Trip Report: North Fork - Stanislaus

I was able to sneak out for some fishing on Saturday. This time around, I visited the North Fork of the Stanislaus. Initially, I tried to find a road called “Ramsey” that, according to Google maps, looked to move down right next to the river. Unfortunately, I never found it and ended up going back to my standby: the Sourgrass Recreational Area.

I was out of the car and in the river by 9am. The weather was overcast and a brisk 40 degrees. I wrapped up complete with fingerless gloves and took off upstream of the parking lot. It was my goal to get a little bit away from where the crowds normally fish. So, I stopped only briefly until I got about ¼ or ½ mile up river. The water level was lower than my previous trip, so it made it easier to move along. There were still some really tough spots that caused a few close calls as I scrambled on some very slippery boulders. Felt sole wader boots can be treacherous. Luckily nothing happened except for a few scares.

The setup started out as a three rig system consisting of a size 12 Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle as the anchor, my “brown mess” soft hackle size 14 as the middle, and a blue wing olive wet size 14 as the top fly.

The river was crystal clear and I could see a few fish. However, there weren’t nearly as many as I expected. The number of bites reflected this observation. I was able to catch a small 10 inch rainbow on the Hare’s Ear within about an hour of tries. The river level was perfect for wading or simply casting from shore. Plenty of room for back casts. The low level also made for less flow. My first experience with this river was that it was a very fast and almost dangerous current. Not so much this time.

Incredibly enough, I was the only one fishing this Saturday, I’m not sure if it was because of the cold weather or the coming rain/snow storm. Whatever the case, I was all alone.

As the day wore on and the bites were few, flies were swapped often. I went through many of the ones I’ve tied and many that I bought. At the end of the day, one was caught on that Hare’s Ear; the other three were caught on the ones I tied (the successful flies that I tied and caught fish with are pictured in this post).

All in all, I traveled probably ¾ of a mile upstream and caught a total of 4 wild rainbows. All of them were less than 10 inches. It was incredibly beautiful out with the falling leaves and peace and quiet. The river was clear and accessible. The chilly weather made the experience much different than the hot Summer days that I’ve become accustomed too. Unfortunately, the number of fish was a bit of a disappointment.

Even with only four caught, this was a great day. Stunningly beautiful as the leaves were falling on me throughout the day and the smell of a coming storm filled the air. As the rain started to fall and the sun was setting, I packed up and headed back to reality.

Fish Count: 4 Rainbows

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