximately 3/4 mile to find a spot that looked good to enter the river. I strongly urge everyone to use barbless hooks whenever you go fishing, however here, it is mandatory. This is a wild trout section of the river and you must also release all fish, which is something else I urge everyone to do wherever you go.
After wading out into the river, my first thought was, "Where are all the fish?" I didn't see any. Normally, I can spot them pretty quickly, but I didn't see a one. I'm sure they were there, it was just odd not seeing anything. To make it worse, I got absolutely ZERO bites, let alone a fish caught. I stayed for approximately three hours trying every fishy spot I could find. I wandered approximately 1/2 to 3/4 miles upstream in my attempt. Wet flies, nymphs, streamers, you named it, were tried with no results. I fished deep pools, shallow riffles, every fishy pocket I came across. Nothing.
Cherry Creek
I wandered back to my car feeling defeated. After a sandwich, I decided it was time to move on. After going further down Cherry Lake Road I came upon Cherry Creek. I had never been here before, so I first checked out the section downstream of the power station. The water was CRANKING! I don't know what the flow was, but it was deep and fast. Not something I felt like getting into since I enjoy wading. I was really surprised by the volume of water and wasn't about to get in.
Back in my car, I drove upstream to the Cherry Creek Rd bridge over Cherry Creek. I got out and looked. Didn't see any fish, but what can you expect, the bridge is probably 100 feet over the water. I snaked my way down the dirt trail that was rather steep and unstable -- eventually finding the water with a decent but very manageable flow. Again, I didn't see any fish. I knew they had to be in there, so I walked upstream and started fishing anything that looked like it could hold trout.
I found this area with rushing water dumping into a deep pool with large boulders underneath. There were fish in here, I could finally see them. They had no interest in anything I presented. I tried all sorts of sizes and colors of wet flies. Finally, in desperation, I threw a black wolly bugger and suddenly they were on the chase. This ended up being key and I realized that the color of the day was BLACK!
The bugger was too big, so I downsized to a size 12 Black Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear that had a gold bead head. I dead drifted the thing to about a depth of 3-4 feet. I scrambled around and used a combination of high sticking or just short up and across casts without any indicators. I caught a few 10 inchers in that pool. I wiggled my way around and stood at the head of the pool right over the plunging water and high sticked that nymph down there. After some drifting, I played it in and out of boulders and fishy areas. A few were caught that way too.
After the fishing slowed down, I moved on and did a variety of casts in different places. Shallow water, deep pools, whatever looked good. My black hares ear was getting gnarled from the fish taking it so often. I only had one, so I looked for other black flies. Next was a darkish Prince Nymph size 14. I caught 1 or 2 on that. But it seemed slow, I'm convinced it was because there was too much white on it.
I moved to a dark (almost black) Adams Wet Fly and used dead drifting and swinging methods to catch more fish. It produced well. Finally, after a pit stop at the car to refuel on liquid and food, I made one last trip to the downstream side of the bridge. I decided to put together a 3 fly rig together. The anchor was that beat up black hares ear (I dont normally use a nymph in a 3-rig, but since it was working earlier I thought it was a good idea), the middle fly was that dark Adams wet fly. The top fly was a light cahill dry (it was late in the day and some surface activity was starting up). All 3 flies were getting bites. However, the middle fly (adams) caught all the fish.
All in all, this was one of my most productive days of fishing -- ever. Even with that stinker of a morning on the Tuolumne, I did nicely on Cherry Creek. These fish were hungry. The largest fish were 15-17 inches. Besides those two, most of them were in the 9-11 inch area. With a few really small (5 inch) guys thrown in.
Fish count: More than 22 (lost count)
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.
After arriving at the Tuolumne around 7:15am, I suited up and walked the path for approximately 3/4 mile to find a spot that looked good to enter the river. I strongly urge everyone to use barbless hooks whenever you go fishing, however here, it is mandatory. This is a wild trout section of the river and you must also release all fish, which is something else I urge everyone to do wherever you go.
After wading out into the river, my first thought was, "Where are all the fish?" I didn't see any. Normally, I can spot them pretty quickly, but I didn't see a one. I'm sure they were there, it was just odd not seeing anything. To make it worse, I got absolutely ZERO bites, let alone a fish caught. I stayed for approximately three hours trying every fishy spot I could find. I wandered approximately 1/2 to 3/4 miles upstream in my attempt. Wet flies, nymphs, streamers, you named it, were tried with no results. I fished deep pools, shallow riffles, every fishy pocket I came across. Nothing.
Cherry Creek
I wandered back to my car feeling defeated. After a sandwich, I decided it was time to move on. After going further down Cherry Lake Road I came upon Cherry Creek. I had never been here before, so I first checked out the section downstream of the power station. The water was CRANKING! I don't know what the flow was, but it was deep and fast. Not something I felt like getting into since I enjoy wading. I was really surprised by the volume of water and wasn't about to get in.
Back in my car, I drove upstream to the Cherry Creek Rd bridge over Cherry Creek. I got out and looked. Didn't see any fish, but what can you expect, the bridge is probably 100 feet over the water. I snaked my way down the dirt trail that was rather steep and unstable -- eventually finding the water with a decent but very manageable flow. Again, I didn't see any fish. I knew they had to be in there, so I walked upstream and started fishing anything that looked like it could hold trout.
I found this area with rushing water dumping into a deep pool with large boulders underneath. There were fish in here, I could finally see them. They had no interest in anything I presented. I tried all sorts of sizes and colors of wet flies. Finally, in desperation, I threw a black wolly bugger and suddenly they were on the chase. This ended up being key and I realized that the color of the day was BLACK!
The bugger was too big, so I downsized to a size 12 Black Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear that had a gold bead head. I dead drifted the thing to about a depth of 3-4 feet. I scrambled around and used a combination of high sticking or just short up and across casts without any indicators. I caught a few 10 inchers in that pool. I wiggled my way around and stood at the head of the pool right over the plunging water and high sticked that nymph down there. After some drifting, I played it in and out of boulders and fishy areas. A few were caught that way too.
After the fishing slowed down, I moved on and did a variety of casts in different places. Shallow water, deep pools, whatever looked good. My black hares ear was getting gnarled from the fish taking it so often. I only had one, so I looked for other black flies. Next was a darkish Prince Nymph size 14. I caught 1 or 2 on that. But it seemed slow, I'm convinced it was because there was too much white on it.
I moved to a dark (almost black) Adams Wet Fly and used dead drifting and swinging methods to catch more fish. It produced well. Finally, after a pit stop at the car to refuel on liquid and food, I made one last trip to the downstream side of the bridge. I decided to put together a 3 fly rig together. The anchor was that beat up black hares ear (I dont normally use a nymph in a 3-rig, but since it was working earlier I thought it was a good idea), the middle fly was that dark Adams wet fly. The top fly was a light cahill dry (it was late in the day and some surface activity was starting up). All 3 flies were getting bites. However, the middle fly (adams) caught all the fish.
All in all, this was one of my most productive days of fishing -- ever. Even with that stinker of a morning on the Tuolumne, I did nicely on Cherry Creek. These fish were hungry. The largest fish were 15-17 inches. Besides those two, most of them were in the 9-11 inch area. With a few really small (5 inch) guys thrown in.
Fish count: More than 22 (lost count)
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Aug 4, 2007
Trip Report: Stanislaus (Beardsley)
I met up with someone to fish downstream of the Beardsley Afterbay on the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus. I caught a few small fish, but couldn't get the bigger fish interest. They were certainly there and they were eating. Unfortunately, they were eating a midge hatch and I didn't have flies small enough to take advantage.
All in all, it is a nice place to throw a line. The river is plenty wide in areas and although I didn't venture too far downriver, there are a lot of pockets holding decent sized trout. I wouldn't call it my favorite or definitely most productive place I've fished, but I'll probably go back someday.
South Fork of the Stanislaus
After being somewhat frustrated by the lack of caught fish downriver of the Afterbay, I stopped in Strawberry to try this fork of the Stanislaus. I ventured upstream of the bridge and ended up catching a bunch of smaller trout (9-12 inches). What little size they were, they made up for it in numbers. The ego booster was needed!
It was getting dark and I made the mistake of staying out too long without a flashlight. At around 9pm, I was struggling to get through the brush, stream, and trees to my car. I'm really lucky I made it without getting hurt. I did slip off a boulder and had that split second of terror wondering what was going to happen. Luckily, I only landed on my back end and was able to get up without anything being broken. It was pitch black by the time I reached my vehicle.
Learned my lesson, I now carry a flashlight whenever I fish.
Fish count: More than 14
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All in all, it is a nice place to throw a line. The river is plenty wide in areas and although I didn't venture too far downriver, there are a lot of pockets holding decent sized trout. I wouldn't call it my favorite or definitely most productive place I've fished, but I'll probably go back someday.
South Fork of the Stanislaus
After being somewhat frustrated by the lack of caught fish downriver of the Afterbay, I stopped in Strawberry to try this fork of the Stanislaus. I ventured upstream of the bridge and ended up catching a bunch of smaller trout (9-12 inches). What little size they were, they made up for it in numbers. The ego booster was needed!
It was getting dark and I made the mistake of staying out too long without a flashlight. At around 9pm, I was struggling to get through the brush, stream, and trees to my car. I'm really lucky I made it without getting hurt. I did slip off a boulder and had that split second of terror wondering what was going to happen. Luckily, I only landed on my back end and was able to get up without anything being broken. It was pitch black by the time I reached my vehicle.
Learned my lesson, I now carry a flashlight whenever I fish.
Fish count: More than 14
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