Deep Water Trout

Big Pine Creek in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada ranks among the prettiest streams I’ve ever fished--shaded by big pines (duh!) with large pools and abundant trout. I can still visualize the first time I came around a bend, and found one of those signature holes.

A five-foot waterfall dropped into a green pool, a good six feet deep. Shallower and slow water along the banks framed a strong current that went deep and swift through the center. Just where big trout feed.

I threw in at…

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Beauty As Its Own Reward

I’m a decent stream fisherman for trout. On a Sierra trip a couple of years back, in 13 hours of fishing I pulled in 43, some up to 15”. That’s pretty good for smaller Sierra streams. No brag, just fact. (Kudos to the first that gets that allusion about “no brag”). Then came McGee Creek.

Driving south on old 395, I saw the line of trees marking McGee, and was ready to drive on by. Why? In ten or twelve stops there over the years, I have caught the grand and humbling total of two trout there, both last spring. Yep, entirely shut out before. But the stream’s beauty continues to entrance me—gorgeous holes that…

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Hello Again, Old Friend

Earlier in the day, the trout on Rock Creek almost jumped into my creel. I’d parked alongside the road and hiked overland to a rarely fished stretch, not another fisherman in sight. Anywhere. I loved both the solitude and lack of competition. The first hole yielded a small brown, maybe 8”, who likely appreciated being returned to his frigid home.

He was the first of twelve trout caught in just over two hours that day; two were keepers at 14” each, and provided dinner for Sheila and me my first night back. Pizza at the campground’s café and a hot shower seemed to top off the day. But God was yet to surprise me. Relaxing in the small cabin…

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Brushy Stream Lessons

From his grandfather, Dad learned the art of catching trout on the Weber River in the Utah mountains, and passed it on to me in the Sierras, beginning on Shepherds Creek, just south of Independence in the Owens Valley. Featuring a narrow stream with a lot of brush and few trees, Shepherds doesn’t favor beginners, especially with the 9 ft. bamboo fly rod Dad wielded. Now, you can’t…

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Suckers

Word on the streets around the cafes and sporting goods stores of Bishop was that big trout were biting on the Owens River near Big Pine. So for one day Dad and I abandoned our beloved streams for the slow-moving Owens, in our never-ending search for more and bigger trout…and newer waters. We followed the landmarks and walked along the eastern bank to a promising bend with the river about five feet below us, and threw our lines in. Not too many casts and I tied into a big one, likely bigger than anything I’d seen Dad catch. I nursed the hog closer, fearing he could flop free in raising him with the limber fly rod. Gently yet swiftly I landed him on the bank—the…

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Sometimes You Win, Sometimes...

Some locals claim the upper Sacramento River, right under the I-5 bridge in Dunsmuir, may yield the best trout fishing in California. Pines creep right down to the water’s edge of the gorgeous stream, yet leave enough space to cast and still not get hung up. Too often, at least.

Wild blackberries give ample reason to study the river, and large boulders in the 20-yard width provide holes for the trout. The rumble of nearby freight trains adds a sense of timelessness.

I’m not sure about the quality of fishing, but I did come to doubt the fisherman’s rationale, “The worst day fishing beats the best day working.” I’d caught…

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