Category Archives: Fly Fishing Guidance

Tim Huckaby’s Upper Kern Fly Fishing Outlook for 2024

Tim Huckaby’s Upper Kern Fly Fishing Outlook for 2024

What a tough fishing season 2023 was for the rivers of the Sierra Nevada. And specifically difficult at my beloved upper kern river.  I should have known something was up when me and my buddies tried to get into the Forks for the end of season: 3 days in mid November 2022… and were stopped by too much snow and a giant fallen tree on unplowed Forest Road 22S82.

There’s huck truck… stuck on unplowed forest road 22S82 with a giant tree in the way in Nov of ’22

2023 was all about high flows.  It is the simple fact that all rivers just fish a lot tougher in high flow.  Even when the Upper Kern is not blown out in muddy conditions, if the water is higher than the willow line it’s just going to be tough to get in position safely for a cast.  Last year, the Upper Kern River just never backed down into a fishable state…. Only experts (or those who hiked more than 10 miles upriver, above the confluence of the Kern and the Little Kern) had any modicum of success there.

And like the Kern’s buddy to the North, the Kings River, it is just really tough, if not dangerous to fly fish the Upper Kern in high flows.

That’s me hiking upriver from the Huck Site looking for good water in 400+ CFS conditions.  Picture Credit: Valerie Rose Hirschberg, a guide client of my who brought a DSLR using actual film!

My definition of the Upper Kern is up river from the Johnsondale Bridge. I have written many times that the Upper Kern fishes great below 250 CFS.  When it’s below 250 CFS the Upper Kern is crossable in many stretches.  When crossable, you can get a fly almost anywhere.  You can get a fly to places on the opposite bank that just are not possible to reach without crossing. And with lower flows there are just not many places where a trout can hide from an artificial fly.  Well, the Upper Kern never really came down below 400 CFS in any significance for the entire 2023 season.  And in early March of 2023 it went to 24,000 CFS!

As I write this article in early January, 2024, in California we are at the lowest snowpack level in 10 years. This is a sharp contrast to last year, the biggest winter in California recorded history.  What is interesting, though, is that the current runoff is still at the highest level I can remember for this time of year… by far.  It’s still hovering at 400 CFS.  And it’s January.  We should be seeing the upper kern river flowing well below 200 CFS in January.  It’s twice that volume right now.  What does that mean in terms of fly fishing the 2024 season?  Well, maybe nothing.  The River could back down to a trickle.  Runoff depends on many factors not the least of which are the density of the snowpack and the temperature.  But, it may mean we have to add 400 CFS to the normal springtime runoff… which would be bad for spring and summer fly fishing on the Upper Kern.  We’re waiting to see how the Spring Runoff period goes.  And when the road to the Forks Trailhead is going to open.

That’s a KRR in the hands of my buddy Addea, who nailed it right at the Huck Site.

Western Divide Ranger district opens Forest Road 22S82 and the ~2 miles of dirt road (Forest Road 20S67) to the Forks trailhead when:

  1. They are confident the snow has backed down enough to clear indicating the winter is over.
  2. That is when they can clear the roads of the boulders and fallen trees blocking the road from the prior winter’s storms.
  3. The Little Kern River Crossing (which is part of the trail) is not too crazy dangerous which coincides with big flows on the Kern.

In my 20+ years of fly fishing the Forks, the opening can be as early as the beginning of April and as late as the end of June.  It’s not like Western Divide Ranger District has unlimited resources to get the road open quickly.  It’s the simple and sad fact that we have consistently cut our forest service budgets for decades in California. Technically, the season is May 15 – Nov 15.

So, I’ll be watching the flow of the Upper Kern River every single day until then.  Feel free to check in with me.  I will pay special attention at the beginning of March.  Historically in March, before the runoff period, the flows can be well below 400CFS.  The Forks trail won’t be open.  But, if the river is in shape and the weather cooperates, I backpack from the Johnsondale bridge upriver 4-5 miles and get a little springtime fly fishing in.  That was not doable successfully (or safely) last year.

Epilogue

That’s Val standing at the Huck site in the exact position of where the big tree with the swing used to be.

 

For you Huck Site Fans: I cannot tell you how many emails, txts and conversations I had last season that started with “Did the Huck site survive?”  It did.  The “Huck Site” is a primitive campsite on the Upper Kern River 4.2 miles from the Forks of the Kern Trailhead.  I have been working on that site for over 20 years.  It’s a popular site for many reasons.  And now it has survived the ‘21 fire and the ‘23 flood.  But that atmospheric river in March of ‘23 and the 24k CFS that came with it took its toll. Because of the steep decline of the river down from the site, the rapids that go with the decline, and flat area across the river downstream from the Huck Site, water didn’t build up to the level of where the firepit is and when we put tents.  But it got close.  Remember the tree swing?  It’s gone. In fact, the giant tree that the swing hung from is gone with it…without any trace of it, roots and all.  You can’t even tell a huge tree was ever there.  Of course that means it has opened a 50 foot long unobstructed area for casting. I had trimmed the branches on that tree for over 20 years so that people could get a side-armed roll cast under it.  Now, the entire tree is gone.

 

My Quest to Learn Popper Fly Fishing for Largemouth

Is that the rainbow trout popper i built, painted and tied hanging out of this largemouth’s face? Why yes it is…

I came to the shocking reality of the largest winter in California recorded history in February of 2023: Most of the places I love to fly fish in the Sierra Nevada will not fish well (because of runoff) until August or later this year.  And some of those places just will not be accessible at all this year because the roads are destroyed (or will become destroyed when the big runoff comes in June).  I know my way around a trout stream.  I have been fly fishing for trout for decades.  So, in the beginning of 2023 the writing was on the wall: I would not be able to do my annual springtime fly fishing trips for trout in the Sierra Nevada and I’d be lucky to do any fly fishing in the Sierras by August.  If I wanted to fly fish I would have to find alternatives.

So, I made it my quest to learn as much as possible about freshwater fly fishing for Bass with popper flies.  In the fly-fishing club that I serve as president, The San Diego Fly Fishers Club, we have quite a few experts at “the bass thing”.  And we have many lakes in and around San Diego County that support healthy populations of largemouths, smallmouths and many other fresh water fish species willing to take a fly.  I have caught plenty of freshwater bass in my time.  I have fished for bass on top plenty of times successfully with Huck Hoppers.  But, I had heard these legends of popper fly fishing and was intrigued.

How fun does this look?!

So, with a ton of internet research, reading books and magazines, and many discussions with the experts I had access to, I learned as much as I could.  Then I put what I learned into practice on 6 fishing days over 3 different lakes during the months of April and May, 2023.  This is my account of that journey from February to May of 2023.

I have an obsessive personality.  I’m not obsessive/compulsive where obsession ruins the rest of my life.  But, when I set out to learn something…. Well, let’s just say I don’t half-ass it.

The first component I got obsessed about was building, painting and tying popper flies.  We use them religiously for the dorado in baja.  But, when talking to the experts like Jim Brown (long time San Diego City Lakes Manager and godfather of fly fishing for bass in san diego), he mentioned that fishing with popper flies is the ultimate in fun when fly fishing for bass.  It’s pretty obvious why: you fish on top like a dry fly and the bass rise to the popper.  The thing that is different from trout, I was told, is that “Some of the takes on top are viscous”.  So, I made a little visit to the man-cave of my friend and expert John Ashley.  He showed me the popper flies he made, painted and tied.  I was shocked.  He showed me his Copic Airbrushing system.  Well, $100 later with a small compressor then turned into ~$200 in supplies.  I was worried because I have very little artistic talent.  I’m an engineer by trade.  And there is very little guidance on the painting part of popper flies on the interweb.  but, through some practice I managed to paint some trout and frog popper flies.  They looked pretty good, I must admit.  Which made me worried that they wouldn’t work.

this is one of a handful of frog popper flies i built, painted and tied.

With the popper flies I had made and the knowledge I’d gained from the experts I headed out for 6 fishing days spread over 4 weeks with some confidence.  I had success.  But, I was humbled during many points.  Here is a short chronicle of my adventures:

April 21-23: Squaw Lake

Every year the San Diego Fly Fishers Club does a weekend of camping at Squaw Lake.  Because of calendar conflicts… and because it’s right in the heart of spring trout fishing in the sierras (in every year but this one), I had never got the choice to join.  I really had no idea what or where this place was until after I decided to join in and go.  After staring at google maps I could see that it was part of the Colorado river system right on the California side of the border with Arizona (the river being the border).  But, I had no idea what I was in for.

I’m in love with my Hobie Lynx Kayak.  i get so much range out of it and can actually stand up and cast.

On the guidance of my fellow club members, I did the dawn patrol thing so I could get there early and secure a decent campsite.  So, I was in the water in my kayak by 10am.  I was fishing alone.  The first thing I noticed was the current.  It really is part of the Colorado river and a float tube would be almost impossible except for close to the camp.  I fished a popper for a good couple hours before I gave up.  I failed to fool anything to come up to the top of the water column.  I fished what looked like really good water with tons of vegetation on the banks.  So, I switched to a medium sink like and more traditional clouser like patterns and started catching fish.  in the main channel while drifting under current and doing a very fast retrieve I caught a striper.  They pull like crazy but don’t jump like a largemouth does.  I caught a few largemouths here and there but, I wouldn’t call the fishing crazy good.  There were long periods without takes.  It was during one of those long periods I noticed what looked like an entrance to a protected lagoon.  I stared at Gaia maps on my phone and sure enough it was a 100 by 100 yard lagoon behind brush.  You’d couldn’t see through to it by looking.  But, there was a tiny entrance protected by weeds underneath and brush on both sides.  I made a run for it and made it through.  And that is when it got nuts.  I was fishing water that didn’t see a lot of flies, if any, and was killing.  Really I should have switch back to the popper.  I could kick myself now for not doing that.  But, I was having so much fun raling largies I didn’t.  after an exhausting day of fishing I got back to camp and John Ashley, my bass fishing mentor and friend was there.  he said, “I know the lagoon you are talking about.  Just wait until tomorrow.”  Little did I know at the time.

fighting the current through the narrow set of channels on the way to imperial reservoir

“if you are up for it, tomorrow we’ll go to Imperial Reservoir.”, John said.  I shot back, “we have to load our kayaks and drive somewhere?” “Oh no, my friend, we’ll do a jungle boat cruise against the current to get there.”  Well, that mile long physical adventure of a journey turned out to be an epic day.  I am pretty sure I landed over 25 and lost just as many.  I caught a ton of largemouths including a couple stripers.  But, my favorite part was when, in a small lagoon I found john and switched to a popper fly to fish with him.  He watched me and immediately said something like, “What in the hell are you doing? No no no.  that’s all wrong.”  In all the guidance and discussions I had about popper fishing for bass I somehow failed to glean the most important information: how to strip back the fly.  I was stripping it back fast like you fish for dorado in the open ocean.  In freshwater bass fishing you cast the popper fly as close to the bank as possible.  Then you let it sit for a painfully long amount of time before jerky slow strips.  But, it was the end of day 2 and I still hadn’t caught a bass on a popper fly.

Stripers, at least the ones i caught, fight hard but don’t strike on top and don’t come up for a fly.  The only success i had with catching stripers was stripping fast in deep water.

What a special oasis in the desert this place is.  But, I have to wait until the winter to get back there.  Understand you can’t just go out there to Squaw Lake any time of the year.  It gets hotter than hell out there.  It’s a winter and early spring fishery.

doing these selfie trophy pics with my iPhone is a challenge that I’m already tired of

May 5-6: Lake Mead

When a business trip to Las Vegas for the startup I’m working with appeared on the calendar, I reached out to the las vegas fly fishing club for guidance on how to fish lake mead.  What I got in return from Kris, member of the board at the Las Vegas Fly fishing club was incredible help.  Especially on where to camp and fish.  It’s faster for me to drive to Las Vegas than fly so I threw my float tube in the back of my truck and did another dawn patrol drive.

I had the entire place to myself. The drought: the actual high water mark is above where i’m taking the picture

It took a small section of legit 4WD but when I got to the lake, I literally parked 5 feet from the shore in an oasis of coves of crystal clear water and had the entire place to myself; not a sole for miles in any direction.

This time armed with one of Jim Brown’s Fenwick fiberglass rods from the 70s, I tied a popper on and attacked… for hours without a strike before switching to a sinking line again convinced I’d never catch a largemouth on a popper fly.  Discouraged, I was mentally ready to get skunked.  But, with a medium sink line and a shad looking clouser I hooked up, battled and released a nice sized striper.  “It took 3 hours, but I finally caught a fish.” is what I txtd my wife, Kelly.  I caught a couple more fish over the next hour or two.  There were smallmouths.  Cool.  But it was slow and I still had not seen a largemouth let alone a shad boil.

Much of Lake Mead allows disbursed camping on BLM land.  I spent 20 minutes building this campfire pit.  Then disassembled it when leaving.  I ultimately believe this will all be under 50-100 feet of water again within a few years.

It was the end of the day so I peddled (My Hobie Lynx is a peddle driven kayak) back to camp, made myself a cocktail, cooked a steak and listened to my beloved Padres get whacked by the Dodgers.

“Today is a new day.” I told myself at sunrise.  And I had until 3pm when I’d pack up camp, drive to the strip and clean up at Caesers before the software launch party I was to attend that night.  As I staggered out of the bed in my truck, I noticed another truck about 200 feet away.  I was not alone.  After making myself a cup of coffee I spotted the guy.  He was a gear fisherman and he started early.  I walked over to where he could see me and shouted hi.  Well, soon enough he wander into my camp and we chatted a bit about the fishing.  He was a nice guy for sure.  I didn’t learn anything though because he was a gear fisherman.  For the next 20 minutes while I scrambled to get ready to fish myself he literally fished right in front of my truck.  But, he didn’t catch anything.  Hmmm…

I caught a half dozen or so small mouth bass.  but, i never managed to catch a largemouth in Lake Mead… or any fish on a popper fly.

By the time I got into my kayak to fish it was close to 8am.  for the next couple hours it was slow.  I caught a smallmouth and that was fun.  My goal was to fish the shoreline and all its coves going north for at least 2 miles.  Then it happened.  I caught a smallmouth that barfed up a shad as I was pulling him in to release him.  But, the shad was tiny.  Like 1 ½” tiny.  I was fishing shad patterns that were over 3”… over 2 times the size of the naturals.  So, I scoured my fly boxes for a smaller shad pattern and found a small streamer in white that would have to suffice.  It did.  I started killing.  And I was pleased because I figured it out.  It took me like 6 hours of fishing to figure it out.  But, I did.  It got so good that in the process of unkinking my medium sink like I hooked into a big fish with the fly just sitting there skimming the bottom.  After a significant battle it turned out to be a big catfish.  In that final 2-3 hours I caught about a dozen fish.  half of them smallmouth and half of them stripers.  There were no largemouth to be found and I still hadn’t caught a fish on popper flies.

My large net skews the size of this catfish.  it was pretty huge and drug me around in my kayak for a while before I could tire him out.

May 10 & 12: Barrett Lake

Barrett Lake in San Diego county is world famous.  It is a very special place.  It has been covered in fishing magazines and television shows for years.  It’s so special that when reservations / tickets go on sale for Barrett each year, it has to be done on Ticketmaster.  Jim Brown told me that many years ago, the late 70s I believe, when they decided to hand over the ticketing season for Barrett over to Ticketmaster it was the first time Ticketmaster collapsed because of scale.  Realize, at the time Ticketmaster had already successfully handled tickets for the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra tours.  So, now you fly fishers can relate to the young folks you recently saw crying in social media because Ticketmaster collapsed for the 2023 Taylor Swift tour.

As much as i hate my iPhone, it sure does take good pictures.  I lucked out on this picture.  this big largemouth jumped and flipped in the process.  I probably lost him in that process.  Notice the mirror image of him on the lake.

Lake Barrett is restricted to catch and release, single hook, barbless fishing; rare for a bass lake.  It also is one of the many reasons the fishing is so good there.  Its season is just 3 days per week (Wed, Sat & Sun) for 4 months starting in May.  Tickets are released monthly on a controlled basis and the access is limited to a small restricted amount of anglers on those days.

I have been lucky to have fished Lake Barrett for the last 3 years.  and I have had a lot of success there thanks to guidance given to me from Kim Jones, who I call, the “Queen of Barrett”.  But, I had never popper fished there.  and I had always fished in a float tube which basically limited me to about a mile from the dock.

I had to txt my buddy Kim Jones and ask her what the hell this one was. “Black Crappie”. Even they rise to a popper fly at Barrett

Well, the SDFF club has the rare pleasure of renting Lake Barrett for a single day of exclusive use each year from the city of San Diego.  It costs a bunch of money and hassle in terms of permitting and insurance and such.  But, we know what a special thing it is for our members, so it is worth all the expense and hassle.

Back to Ticketmaster.  I had the day/time of the go on sale for Barrett for months on my calendar.  I got myself logged in on Ticketmaster at least 10 minutes in advance saying to myself, “This is the year I get to fish on opening day.”  I seemed to be sitting in some form of electronic queue. By the time it was my time to purchase the first 4 dates were already sold out.  sigh.  Just like every year I bought the first available.  Now I was pissed because the day I picked, Wednesday, May 10 was just 2 days before the Friday date that the SDFF club had the lake.  I figured I’d give the tickets away until I said to myself, “what the hell.  Even though it’s a huge drive there and back I’ll fish it a couple days before and provide that intel to the rest of the club who would fish it a couple days later”.

Just another big Barrett Bass

I talked to Jim Brown the day before my first shot of the season at Barrett and he said, “If I were you I’d fish poppers all day.”  So, even though I had still yet to catch a largemouth on a popper fly I resigned myself to that plan.  And yea, I was worried.

It was early like you are supposed to be and I headed out on my kayak.  I had already lost my fishing buddy (jim Casteluzzo who I treated to the day) because he got in the water a good 20 minutes ahead of me.  So, alone I attacked the western side of the lake in a northern direction towards Pine Creek.  As previously mentioned, I have fished barrett before, but never in a kayak (which has a much larger range than a float tube).  And I still hadn’t caught a fish on a popper fly.  So, my mission was to explore places in the lake I had never seen before.  And catch a barrett largemouth on a popper.

This is the typical “cookie cutter” ~14″ largie you fool at Lake Barrett. But, there are some monsters in that lake.

Well, I fired one of the rainbow trout poppers I made for the first 20 minutes with nothing.  I said to myself, “I know the fish are here. I know I can catch them with a medium sink line.”  I didn’t think you could be too early in bass fishing.  I was carrying two rods so I switched and immediately caught a huge black crappie and then a largemouth.  So, I grabbed the popper rod again with resolute.  Within minutes I had my first largie on a popper!  I was stoked.  Within two hours I had lost count of how many takes I had.  At one point I was all by myself laughing, all by myself, and saying out loud, “It can’t get any more fun than this.”  At the end of the day I figured I had landed over 25 on popper flies and lost easily that many to my lack of bass fighting skills and barbless hooks.

My favorite moment was a big largemouth that struck my popper fly on the way up on a jump….and jumped clear out of the water with the popper.  I set on him in the air.  You can do that with bass.  That would cause calamity with a trout.  Well, it was close to 4pm now and I was txting back and forth with my buddy Kim Jones asking her how late I could stay on the lake.  But, the reality was my over 60 year old body was killing me from all the fights with fish.  I could barely cast my arm hurt so badly.  So, I called it a day… a very good day and peddled it back to huktruk for the battle on the 5 north home.

Barrett really is beautiful lake in the spring.  I literally have 20+ pictures of the mirror image thing like this from the Hauser arm of the lake.

Well, I had intel alright.  And that word spread throughout the club.  2 days later I decided I’d try the Hauser arm of the lake because I had not been there either.  Since I had so much success 2 days prior I also decided I’d be in no rush and be happy with whatever happened.  But, it seemed like the entire other 50 fly fishers went down the Pine creek arm…. Seemingly armed with my fishing report of a 2 days prior.  I basically had the entire hauser arm to myself.  I marvelled at the calm water and the nature all around me.  I caught a lot of fish.  but, I wasn’t as “agro” about it like a couple days prior.   I probably caught half as many as the couple days prior. At one point I chased a huge largemouth chasing a bait ball of shad for over an hour.  It was futile.  By the time I got to where he struck, him and the bait ball were 100 yards away.  I fished a popper fly all day.  And was really happy about it.

Here’s another picture I totally lucked out on. notice the popper fly hanging out of the face on this one.

Conclusions

I have this saying.  I bet I have said it a thousand times: “Nothing fights like a Trout.”  I know I said it about the Corvina of Baja in the article I wrote here.

As it turns out, fly fishing for bass can be just as strategic as it is for trout.  And I learned the hard way that “matching the hatch” when it comes to fly fishing for bass, is just as important as it in in trout fishing.  It’s just not about bugs; it’s about figuring out what they are eating and matching the size and color.  Just like in trout fishing you have to observe, adapt and overcome.  I liked that part of bass fishing a lot.  I also found myself loving fishing on top for largemouths as much as I love drifting a dry fly down a river.

My quest completed multiple times: C&R largemouths on Popper Flies.  Of interest, I ultimately had success on a lot of different popper flies both that I tied myself and some that I bought….like this one…which is the crystal popper we use on Dorado in Baja of all things.

How I Tie the Huck Hopper

I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to make a video of how I tie the Huck Hopper.  Well, I have finally motivated so here it is.

Over the years, I have sold a gazillion huck hoppers off the timhuckaby.com site.  People adore this thing.  I adore this thing.  I have caught fish on the huck hopper all over the world.  But, many of you fly tyers want to tie it yourself.  I get it.  Fly fishing incorporates a lot of pleasures intermingled with some frustration and even pain.  And one of those pleasures is fooling a fish on a fly that you tied yourself.

I call my home water the Upper Kern River even though it is 300 miles north of where I live.  I have taught many many people how to fly fish on the Upper Kern River.  Shoot, my son Mark is a fly fishing guide in Bozeman and he cut his teeth on the Upper Kern.  My favorite stretch of the The Upper Kern is within the Golden Trout Wilderness and is accessed by the Forks of the Kern Trail; typically with a backpack.  What I call the forks is a 15 mile stretch of river above the confluence of the main fork, north, of the kern river and the little kern river.  There is not a lot of altitude at the confluence, less than 5000 feet, and for that 15 miles and beyond the river and it’s surrounding area supports a huge population of many species of grasshoppers.  Between teaching folks to fly fish losing hopper imitations to trees or simply just having the trout chomp and waterlog those flies I had a similar  problem to Charlie craven. Charlie Craven’s “Charlie Boy Hopper” was my inspiration for the Huck Hopper.  But, unlike Charlie, I was backpacking.  I didn’t have the luxury of tying more flies at night.  I would simply run out.  I needed a durable solution that was easy enough to tie that produced results. 

So, I started field testing my first prototypes on the upper kern and the results were spectacular.  There was just one problem.  I also needed a nymphing solution in a dry/dropper rig.  The upper kern has deep runs where getting the fly down produces very well.  But hanging two heavy nymphs below a fairly large, size 6 huck hopper would sink it.  At the same, I reasoned that the upper kern river should never see a bobber.  It’s too special.  The Upper Kern River within the Golden Trout Wilderness is designated as a “Wild and Scenic” river by the State of California.  It is one of the only places left in the world that supports a majority of wild natives: The Kern River Rainbow (KRR) is its own sub species of the rainbow trout.  So, I started tying huge huck hoppers in sizes 2 and 4.  I call them battleships.  And to my surprise the kern river rainbows continued to attack them.  In fact even the little KRRs would rise to those big huck hoppers, grabbing them by the legs and pulling them down to drown them.  Big flies equals big fish and I started catching some monster KRRs.  And those big huck hoppers could hold up even the heaviest of nymphs all day long.  Doubles were now not a rare thing on the Upper Kern with a big huck hopper on top.

Credits to the great Charlie Craven for the inspiration: https://charliesflybox.com

And thanks to Par Avion for the music! http://www.VivaParAvion.com

The video includes fly tying techniques for the beginner. and details the materials I use and where i get them. but it also covers the background, history, why and how:

Forks of the Kern Report – October 20-23, 2022

That is my wife Kelly with a beautiful fish she nailed on a Huck Bow Warrior Perdigon

Relevant Stats for the 4 days:

Flow & Water Conditions

CFS (https://dreamflows.com/graphs/mon.681.php) :

  • Crystal Clear, stable
  • ~10 feet of silt to 18″ deep at rivers edge
  • 10/20-23 – ~100 CFS

Solunar

(I use the app “Fishing & Hunting Solunar Time PRO” $3.99):

  • 10/20 – 14%, Poor
  • 10/26 – 26%, Fair
  • 10/22 – 59%, Average

Water temp: 48-48 in the mornings rising to 53-55 in the late afternoons

Air temp: mid 70s in the day lowering to 38-45 at night

Weather: mild, then wind gusts to 30mph.  stretches of overcast and light rain

Group: Annual Couples Trip: Huckabys, Novaks, Cooleys, Conrads + Jake

This trip was the annual couple’s trip. I love this trip because my wife Kelly comes. And some really fun couples. And Kelly never backpacks anywhere without her best buddy, Meredith. Which means my buddy Lance “has to come”. Also joining us were John and Delia Cooley who you have also read about on this site through many adventures. That is the 3 “over 30 years of marriage” couples. Topping off the group was Micah & Dasha Conrad. Micah is the young filmmaker with the awesome youtube channel who I taught how to fly fish earlier in the summer down at the Forks. Stay tuned on Micah’s Youtube vide of this trip. I will update it here when it publishes.

And sure enough, my old friend Jake Blount, an excellent fly fisher and guide showed up.

Mere took this picture of the run just over the Rattlesnake creek hill. How about that water clarity?!

Peppermint Creek

The plan I typically do with a group like this is to hike in a day early, find a site, then hike out empty the next morning to meet that group filling up with fresh food, beer, etc. before hiking back down with the group.  So, I drove up Wednesday, listening to the Padres-Phillies playoff game on Satellite Radio.  I made it through LA without much trouble so I still had a good hour of daylight when I hit the lower peppermint creek campground.  There was a video of the peppermint creek waterfalls from August when the monsoon rains came.  It was a shocking view of the ash from the fire finally making its way down the mountains into the river system.  You can see it here.  I wanted to see the effects.  Not only because of Peppermint creek.  But, because I was getting a lot of reports of ash and silt blowing out the Upper Kern River from the Huck site all the way down to the Johnsondale bridge.  Also, because in July I fished Peppermint Creek above the campground and did really well.  Well, the effects of the flash flooding in the creek are obvious and concerning.  Below the campground, the creek is choked with ash and soot.  I don’t see how trout could even hold in that first ½ mile before the structure by the BLM primitive camp sites.  I don’t believe I even casted once.  So, I hiked back up the creek, crossed the road and hiked the creek above the campground.  It’s steeper terrain so the creek is not as choked up but there is soot / silt on both sides.  I did not see a trout…nor anything alive like bugs in the river.  I did cast some moving water but not a single take after an hour or so of fishing while making my way upstream above the falls.  In July I was pretty much getting struck on every cast.  Granted the water was really low because of the drought and the end of the season.  But, I am not confident there was a single trout in that milelong stretch above the campground.  It was clear the flash flooding of soot pushed them out or killed them.  Mother nature has a way of quickly fixing things so my guess is after a good winter it will be back in shape and the trout will come back. 

Fall 2022 on Peppermint Creek: there’s still water, but no trout that I could find

In Quest of the Huck Site

When I got to the Forks of the Kern Trailhead it was already dark.  The mission was to get the Huck Site the next morning.  To my surprise and dismay there were 4 cars/trucks in the dirt parking lot and 4 more sets of trucks and campers in the primitive campsites.  Then it hit me: camping at the trailhead.  Without running water nor anywhere close to fish, the only reason to do that was to hunt.  And yep, I had forgot deer hunting season had started.  That was confirmed the next morning around 5am as I peered out my window seeing groups of guns pass my truck on the way into the wilderness.  It was really cold sleeping in my truck that Wednesday night at the trailhead; uncomfortably cold.  My guess was low forties.  Hmmm…. 

Sunrise at the Forks of the Kern Trailhead

There was an awesome sunrise at the trailhead.  That is pretty rare.  I started my hike in on quest for the Huck site around 8am.  There was not a single sole camping for the first 3 miles.  But, when I got to rattlesnake camp (the site with the cement picnic bench) I had a giant black dog charge at me barking with it’s fangs bared.  Two old guys were in the site and couldn’t control their dog.  It was one of 4 times during the trip that dog charged me barking uncontrolled.  But, my concern now was if the Huck site was taken I’d have to double back over a mile to “bend camp” and set up there.  The more I write on this site about the Huck site, the more popular it gets.  That is not a problem for me.  I encourage it.  I want more people, especially young people to experience the wilderness.  That is why I write it on this site.  But, I really don’t like doubling back and the next site that can handle 4 or more tents is another mile over the mountain.  I was confident the couple’s group was not up for that long a hike in.  As I approached the huck site I could see a couple people and gear.  Darn.  So, I approached them with a smile saying something like, “Hi, are you just setting up here?”  “no.”, they said, “We are just leaving.” “Thank God”, I said.  “I have 4 tents coming tomorrow and the Huck site is one of the few sites that can handle that many tents.”  “Wait, are you Tim Huckaby?”, they said.  I believe I said the exact same thing I always say when people recognize me down at the Forks: “Tim Huckaby?  That guy is a douche.”  Then I laugh and introduce myself.  Julian and Lauren were their names.  A great young fly fishing couple that loves the Upper Kern like me.  Well, it wasn’t long into the conversation before Julian told me he proposed marriage to Lauren at the Huck Site!  Talk about proud… I had tears in my eyes hearing that.

Julian and Lauren: A wedding proposal at the Huck Site!

So, I set up my tent in the Huck site.  I pinged the couples group I had secured the Huck site with my Garmin InReach. 

Soot and Silt

I examined the water in front of the Huck Site.  Just like I was warned, the bank was ten or so feet of silt and ash.  Silt that was over a foot deep.  It had settled so the water was still crystal clear.  But, if you stepped in it, the water exploded clouding the water to zero visibility. 

I had heard from friends and a number of visitors to this site that after the monsoon rains of august, the johnsondale bridge section (JDB) was completely blown out with soot and ash and silt and unfishable.  Mother Nature had finally pushed the ash, soot and exposed dirt of the fires into the river.  I had also heard from the same folks that the silt made the fishing from the confluence at the forks all the way up to the huck site really tough.  Well, the unfortunate news for spring fly fishers is that the huge amount of silt is going to make its way down the river when runoff starts.  Even another drought year is going to push that silt downstream. How bad and how long will depend on the winter we have.  I love to fish the JDB stretch in April.  But, I fear blown out conditions in 2023 will prevent it. 

Yea, that is a Huck Hopper in his face. But, i tied it tiny, size 14 in orange to imitate the October Caddis

Fishing upriver of the Huck Site

I rigged up a 3x mono leader to a size 4 tan huck hopper trailed with 3 feet of 3x flouro to a size 16 Huck-bow Warrior perdigon and set off to fish.  I had already told the couples group in planning that I didn’t need to fish much and would concentrate on guiding the beginners.  I also wanted to spend a lot of time with Kelly because close to 2 months in Montana and Wyoming over the summer took its toll.  So, this was my chance to get in some fishing before Kelly and the gang showed up the next morning.  I didn’t cast in front of the huck site.  I could see trout in the crystal-clear water in front of the Huck site, along with a group of huge pike minnows (aka squawfish or suckers).  I wanted to save those for the beginners.  So, I started up stream about 100 feet above the Huck Site just below “Latrine Hole”.  First cast: “Whack!”  An 8” Kern River Rainbow (KRR) took the Huck-bow Warrior perdigon.  “Hmmm…” I said to myself.  “Oh no.  The first cast jinx.”  I casted again….drifted…  Nothing.  3rd cast: “Whack!” A 12 inch KRR that rose to the Huck Hopper!  I continued to fish upstream and continued to get rises to the Huck Hopper and continued to catch and release KRRs. 

Another nice rainbow with a Huck Midge Perdigon stuck in his nose

I was about 20-25 minutes into it… about 100 yards upstream from the Huck Site when I heard, “Tim!”  I looked to the bank and could see someone, but he was obscured by the trees.  He came closer and said, “It’s Jake.”  I smiled and said, “How in the world did you find me?”  “Well, I saw your truck in the parking lot.”  That’s Jake. He asked if he could stay a couple nights in the site with me and excitedly, I said, “Absolutely yes.  In fact, I’m going to need your help guiding.” Jake, like me, is the type of fly fisher that gets more joy over teaching and guiding other people to catching fish than he does catching his own.

It was around 1pm.  Well, Jake ran back to set up his tent then met me in river.  I had only moved a hundred yards or so upstream the fishing was so good.  I fished the left handers side of the river and he fished the right as we moved up stream together.  And we did really well.  I can only remember a little lull when the wind blew and I simply switched to two huck perdigon droppers; one size 14 and the lower one 16 and never missed a beat.  One out of four takes was on the huck hopper.  I caught between a dozen and 20 fish to 16” and Jake did the same.  Maybe more.  

That’s Jake: an excellent fly fisher who loves guiding and teaching others more than catching fish himself

I told Jake that Micah was going to show up with his wife Dasha around 4:30PM and that I told her I’d teach her how to cast.  I asked Jake to take Micah while I did the basic fly casting lesson with Dasha.  He gladly agreed.  We walked back to the site at 4:30 and no Micah.  At 5:30 still no Micah and I started to worry.  But, they did show up.  All we had time for was a simple casting lesson, though.  It was getting dark.  Dasha did get 4 takes though.  Right at the huck site.  We had time to cover setting or fighting fish yet.  But, she was a natural at casting.  I know this is a generalization, but, it just seems like females take instruction so much better than males.  It’s just so easy to teach absolute beginner females to cast for me. 

John took this fantastic picture of Delia. It looks like she’s hooked up. If i was there I’d be yelling, “Rod tip High! Get tight with him.” 🙂

I did buy a $9 transistor radio and hike it in hoping to listen to the Padre playoff games.  And at nighttime it works!  We got to listen to all the games when it was dark.

Why does AM radio work better at night? It is called the ionosphere because when the sun’s rays hit this layer, many atoms lose electrons and turn into ions. You can pick up some radio stations better at night because the reflection characteristics of the ionosphere are better at night.

Source: rovertip.com/which-goes-further-am-or-fm/

That radio now lives in the cache.  You could argue it is a safety device.  In fact, the Huck Site Cache is more abundant now than it was before the fire incinerated everything.  Tools, Camp Tables, extra Fuel, cutting board, kitchen stuff, pads, etc.  If you want to use the cache at the Huck site email me and I’ll give you the detailed directions to find it. 

Well, it was a huge relief that Jake showed up because I had to do the big hike back up to the trailhead the next morning. I didn’t anticipate getting back to the Huck Site until 11am with the gang. Jake gladly agreed to guide Micah and Dasha the next day while I was on the hikes out and back in.

Does that look like a fun run to fish or what? I put 4 beginners in this run and i believe everyone caught fish

The Hike Out Empty

The next morning, I got hiking with an empty pack at 6:45AM.  I got to the trailhead at 8:30AM as planned.  But, none of the gang had arrived yet.  I talked to some nice folks in the lot and filled my pack with 24 beers and fresh food.  The gang showed up, we got a late start, hiked slowly with breaks and didn’t even make it to the huck site until after 12pm.  The gang was tired and needed to set up their tents.  And frankly so was I.  So, I grabbed one of the 24 beers I just hiked down, sat in my backpacking chair and stared at the water looking for rises.  It wasn’t long after that Micah, Dasha, and Jake showed up.  Jake had a smile on his face when he approached me so I knew it went well.  Micah said something like, “Well, tell Tim.”  Dasha caught 3 KRRs over 15”!  ..a total beginner.  I was stoked.  Micah did well too under Jakes’s guidance.

That’s Dasha – a total beginner and a natural. Micah gets credit for this outstanding picture

So, suffice it to say that jake and I had our hands full guiding a bunch of beginners and didn’t fish much for the next few days. The moon was totally against us and the gang still did ok on dry/dropper rigs.  In the following days the barometer crashed, the wind moved in, we even saw a little rain.  All that really hurt the production.  So we did see weather… and we were fishing during a really bad solunar stretch.  It was tough for the beginners.  The wind was bad.  It was cold.  The wind blew the aspen leaves into the river completely shutting off the dry fly thing.  There is only one scenario where I’d switch to the bobber and this was it.  The nymphing was still good if you could make the cast and get a drift.    It was on the bobber, that my wife Kelly caught a nice 15” in what looked like spawning colors…. But, only after some significant frustration with me as her guide.  What is it about trying to teach your wife how to fly fish?…or play golf?…or anything for that matter?…  Mere did catch a couple nice KRRs in that session too.

That’s Mere in the background with what looks to be a juvenile pure strain KRR with a Huck Midge Perdigon stuck in his face

Kern River Rainbow Hybridization

What was interesting is we kept seeing colorful fish that looked like they were in spawn…. And sure enough Micah harvested a fish to eat and it had eggs in it. That totally explains why we do so well in the end of season trip. There is a late fall / early winter spawn on the upper kern. Last year I asked steve Schalla of www.flyfishingthesierra.com aka steven ojai about it and he reasoned it could be a sudden drop in water temperature. But, Steve has been watching the hybridization of the rainbows in the Upper Kern closely. And now we have confirmed it: There is a winter spawn in the Upper Kern River. But, environmentally, this is not a positive thing.

I got this from Steve in an email when I sent him pictures: “Notice the spots…they are somewhat large and very few below the center stripe. I would guess there is considerable hybridization with Rainbows.”  Steve went on to describe what has happened in the Upper Owens and Lake Crowley seems to be happening in the Upper Kern.  “During the winter, the eastern sierras guides call the migrating rainbows their “sierran steelhead”.  They come out of Crowley Lake and spawn upstream in the Owens River.  I suspect the same is true on the Kern: the Rainbows are not just a Spring Spawn species any longer.”

“Notice the spots…they are somewhat large and very few below the center stripe”. Steve Schalla says this is a hybridized rainbow trout

Translation: stocked rainbow trout (not native to the Kern) have made it all the way up to the Upper Kern River above Fairview dam.  That stocked species of rainbow is a winter spawner.  These trout are now wild and they are breeding with the Kern River Rainbows (KRRs).  The hybridization of the KRR with other species of rainbows is now significant.  When you couple that with a significant increase in the number of brown trout in the Upper Kern River (In 1932 a group of women on horses released brown trout fingerlings into Peppermint Creek), it is a huge red flag for one of the very few places in the world that contains a majority of wild native trout. 

I have fished the Yellowstone River and its tributaries for years.  And I have watched the hybridization of the pure strained Yellowstone cutthroat.  Many of the guides in the area claim there will be no pure strained Yellowstone Cutthroats within a few short years.  That is a shame and a very tricky problem to fix.  As far as I know you can only slow it down.  So, my ask of you is this: if you are the type of person that likes to harvest the trout on the Upper Kern (current regs is 2/day).  Then make sure you don’t cull a pure strained KRR.  Make sure you harvest a hybridized trout.  Or a brown trout…. Which are also turning into a problem on the upper kern river.

Check out the spot pattern on this KRR that Micah nailed. Notice the peppery spots that pretty much cover the entire body of the fish: that is a pure strained KRR with a huck hopper in his face.

Last year (2021) I fished the end of the season, nov 15.  And we did very well.  The fishing was just awesome. Story here.  I always seem to slay at the end of the season.  And for years I have explained it as “the fish know the food sources are ending and have to fatten up for sitting at the bottom of the deep pools for 3 months until spring”.  Last year, many of the fish looked so colorful that they looked and behaved like they were in spawn.  Well, now I know for sure why the fishing is so good: Many of those males are in spawn and they just get stupid when they are in spawn.

I am headed back into the Upper Kern for the end of the Season in a couple weeks.  My mission is to pay very careful attention to the spot patterns… ie: the pure strained KRRs caught above the big waterfall which is around a mile up river from painters camp.  If the hybridization is significant way up there…. Well….uggg… the Entire species of the KRRs in the Kern River is going to suffer the fate of the Yellowstone cutthroat. 

Fly Fishing Baja in La Ventana

9-26-22 to 10-1-22

More Lessons Learned from a novice getting better.  More guidance and Techniques for Success

It's hard for many to believe we catch and release these. Also notice my lucky University of San Diego Toreros hat.
It’s hard for many to believe we catch and release these. Also notice my lucky University of San Diego Toreros hat.

For the 2nd straight year, I got to go to the SDFF annual Baja trip at the Palapas Ventana Resort an hour south of La Paz.  And for the 2nd straight year I had an awesome time.  This year, though, I wasn’t a total beginner.  This year I:

  • made a lot less mistakes
  • was a lot more comfortable on what the hell I was doing
  • learned a lot more from the experts on the trip.  My fishing partner was none other than Kai Schumann.
  • had a lot more success… I caught over 20 dorados!  Releasing the majority of them.  Giving the captain a couple each day for him and his family.
John Ashley, the mastermind of the annual SDFF trip to Palapas Ventana in the pool just outside the bar / restaurant after raling dorados all day

So I am no longer a beginner at this baja fly fishing thing.  But, I’m no expert for sure.  I’d call myself an intermediate….which might even be generous.  It took me 25+ years to be comfortable calling myself an expert at the trout thing.  It’s going to take much more experience in the salt water before I can claim expertise in baja.

You can read about my introduction to baja fly fishing from my trip last year here if you’d like.  In that article I documented a number of guidance items I learned the hard way from a beginner’s perspective.  It is my intention to add to my lessons learned from this trip in this article.

There’s me and Kai battling another double. On this trip i lost count of how many times Kai and I were doubled up.

Here is an abbreviated version of the most relevant guidance pasted from the article of last year’s trip:

  1. The Double hauling 60-80 feet I was doing over and over is just a wasted workout and burn of calories. When I finally did look over at what mike was doing; he was not doing what I was doing. And having a lot more success. I was basically “hero casting” blind and he was targeting and being efficient about it.  I got the guidance from John and Kai before we left, “a simple 20 foot cast is all you need.”  For some reason I did not think that through.  While I was literally huffing and puffing double hauling casts over and over 60+ feet into the abyss, Mike was waiting for the right moment to cast a 30 footer right into the fish he was targeting.  Duh…  I was dragging the fly through the bait and feeding predators too late.  This was a sobering blow for me when we got back to the resort and in the bar I heard all the success my buddies were having…who simply could not cast (or chose not to cast) over 30 feet.
  2. The fly really does matter – How many times in trout fishing do we say something like, “the fly really doesn’t matter. Your placement and the drift matter a lot more.”  Well, in this type of fly fishing the fly really does matter.   Even the color matters.  The size really matters too.  But, what matters the most is that the fly rides correctly in the water imitating a baitfish as best as possible.  If you half-ass drunken fly tying in your man cave and your fly spins you don’t get takes.  My first two days I was fishing big heavy clousers with big beaded eyes.  Not only are they are they a tough cast but, the jigging thing those eyes produced were not producing as many strikes as mike.  Mike was fishing smaller deceivers (and similars) unweighted flies and killing.  He was in the right part of the water column; I was not.
  3. Knots Matter – This is the most painful lesson for me. I have been trout fishing so long.  I tie 5 different knots 95% of the time and 95% of the time in 3x and 5x. I can tie them all blind folded.  I haven’t failed a knot in years.  Well, I had no idea how differently 5x knots up than it does with 30lb flouro.  I had no idea that you have to wear gloves and yank those knots as tightly as your strength can handle… no idea.  I had no idea that you have to inspect your saltwater knots closely because the heavy flouro doesn’t just slip into place and knot-up like the light stuff does.  I learned that the hard way.  I lost a big dorado on a rapala knot that simply failed because it was not pulled tight enough.  I didn’t even look at the knot after tying it.  but, you can sure as hell tell a knot has failed when looking at the flouro after losing the fish.  and miraculously I also lost a big rooster on a perfection loop knot I tied for the flouro leader.    That is a first.  Some huge rooster swam away with my entire leader hanging out of his face… simply because I didn’t pull the knot tight enough.  Uggghhh…  30+ years of fly fishing and I am failing knots. I suck.  Don’t worry about me; a number of margaritas later that night at the bar fixed everything.
Such an amazingly fast fish…fooled by a popper of all things

And this is what I learned on this year’s Palapas Ventana Trip:

Fly Design – Tying and selling thousands of flies each year… Well, let’s just say I know my way around a fly-tying vice.  My mistake last year was designing and throwing hugely, weighted clouser style flies that worked great on a kayak in the mangroves of Punta Abreojos… totally different fishing; totally different fish.  But, did not work so well at all off Ceralvo Island in the Sea of Cortez (La Ventana). Last year I did catch Dorado, Jacks and Roosters.  But, not in abundance like this year.  Last year I found my fly being stripped just below the water column I needed to be in…no matter how fast I stripped the fly.  Depending on leader length, I found my fly cruising anywhere from 1-3 feet under the surface. To be totally successful catching Dorado (and conceivably Roosterfish) in this world, I found you need to be in the top of the water column; like in the first 1-3 inches of it.  Which explains why poppers work so well (for Dorado).  Success also means throwing unweighted flies typical of a Deceiver.  Lastly, it also means the casting is so much easier double hauling an unweighted fly.  And of course, I still haven’t met anyone that doesn’t adore fly fishing on top.

The Baja Sardina, a Flatiron Herring. notice in this juvenile state (1-2″) it does not have a false eye yet

So, in the weeks before the trip I started “interweb studying” the Mexican sardina (Flathead Herring) in all it’s stages of life and the fly designs out there for the Mexican Sardina.  I knew I wanted to design a fly with congo hair (poor man’s EP fibers).  I just love the way congo hair saturates and moves in the water.  Then dries in the air on the double haul.  Congo hair doesn’t shape as well as bucktail when you haircut it.  But, congo hair does take shape in the water well.  And it is durable.  I also have this thing for tying in a bleeding gill plate.  It might be psychological thinking that it helps.  Lastly, I have just become enamored with these modern-day thin epoxies that are cured with an ultra violet light.  I used Loon thin for this batch of sardina patterns I designed.  But, there are plenty of worthy competitors.  Epoxy provides a durable head to the fly…which is really needed because these fish have teeth and bite hard.  It also provides a great way to “cement in” the eyes securely.

This is the Sardina Pattern I designed and used at the 2022 SDFF Palapas Ventana Trip

But my epiphany came when watching Guy Allen tie his sardina pattern for Baja.  It wasn’t his pattern that caught my attention as genius as much as it was two of his tying techniques that struck me as absolute genius:

  • Technique 1: The first thing Guy Allen does is tie 5-10 strands of crystal flash on the back of the hook for the entire length of the fly.  He lathers those strands in epoxy then cures them rigid in line; in parallel with the shank of the hook.  Why?  With that rigid line of crystal flash running down the middle of the fly in line with the hook it helps tremendously in not fouling the hook.  I had a ton of trouble last year fouling hooks with congo hair.  When it doubles back, it catches easily on the hook (or barbell eyes as was the case last year) causing the fly to swim improperly.  Genius.  Oh yea, a little flash in a saltwater fly never hurts. 
  • Technique 2: Shaping the first third of the fly body with epoxy.  It’s a totally messy process.  But, this technique gives the fly the form and structure of the natural sardina, yet allowing it the free flowing movement of the last 2/3rds of the fly, imitating the tail movement of a fast swimming sardina. Guy Allen is a Genius.  You can watch the youtube video of his sardina fly construction here.

I also caught plenty of Dorado on poppers.  I used the Crystal Popper by Solitude Fly company in both small and large sizes with both silver and yellow bellies and both worked great for me and Kai.

My favorite story from this years trip: Our Captain yelled “Dorado!  Big dorado!”  and pointed directly out the stern (back) of the boat.  I could see the dorado in frenzy feeding about 50 feet away.  Well, Kai was screwed because he was on the bow (front) of the boat.  But, I was screwed too because that fish was directly behind the boat 50 feet away.  And I had a popper (heavy) on.  I’m left-handed.  If I casted from the port side, my not so tight loop would wizz by and hook kai in the face.  If I casted over my right shoulder on the starboard side my not so tight loop would hook the radio antenna which goes about 10 feet tall next to the console on a panga.  So, I roll casted as hard as I could… almost like throwing a fastball.  The popper, mostly because of the weight, only made it about 20 feet.  A feeble attempt.  But, it plopped on the water from about 10 feet high with a thud.  Strip, strip, Whack!  The thud on the water (maybe because these fish are used to these panga captains throwing sardines in the water) caught the dorado’s attention.  They are so lightning quick, that fish made it from 50 to 15 feet in as fast as I could make two fast strips.  Unbelievable.  I believe Kai saw the whole thing and said something sarcastically like, “Oh my god…”   

I also caught 4 dorado on a few of the kinky muddlers I tied (on another absolute expert, John Ashley’s advice) for the cherished and protected fantail grouper from the mangroves of Punto Abre Ojos on the annual baja camping trip.

And lastly, just because I wanted to prove it would work…  I did catch a dorado on the Huck Huna I designed for the Fly Fishing in Hawaii.  I tie and sell a ton of them.  It imitates the Banded Coral Shrimp (Opea Huna), which is the most common of the reef shrimp in Hawaii. – a shrimp that the blue finned trevally love.  Unfortunately, my Huck Huna is not durable enough for the jaws and teeth of the dorado.  That dorado I caught on the Huck Huna just destroyed it.  Making it one of those “one fish flies”.  Huck Hunas are a pain in the ass to tie with expensive materials so I didn’t throw any more at the dorado.

The Huck Huna – check out that 3 bead “anchor” that keeps the fly swimming right, but even more importantly provides the clicking sound that that natural shrimp makes

Let me elaborate a caveat:  Kai and I saw very few Roosterfish this year.  I can only remember casting at a couple of them.  One of them I hooked and it immediately came unbuttoned.  So, the flies and techniques I describe above for the top of the water column may just be successful for dorados.  I’m told dorados are the only fish to take poppers which would support the argument.  Only next years’ trip will tell….assuming the roosters show again.

Observation – This year I spent a lot more attention watching the experts and watching those who were not doing so well.  Even at the expense of my own fishing.  Of course, it helped a lot to be fishing in the same boat as an expert for 4 days (Kai). 

Luck – Like in any type of fishing there is a component of luck & karma to this type of fly fishing.  And it starts with the captain finding the fish.  If you get a clear shot at a dorado or rooster with out pelicans (pinchi patos) or needlefish or other fish in the way consider yourself lucky. 

Naivety – on one of the particularly good days, I hooked and lost 7 dorados in a row before I realized a prior landing of a dorado straightened the hook on me.  Duh.  I guess that is ignorance, not naivety. It was on the little sized poppers… which is a bit disappointing.  Another lesson learned.  Just like in trout fishing you need to check the fly after catching a fish.  Duh.

Line Strategy – When the Dorados weren’t around… which was few and far between when we were hunting for them… we did fish the reefs a little and did blind cast bouys that held fish like green jacks.  In those times Kai was outfishing me 2 maybe 3 to 1.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time.  He’s an expert.  It wasn’t until the last day that I found out he was throwing an intermediate sink line in those scenarios.  I was fishing the top of the water column with a floating Rio Outbound tropical.  Those smaller fish don’t really dig coming up on top with so many predators in the air above them.

Leaders – Of all the thought leadership from the experts that i listened to, read, etc. the fly was first and foremost discussed and the leader was 2nd. But, the most NOT agreed on was the leader. I found the discussion and disagreement fascinating. On this trip I heard John Ashley asked how long the leader should be. I listened intently when he said, “this much.” as he stretched your arms open to max. I’m much smaller than John. So, I settled on between 4 & 5 feet of straight 30 lb flouro. Many, if not most, use a tapered leader in much larger lengths. I don’t need a tapered leader because I’m a pretty good cast. I don’t need a tapered leader because I use such a short leader (4-5 feet). I don’t need a tapered leader because I concentrated on that first strip as soon as the fly hit the water.

“An 8 weight is Stupid.” – It’s just not enough for this type of fly fishing. But, after breaking both my 10 and my 12wts, I had no choice for my 2nd rod. I caught 4 dorados on my ancient Sage Fli 8wt rod. But, each time it bordered on calamity. With anything lighter than 30 LB flouro as a leader there would have been no way i could have landed those Dorado. And that is because I had to straighten the rod so many times to prevent it from snapping. In particular I did catch and release a big dorado on an 8 wt. but it wasn’t pretty. After wrangling it to the boat after a battle that had me drenched in sweat and huffing and puffing, the captain missed landing it by trying to grab it by the tail. That pissed the dorado off and it dove straight down. I had no choice but to point the rod straight down and tighten up the drag to max. I then literally reeled him up, rod pointing straight down saying to myself, “if he breaks me off then that is fine. Because using an 8 wt for this is stupid.”

Notice i am using a stripping guard. I strip the line on the last segment of my middle finger. and when hit hard it always cuts my finger open. having a bleeding cut on the finger when stripping a line soaked in saltwater is not fun.

Rod & Stripping techniques – I have already elaborated how much success is generated by striping the fly as quickly as possible.  This year I found I could out strip the speed of the needlefish.  Any needlefish I did hook this year was foul hooked.  Last year I caught a ton of them.  And I caught a ton of pelicans last year.  This year I only caught one pelican and that was a cast that struck a pelican in the air.  I cannot out strip the pelicans.  They are too fast.  But if a pelican grabs your fly and you stop stripping, it’s smart enough to drop your fly.  To my discredit there were drastically less pelicans this year.  I cannot help but think they may have been terminated at the hands of the local commercial fisherman.  I hope not.

Also, this year I worked really hard at stripping the fly immediately when it hit the water.  And that paid dividends in spades.  I don’t typically do that when I’m making big casts over 50 feet because, obviously, if the line is shooting across your hand instead of dangling freely there is going to be some friction causing the fly not to go as far.  But, I found great success with a strip immediately on impact.  If you think it through, a sardina flying through the air doesn’t lay there stunned after it hits the water.  It immediately darts away.

Calamities

  • I broke two rods.  That is the bad news.  The first was my 12 wt TFO BVK (an older rod which is superseded by the Bluewater SG) and it was totally my fault.  It was a big dorado I brought up to the side of the boat to be landed, pictured and released.  These captains are fool proof at gaffing.  But, grabbing a pissed off dorado by the tail in the water so it can be released is not so easy.  When the captain missed, this dorado dove too quickly for me to react…snap!  The second break is just a bye product of having so many rods on a panga.  A drift boat has a place for fly rod storage that protects them.  A panga does not.  Both Kai and I had our rods snapped on the same day by a captain leading with his knee trying to land a fish over the side of the boat by grabbing it by the tail.  This snap was my favorite TFO Lefty Kreh Ticr2 300-400gr (an older model which could be substituted for the TFO BC Big Fly.  The good news?  It’s TFO: An awesome company with awesome service.  $50 each to repair/replace.  I received the brand-new ones less than a week after leaving baja and sending them to TFO.  I could name a certain Montaña based rod maker of which I have two expensive rods, that charges $175 to repair a rod and makes you wait six months… but I don’t want to get whiny….err….

    Ideally, now that I have done this twice, it is of my opinion that you would bring 3 rods on the panga if you are willing to take the risk of breakage by accident. This is what I will do next year:
    • 10 or 12wt with a floating line armed with a popper for the dorado
    • 10 or 12wt with a floating line armed with a fly that is stripped in the top 1-3 inches of the water column for the roosters, big jacks and dorado
    • 8 or 10 wt with an intermediate for full sink line armed with a weighted fly like a clouser for the reefs to catch some of the exotic species like pargo, sierras, popano, etc.
  • Montezuma’s revenge – damnit it happened to me again.  I’m sure it’s my fault because I wasn’t careful.  Tequilla makes me drop my guard. 
The beach at the Palapas Ventana Resort as we load up on the pangas at sunrise

Forks of the Kern Report – June 23-28, 2022

It’s difficult to do a trophy shot alone when the KRRs are big

Sidebar: Treat yourself to the professionally done video by Micah Conrad, who I taught how to fly fish on this trip here.

Relevant Stats for the 6 days:

CFS: blown out muddy, 350 when we got there to off colored 225 perfect when we left

Solunar:

  • 6/23 – 13%, poor
  • 6/24 – 13%, poor
  • 6/25 – 26%, fair
  • 6/26 – 59%, average
  • 6/27 – 82%, excellent

Water temp: 57 in the mornings rising all the way to 72 in the late afternoons

Air temp: low 50s to mid 60s at night all the way to 90 at the trailhead on the last day

The Upper Kern River – Beautiful

I have this 25-year love affair with the Forks of the Kern River.  If you have read me before you know I have said that for years.  I feel like I know the 10 mile stretch of the river above the confluence like the back of my hand.  But, I did have some firsts on this trip:

  • The Forks been closed because of the fire for 2 long years.  That made this trip special
  • I didn’t fish that long or that hard.  I guided two sets of young people: two beginners and a first timer. I find guiding / teaching beginners so much more fun than fishing myself.  Because of that I hiked out up the mountain from the huck site to the trailhead twice during this trip.  I have never guided two separated sets on the same trip. That means I went down to the huck site and up to the trailhead 3 separate times in 5 days.  In those two hike out days I had over 35,000 steps… pretty good for an old guy.
  • This is the first time I have had the luxury of 5 nights down there.  When it was time to hike out I said, “I could easily stay another 5 nights.”
  • I have never seen the Upper Kern blown-out before.  A freak storm hit the area the day before I hiked in.  When I hiked in, the river rose from 250 CFS to 350 CFS in 8 hours and muddied up.  It was blown out.
  • My buddy Marty hiked in with me….carrying a portable cooler with ice so we could have proper cocktails for a couple days.  Margaritas at the Huck site have to be a first!
Hey, there’s me in a selfie with the new GTW sign we installed a year ago

Wednesday, June 22

My plan from the beginning was to hike in 2 days early so I could have the time to prepare for the first two folks I was guiding on Saturday.  that meant driving in on Wednesday and camping at lower peppermint campground before hiking in early on Thursday.  Although the Huck site survived the fire it took a beating.  All the wood logs we used to stage food and toys and sit on incinerated.  And 2 years of growth after the fire needed to be trimmed back to make it not only easier for beginners to cast and comfortable to swim, etc.  But, to provide an end to end view of the river from up at the camp site.  I knew the fire pit needed to be cleaned out and rebuilt.  I also wanted to figure out the fishing before they came.  And lastly going in early allowed me to hike back out empty to meet them and fill up my pack again with fresh food (and beer!) to hike back down to the huck site.  I firmly believe as good food as possible really enhances the backpacking experience.  And a beer or a little JD helps too.

After talking to my buddy Marty Jansen who I have been on a number of adventures with… chronicled on this site… we planned to meet at lower peppermint campground around 6pm.  Well, the gods were with me that day because I blew through LA barely having to brake.  I made it to Kernville so quickly I had time to drop off a six pack as a gift to Guy Jeans of the Kern River Fly shop and to find some food.  But, another 1st for me: it was raining like hell.  In a drought year that is pretty darn good for the area… but in late June?  So strange.  It was raining so hard it occurred to me that it might screw up a river that was in perfect shape when I left 5 hours earlier.

The waterfalls at Lower Peppermint Creek

I drove on another hour to Lower Peppermint campground and did something I have always wanted to do, never had the time, and have heard much about.  I grabbed a rod and started fishing peppermint creek up stream.  I did well on a size 16 stimulator that Steve Schalla tied for me.  I had heard there were a set of waterfalls up stream, but I didn’t realize how close to the campground they were.  Here I had been camping in lower peppermint for years, but always as a temporary stop to the forks.  I never stayed long enough to enjoy the awesomeness of it.  my bad.  I only fished for an hour, caught and released 5 small wild trout and stared in awe at a set of waterfalls.  I hiked the 10 mins or so back to camp to find Marty: “I figured you were fishing”.  ?

Marty Jansen: notice he’s hiking in a cooler… with ice. As far as i know, Marty is the first person to serve margaritas at the Huck site.

Thursday, June 23

Marty and I got a decent start in the morning, drove the 20 mins to the trailhead and started hiking in.  Since we already worked on the trailhead a year earlier it was not a shock to see the effects of the fire.  What was a pleasant surprise is how the rain cleared out the haze.  It was crystal clear skies with puffy white clouds like in Montana.   Well, we made it to the Little Kern River crossing pretty quickly.  And then the reality.  The little kern river was blown out.  it was running way high for that time of year and muddy.  In fact the lack of clarity in the water made the crossing a little tenuous only because I couldn’t see where I was stepping and I was wearing sandals to cross.  My heart sunk.  I was guiding 2 beginners in a couple days and the river might be blown out.   There was still hope that the main fork of the kern was still clear but it was obvious when we got a peek at it a quarter mile later on the trail that it was blown out.  so, I said to myself it’s got 2 days to back down and clear up or else there is going to be a lot of casting and very little catching.  I knew the solunar thing was against us too.

Blown Out: Notice the brown color of the water and the level up to the willows on the banks upstream

We got to the huck site and it was clear to me how much work needed to be done.  there was a lot of growth since I checked the huck site out a year ago.  I set up camp and attacked the fire place first.  The structure was still in tact but I had to remove cubic feet of soot, rocks and sand to get it back into a safe effective shape then build a grilling platform.  After that I turned to making firewood.

Marty’s plan was to hang a night with me and then backpack up to his favorite place: Kern Flats, which is about 11 miles up river from the trailhead. then he’d come back on Monday and hang until he hiked out.  So, I took a break, marked the water level and we fished for a couple hours or so.  We caught fish.  But, as expected because of the high murky water it was slow. 

Vicki (see below) took this shot of me.

After fishing I attacked the riverside willows with lopers.  It was brutally difficult work.  I also attacked a few tree branches with a backpacking saw that I hiked in.  I was exhausted but when “happy hour” rolled around I quickly noticed that, although I made two good places for an overhand cast, I had a lot more work to do to clear enough view to be able to watch rises from the site.

I hiked in a couple beers and lamb chops so it was a good night.

you cannot beat that view on the forks trail on a clear day

Friday, June 24

Like always I woke up with the sun around 5:30AM.  The river looked to be clearing.  That was encouraging.  I made coffee and wandered down to the river.  I looked at my mark on the river and the river was down 8”… sigh of relief.  The river was falling.  After coffee I worked on the view with cutting sheers and lopers.  Then I made more firewood.  Exhausting work.  but, I got so much done I set out to fish with Marty.  This time for 3 or 4 hours and we did ok.  We caught fish, but, I knew the river was still not in good enough shape for beginners.  But all the signs were that the river was slowly getting back into shape right on time for the folks I was guiding the next day.  Vicki and Alyssa are young gals that give me hope for the next generation.  The list of outdoor adventures and places they have been at such a young age is impressive.  Both had fly fished a few times…even from a drift boat guided in montana.  their exuberance for outdoor adventure was spirit lifting for me. Late afternoon I txted Vicki and Alyssa who had a hotel in Kernville for the night.  The plan for the next morning was for me to hike out and make it to the trailhead by 8:30am to meet them.

That is a the huck-bow warrior, perdigon style in this guy’s face

Saturday, June 25

I got out right on time at 6:30AM.  I said my goodbyes to marty (knowing he’d be back on Monday), gave him access to the huck hoppers and perdigons I tied for the trip) and I was off.  I was hiking an almost empty backpack so the pace was quick.  And it was early morning so my senses were on alert.  It was not 20 minutes before I ran into my first fresh bear scat right on the trail.  it was fairly close to “bend camp” (my second choice if I can’t get the Huck site.  It’s elevated right on a bend in the river ~ 3 miles from the trailhead) and as I walked by it there were 4 guys in that camp.  I shouted about them having a visitor last night.  “We know.” they said laughing.  I ran into more bear scat about a mile from the little kern river that looked to be from the night before.  Most likely the same bear. 

I made it to the little Kern Crossing in 45 minutes and was up the hill an hour from then.  right around 8:15AM which gave me time to arrange all the fresh food and beer I was taking down.  Vicki and Alyssa showed up (in a Prius I may add which tells you how good a shape the dirt road to the trailhead is) right on time.  I got firm handshakes from them which is an instant indicator of them being firmly planted in the working world which I didn’t know at the time.  By 8:45 we started hiking down and it was already getting hot.  Our pace was fine.  I did a lot of talking including asking the question (I stole from my daughter, Camille): “How is team morale?” To which Vicki always answered, “Team Morale is good.”

Vicki took this shot of me releasing one of the KRRs she fooled. She had this amazing waterproof enclosure and lens for her iphone.

At the Little Kern Crossing these two navigated easily and nicely without my help.  You can always tell how well a fly fisher is going to be by their “river legs”.  And these two were quite agile.  With 2.2 miles to go to the Huck site, though, it was getting hot.  I’m a hot weather guy having grown up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles so I have to pay special attention because most people hate hiking in the heat.  Our pace slowed because of the heat so I kept the conversation going while hiking to take their minds off the suffering.  When we got to the Huck site the plan was to set up camp, eat and relax before we headed out to fish.  That plan worked because when these two were ready they were re-energized.  We had a good portion of day light left in the day.  the plan was to head down river for this half day of fishing then fish up river over the mountain on the next full day we had.  I had them both start in the huck site overhand casting.  Then I taught them how to roll cast…. Which they both took to immediately.  The only issue was that we didn’t get any takes.  We always get takes at the Huck Site.  Hmmm….

That’s Alyssa with one of the many KRRs she fooled

So we ventured off down river.  these two were casting well and getting good drifts.  But, we weren’t getting any takes.  So I kept lengthening the leaders…  which is a sign they were getting better and better at casting on really tough rig: a huge huck hopper dropped by 4 feet or longer with perdigons.  Finally we started catching.  What a relief for me.  between the river still not in good shape and the warming of the water in the latter part of the day it was just slow.  We hiked a mile and a half or so back to the huck site and I got happy hour going while those to relaxed and waited for heads…. During the witching hour, 7:30 to 8:30pm at this time of year, there just weren’t a lot of rises…. Hmmm.  “Tomorrow will be a new day,” I said to myself.  And I was right.

I hiked in 3 enormous high quality steaks prior that day, which I complimented with a doctored up version of fettucine Alfredo… we pigged out…well, I did… we didn’t even come close to finishing it.  “Not to worry.  Steak and eggs in the morning!” 

That’s Vicki in action: pretty much fearless because the submerged rock she is standing on is deep on all sides

Sunday, June 26

I woke up with the sun around 5:30AM and immediately checked the river.  down another 6”!  and good water clarity!  Yes!  I just knew then it would be a good fishing day.  Myplan was to hike those two upriver over the mountain and fish upstream all day long.  And they were excited about it.  So that is exactly what we did.  As we crested the mountain I decided to not do my normal plan of scampering down 300 feet like goats and fishing the cliffs.  I took them straight to my dry fly patch with a great run above it.  And we caught fish!  Fishing the Upper Kern is very physical…very physical.  You cannot be successful without climbing up and down river banks and getting scratches and cuts and aches and pains. And that is what these gals were doing.   

I love this pic for a couple reasons. 1st, the view. 2nd, check out that roll cast from Alyssa

When guiding/teaching fly fishing I always cover my 7 components of fly fishing with emphasis on the very first and most important component: “reading the water”.  In my not so humble opinion, it really doesn’t matter where you cast or how good your drift is if your cast doesn’t land or drift to where the fish are.    Well, these two… well into their 2nd day were now reading the water really well.  As we approached each new “hole” I’d ask the question, “What do you see?”  and sure enough I’d get back things like, “Well, there is a run with a seam between it and the eddy”.  Or “There are two runs with a tail-out at the end.” 

all smiles from Vicki

My favorite moment of the day was fishing “the island”.  It’s ~2 miles upriver from the huck site.  It’s not usually accessible or fished.  And that is because there is good water before and after and it requires a scramble down to what is typically a tough river cross.  But, I fished it a couple days before and caught a bunch of fish.  Plus, the water was low enough and these two were agile enough for a cross.  Alyssa decided to take the bottom so I put her in place at the end of the island which had runs on both side of her with a tail-out 60 feet down river.  But, she had to cast downriver on both sides of her which is a tough set.  “What do you see?” I said.  I can’t remember exactly what her answer was but it was spot on.  Then I said something like, “let out a ton of line and don’t be afraid to let that thing drift all the way down.  Many times trout will hang in the tailout in a run like this with two food sources converging.” And with that Viki and I walked 50 feet up the island in a deep run that is always productive.  I think I was changing out Vicki’s rig to a longer dropper because I heard the shout and Alyssa was on.  So, I ran down, netted and we did the 7th component: the trophy shot.  Back to Vicki… and Alyssa was on again.  I’m pretty sure Vicki nailed one there too after I finally got done running back and forth from Alyssa to get her all rigged up.  Very pleased.

a Alyssa with a healthy male

Those two got a lot of takes that day considering their experience, the conditions, and the fact they were fishing in one of the most technical fly fishing rivers in CA.  my guess is about 20 takes each that day.  My land ratio at the forks is about 50%.  And I know my way around a trout stream.  My guess is these two landed about 1/3rd of every fish that they got a take on.  Pretty darn good.  It was then that Alyssa said something I will remember for a long time: “I used to like fly fishing.  Now I love it.”  I was like a proud father.

Vicki with another good one

So good that if I didn’t hint we should do the long hike back those two would have fished until well after dark and we’d be stuck with a 3 mile hike back to camp in total darkness.  I believe we made it to camp around 6:30.  Enough time for happy hour and watching heads through the witching hour.  But no real significant rises again.  Very strange.  What makes it more strange is that timhuckaby.com readers JT and Stu were in the picnic table aka rattlesnake sight and they told us it was nuts during the witching hour just down from them.  That is only ¼ mile away.  So strange the hatch can be prolific in one spot and just ¼ mile away nothing.  Isn’t that just fly fishing?

Now, after two days of hiking and guiding these two I was “done”.  After dinner, I literally passed out in my backpacking chair watching the river.  If vicki didn’t wake me up I might have slept in that chair all night.

I love this shot. Vicki roll casting off the island with Alyssa below

Monday, June 27

The plan was to hike out with Vicki and Alyssa as early as possible.  Instead of hiking out empty I offloaded some of stuff from their packs.  We didn’t get too late a start but, it ended up being about an hour too late.  In the hike up the mountain we didn’t have a breeze, were exposed to the sun and it was hot.  Halfway up I asked, “How is team morale?”  and Allyssa shot back something like, “below average”.  That made me smile. 

that is a huck-bow warrior hanging out of this guy’s face

In the week prior I told Micah (the next guy I was to guide) that I’d meet him at the site around 9am.  We were over an hour late for that.  Not a problem.  I said goodbyes to Vicki and Alyssa and met an excited Micah. 

Treat yourself to the professionally done video by Micah Conrad, who I taught how to fly fish on this trip here.

I filled my now empty pack with 6 beers and more fresh food (little did I know that Micah had venison steaks in his pack!) and we headed down. 

That’s me and Micah on the Hike out

I’m already way beyond my self-inflicted word count limit here, but the way Micah and I found each other is a great story I have told many many times.  Micah was… and I emphasize was a conventional gear trout fisherman who’s love of the river is infectious.  He reached out to me on timhuckaby.com about flies using “fly and a bubble”.  So he bought some flies off the site and we went back and forth on the tactics of fly and a bubble.  Well, I didn’t think anything of it until he emailed me a week or so after his experience on the JDB trail with a link to a youtube video where he calls me out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GOhJa5Qjy4 .  anyways, his success and pure joy was so intoxicating I sent the link to the video to my son, the fly fishing guide in Montana.  And my son Mark said, “Dad, you gotta’ teach that kid how to fly fish.”  So, a few communications later we worked it out to meet on this trip.  I was pushing it close to my international flight the next day.  But, teaching this kid how to throw a fly was more important.

Micah’s joy of fly fishing and the wilderness is intoxicating

So, back down the mountain we went.  And it was hot.  I was fine but I believe micah’s pack was a little heavy so he slowed towards the last mile.  As we staggered into the Huck site there was Marty as planned. 

After a little rest and food at the Huck site we did the same routine of fly casting teaching and practice at the sight.  Marty had killed in front of rattlesnake creek a few days prior.  But, it’s a brutal bushwhack in there.  But, Micah said he was up for it so off we went.  And sure enough that is the area I gave the most blood trying to get into on the trip.  I put a size 8 huck hopper on him.  Micah was not ready for casting a dry dropper yet.  His first few casts were nasty… probably because he was excited.  So, I settled him down and he got into the timing of the overhand cast.  He put one upstream about 30 feet and it drifted perfectly…as if God shined down on him slowly next to this huge boulder in about 10 feet of water.  It was like it happened in slow motion.  One of, if not the biggest kern river rainbows I have ever seen in that river shamoo’d slowly like the west slope cutthroats of northwestern montana and pulled down that huck hopper.  I screamed, “Go!” and he did… unfortunately I had not worked on line control in any depth with Micah yet and he just couldn’t get tight quick enough.  But, I was screaming “Woo!” and he was screaming “Woo! And we were high fiving and I was so excited I fell in the river.  It wasn’t 5 minutes later that micah set properly and landed a nice one.  More yelling and screaming and high fiving in joy.  A first timer… on the Upper Kern.  It was magical.  The rest of the day went like that.  Micah, since he has so much trout experience with conventional trout fishing took to fly fishing like a natural.  He had a lot of takes.  And landed some nice fish.  Of course I have now ruined him financially as he will buy a ton of fly fishing gear.

Again no rises in the witching hour while I prepared happy hour and dinner.  So no catching in the huck site in over 3 days.  Very strange.  In the morning we broke camp as early as possible.  I did the ceremonial last cast (which is always about 10 casts) with a size 18 BWO.  After a number of good drifts I said to myself, “huh.”  And reeled my fly in.  Sure enough a little KRR caught himself while I reeled it in.  As I let him go, I said, “huh….fly fishing…”

That next morning I scrambled to pack up as quickly as possible, but it was 5 nights and my stuff was strewn everywhere.  Add to that I never found the time to find a place for the new cache of stuff I left down there and that took time.  Well, when micah and I made it to the trailhead it had already crested 90 degrees and even I had some misery hiking up that hill for the 3rd and final time in 6 days.   

Yep, that’s a huck hopper hanging out of this one’s face. but, this is a brown trout. i’m starting to see them more and more….which is concerning. i didn’t have the heart to kill this one, though.

2-nighter on the JDB trail: May 1-3, 2022

Although i still haven’t mastered my fancy GoPro, this release gives you an idea of how dirty the water was

Forks of the Kern Update: It’s Open!

I cannot tell you how many emails I have answered asking about when the Forks will open again.  As of Today, 5/13/22. IT’S OPEN!

Just got word from a buddy who said, “Western Divide, he said Lloyd Meadows and the Forks will be open as of today.  He said they’re “in the process” of clearing it all out, and “there may be escorts”, but it will be open for sure for my trip on Sunday.  I even got my Wilderness permit approved.” 

Beware: There are a couple of barriers to your fishing fun when the Forks finally does open after its 2 year hiatus.  Firstly, in high flow of the main river, the little kern river crossing (which is part of the Forks trail) can be treacherous.  Secondly, the Upper Kern is just difficult to fish in flows over 500CFS.  It has everything to do with the willows, trees and other bushes that line the river.  It’s just hard to find spots in the river to wade in safely when “it’s up.”.  

2-nighter on the JDB trail: May 1-3, 2022

Flow:

  • Sunday: 545 CFS
  • Monday: 560 CFS
  • Tuesday: 585 CFS

Solunar

  • Sunday: 92%
  • Monday: 77%
  • Tuesday: 52%
That is a Huck Midge Perdigon, Size 14 hanging out of this KRR’s face. In conditions like this you have to go big and get down quickly.

Conditions:

A muddy, rising, raging torrent of death topped off with 30 MPH gusts of wind.  I was a week too late; the runoff has started.  I caught it perfectly in 2020 and 2021.  The Upper Kern will be pretty much unfishable to anyone but experts as it rises to over 1000 CFS through mid June. 

Notice that brown raging torent of death beyond my tent in the background. normally this is one of the best plunge pools and runs on this stretch of the river. it’s a great campsite because of the location and view of the river.

Report:

On a full day of fishing on Monday, I got ~10 to hand losing about twice that many.  So, considering the bad conditions and still getting around 30 takes one might think I’d be stoked.  But, I expected to get 40 to hand and lose another 40 like the prior 2 years.  Still totally fun.  How can getting takes on a size 4 huck hopper in April not be fun? 

Casting for Recovery:

I drove straight from guiding the Casting for Recovery Event near Yosemite to the Johnsondale Bridge.  I cannot tell you what a pleasure and honor it was to help in that event.  14 ladies who stared down death in the gun barrel of cancer to get out in the outdoors for 3 days of learning about fly fishing.  I was teamed up with an extraordinary woman.  I’ll call her “B” because her story of breast cancer survival is personal.  It was personal for me because my wife is a breast cancer survivor.  “B” is a  young beautiful lady originally from Toronto and now living in Temecula with her husband from Northern Ireland.   I have been to Northern Ireland a few times; I have a first cousin there.  So we had a lot to talk about.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to fish a river teaming with trout.  We were put on a pond that had not been stocked.  To make it even more challenging trees lined this pond so a traditional overhand cast was impossible.  Not to worry it wasn’t about catching.  It never is about catching…is it?  The night before the event, I tied a bunch of Squirmy Worms in the hotel room I had in Reedley, CA.  The squirmy and the mop fly are now illegal in competition fly fishing events….for a reason….and I tie them with glow in the dark materials… it’s totally cheating…I don’t even sell them on this site anymore for that reason.  I only use them when teaching beginners.  So, yea, perfect for an event with beginners like casting for recovery.   So, I started by teaching a roll cast.  But, we talked through what an overhand cast would be…the 10-2 thing..  teaching the casts in that reverse order was a first for me.  but, in the long term probably a good strategy I may use again.  if you can roll cast you can fly fish anywhere.  Especially on the Upper Kern where it’s tough to find room for an overhand cast.  “B” picked it up pretty quickly.  She clearly has an athletic set of genes in her.  Well, sure enough…within 15 minutes a huge largemouth took that squirmy super close to the shore in 1.5 feet of water .  Unfortunately her teacher (me) didn’t focus on how to set to deeply because I never dreamed we’d get a take.  It was an enormous bass and I was clearly more excited about it than “B”. ?  we only got a fish for 2-3 hours.  I could have done that all day with her and had the time of my life.  So fun.

“B” is headed to Scotland this summer…and yes, she’ll fly fish with her husband.  I’d really love to get those two on the annual couples trip to the forks this fall.  And I told her as much.  The casting for recovery event was just a great time.  All the guides and support staff are simply awesome people….as you’d imagine.  I can’t wait to be honored to do it again.

Yep, that’s a mountain lion and pretty fresh. I stepped over it entering the river at the end of the JDB trail intersection with the canyon trail to the Rincon Trail. the print was right at the river’s edge and he’s up on his toes taking a drink.

Upper Kern Backpacking and Fishing Details:

I had a long 3 hour drive south and east into the sierras from the Casting for Recovery event to the Johnsondale bridge.  While driving I checked the flow and my heart just sunk.  The river was rising.  I knew exactly what that meant: I was too late. 

I got to the parking lot at the JDB around 3:45PM and took off with 42 pounds on my back from the at 4pm.  I knew I had a couple hour hike and that I should get to camp well before the sun went down at 6:30.  I did not see a single sole from the minute I got on the trail until I hiked out and reached the parking lot on Tuesday at 10:15 AM.  Nice.  But, it was hard not to stare at that rising river as I hiked in.  It had a brown tint to it too.  It was already blown out.

If you are a backpacker, you know the hassle and stress of getting your campsite set up while racing the sun.  So, I didn’t get a cast in that first day.  I didn’t have time to string a rod.  And that was fine.  I knew I’d have a full day tomorrow.  I just love the occasional backpacking alone thing.  It so good for clearing the mind and letting go of the stress of every day life.

Anyone who has caught a Native Wild Kern River Rainbow can relate to this. although the picture isn’t in focus notice the two splash circles. This fish did a double 360 spin in the air while i laughed in amusement. I probably didn’t land him.

Also, as I my habit I was asleep pretty early.  Between the long day, the hike, jack daniels, a fire and bbqing a steak I hiked in I was pretty toast.  I retreated to my tent to listen to fly fishing podcasts and was soon asleep.  And that means I was up and out of the tent at 5:45am.  Guess what I did first.  I stared at the river.  in that low light of the morning when the sun is rising i said to myself, “It’s big; but, It doesn’t look that bad.”  So I strung a rod.  Although I hadn’t seen any I had heard the salmonfly hatch was still on.  I had tied a dozen for the trip so I quickly tied one on and got in position for a 6am cast.  It made a simple 40 foot cast straight up river on the seam. The light was so poor it was hard to see that huge salmonfly coming back at me.  But sure enough I saw what looked like a take and I set hard.  I was on.  I laughed as I released it because I have not caught many fish that early in the day.  Then I made the mistake of saying to myself, “this is going to be a good day.”  because it was exactly then when it hit me: The first cast fish jinx… I cannot tell you how many times that has happened to me. 

Well, I know that upper couple miles of the JDB stretch like the back of my hand so I fished all day where I knew fish held. But, when I wasn’t getting consistent rises I faced the reality of nymphing by way of the Huck Hopper/Dropper. The prior two years of me fishing the JDB stretch in April before the Forks opened I absolutely killed on dries.  Not this year.  I was just a week too late.  The river huge, dirty and blow out.  The flow was tough to get the flies down in the deeper water.  And I knew I had to get them down because the water clarity was only about a foot.  That was why I wasn’t getting rises.  The fish just couldn’t see through the dirty water.  But there are two plunge pools up river from the trail end where I did pretty well on Huck Midge Perdigons in less than 3 feet of water.  Then that wind came in.  I guessed 30mph gusts because I was actually blown off a rock I was standing on in the river.  At points it was really hard to get a drift but I kept fighting through it.  What else was I going to do?  I’m not much of a sit and wait guy.

Normally i miss the nature shots like this one. Springtime can be pretty spectacular in the Kern River Canyon

Out of the ten or so to hand only one was a larger Kern River Rainbow (KRR).  All the others were in the less than 10” class.  Most of which I guessed to be 2 year fish.  But, the reality of the conditions and the river still rising made me decide I’d hike out early the next morning instead of battling all day again.

So, I hiked out early in the morning after breaking camp and was on the road in Huck-Truck by 1030AM back home.  My next adventure will be at the forks.  Most likely end of June / early July.  Hope to see you there.

Trinity River – Jan 18-23

Jack Duncan with a Monster Steelhead.  I sure hope i can do this when i’m 84…

When Jack Duncan, my buddy from the San Diego Fly Fishers Club, emailed me that he wanted to chase steelhead on the Trinity river in Northern California I replied with a simple “In!”  I had fished the Trinity about a decade ago for a single day…and that day the Steelhead Trout lived up to its moniker: “the fish of 5000 casts”.  I did not get a single take.  Since that time, I have been lucky enough to fish steelhead a number of times during my stints up at Microsoft in Redmond, WA where I did do better; mostly on the Olympic Peninsula.  But, I had been itching to get back to California steelheading on the Trinity for a long time.  Gary Strawn and Paul Woolery from SDFF completed the foursome.

In Steelheading terms we did well.  For the two guided days we had, we boated 13 fish.  The average steelhead day is hoping for one grab; let alone getting a fish to hand.

You know it’s a special fish when the guide takes a picture of it.

The Steelhead

The Steelhead is just a giant rainbow trout.  What makes it different from a regular rainbow trout is 2 things:

  1. it’s anadromous nature: After maturing, the steelhead travels the river downstream hundreds of miles to the ocean, feeding heavily for a year to 3 years before entering back into the river it was born in… frequently spawning within a 2 inch radius of where it was originally hatched! There still is no science to explain how the steelhead does it; only conjecture.  The Trinity River Steelhead travel just short of 100 miles up the river to their original spawning grounds.  God only knows how far out to sea they go.  But, the Steelhead in the Columbia River system can travel over 800 miles to the Idaho rivers there were born in.  800 miles to spawn in a 2” radius of where they were hatched.  Had we not screwed up the environment around a hundred years ago by installing dams (with the incredibly efficient production of hydroelectric power), the steelhead (like the salmon) would still be travelling over 1000 miles to Montana and beyond.
  2. The steelhead gets abnormally huge. Like 3 feet long and over 10 pounds huge.  They get abnormally big eating shrimp and fish in the ocean.  A wild steelhead that size is difficult to land.  They frequently do spectacular jumps combined with runs of over 100 yards in either direction.

The steelhead is a fish of lore that has ruined marriages and destroyed finances.  I’m not kidding.  Once you catch a big wild steelhead it changes your life.

Sporting this season’s latest in fly fishing fashion wear, this is Gary Strawn with a chromer.

The Outfitters

I have been lucky enough to use a number of fly fishing guides in my 30+ years of fly fishing.  I feel like that is a well spent investment because I have learned so much from guides….and continue to.  I have only had one bad guiding experience in that 30+ years. That was the last time I was at the Trinity over a decade ago.  “The Fly Shop” in Redding gave us a really hungover, cigarette smoking guide that spent more time throwing up on the river bank, combined with long stints in porta potties than he did fishing with us.  You don’t judge an outfitter by one guide. So, of course, our first stop after landing in Redding, CA was “The Fly Shop.  “The Fly Shop” is the largest fly fishing internet retailer in the world for a reason.  Like Costco, you just can’t get out of there without dropping a hundred….which we all did.

On Jack’s advice we used Confluence Outfitters for the guides on this trip.  Jack had used them before.  Jack and I fished together both days and Paul and Gary fished together both days.  But we alternated the guides (and the river sections):

Luke is a young guide with 2 masters degrees that fished us on the Upper Trinity River.  And Peter is a long time guide, very well known who fished us on the lower Trinity River.  Both guides were excellent and 13 fish to net is a testament to that.  I strongly recommend you contact them if you want to check the California steelhead thing off your bucket list.

The Trinity River is a small river in steelhead terms. And crystal clear

Using a guide on the Trinity is almost a must.  Not just to learn techniques.  But, because of the drift boat.  Accessing good steelhead holding water is easy with a drift boat.  It is quite difficult without one at the Trinity River.  So much of the Trinity river is overgrown, on private property, or too deep to wade.

You are either trying to catch a steelhead on their way to spawn or on their way out to the ocean.  In both cases because they are on a mission; they are not eating much.   You are basically trying to piss them off enough with an artificial to instigate a genetic reaction.  There are small (12” to 20”) resident steelhead that are too juvenile to head out to the ocean.  They call them, “half pounders”.  They do eat and we did catch a few.

Now this is a tropy shot. Guide Peter Santely holding a big wild steelhead that Paul Woolery fooled.

The Fly Fishing Techniques for Steelhead

  1. Staring at the Bobber – 10 to 1 the most effective way to fish for steelhead is under the indicator. Yep, arrogant dry fly dumb asses like me just have to get over the bobber thing. And I did get over it pretty quickly.  There is definitely skill involved in casting and getting a good drift on flies that can get 12 feet or even more below the bobber.   I examined the way Peter Santley rigged my 10 foot 8 weight Orvis Helios II with an indicator set up and it was quite elaborate.  They use a balsa wood indicator that is shaped like a football so that it points down to where your flies are.  that helps in mending to get a good drift.  That indicator sits between tiny little rubber “bobber stoppers” on a 6 foot section of 20 pound mono.  Those bobber stoppers allow for easy adjustment of the indicator to water depth.  It allows the guide to adjust the bobber to the depth of the holding water where the steelhead lie resting between runs up or down stream.  Below the section of 20 LB is a tippet ring.  Tied on the tippet ring is 10 or 12 pound flouro with a small weight attached then the first fly.  Below that is 6 lb flouro to the bottom fly.  For this trip the typical top fly was a rubber legs or large yellow stone fly nymph.  And the bottom fly was a size 14 copper john.

Jack and Gary throwing dries just downstream from the Lewiston “old bridge”.

  1. Swinging – Traditional steelheaders fish streamers. And most of the time on sinking lines or sinking tips.  It’s called swinging because you cast 45 degrees downstream and hang on as the fly swings across the river getting tight.  You pause at the end because when you have success it’s because the steelhead has chased it across the river and when it slows down and stops that is when you typically get the strike.  And those strikes are violent because the steelhead takes the fly in shallow water downstream from you and heads like a rocket back to it’s holding water.  Typical swinging flies for steelhead look nothing like anything in nature.  They are colorful, long and skinny.  On the pros recommendations, I used “Hobo Speys” and “Burnt Chickens” on this trip (unsuccessfully I might add).  You can use traditional single handed fly rods; typically with a sinking head or a versileader.  But, typically you use a spey rod in swinging for steelhead.  I spent a good amount of quality time in lessons with SDFF’s John Wiley who taught me how to cast a spey rod proficiently.  But, alas, my spey rod is still a virgin.  Although I have to tell you I am hooked on the spey rod thing.  Using a Double Spey cast over either shoulder I was casting 80-100 feet effortlessly…which allows you to cover a lot of water.  There is no back cast in a spey cast so you really can do it anywhere.

In any other scenario this would be a special fish. In the world of steelheading this is called a Half-Pounder.

  1. Dries – As crazy unlikely as it seems you can fish dries for steelhead. You can even skate them with a Spey Rod.  It’s quite the long shot.  I have only caught one steelhead in my lifetime on a dry and it was because of a guide, the world famous Jim Kerr of the OP on the Bogashiel river.  It was 25 years ago and I have been obsessed by it ever since.  Gary, Paul and Jack gave it their all for sure… and had as much success with dries as I did swinging.  While I was swinging the spey rod those guys were fishing “like men”: big dries.

Steelheading is often associated with bitter cold weather. and we certainly did experience that.

The Lodging

One of the pleasant surprises on this trip is the place Paul inked us to stay: The Old Lewiston Inn.  It’s a set of buildings right on the Trinity River.  It is set in the Historical part of the area from the gold rush days with most of the buildings originally built in the middle of the 19th century.  It has an awesome view of the river and of the “Old bridge”.    “Jess and Dave” are the proprietors, the most friendly people in the world.  This is the type of place where I kept saying, “My wife would just love this place.”  I will definitely coming back and staying there.

The only…and I mean only… negative was that we were looking forward to eating (and consuming large amounts of whiskey) at the fairly famous Lewiston Hotel Restaurant which is just steps from The Old Lewiston Inn.  But, darnit, the owners decided to go on a vacation the week we were there.  So, it was closed. That made going to dinner a little bit of an ordeal because we had to drive the 25 minutes to Weaverville and back for the first 3 nights.  The hot tip for eating is at the Weaverville Golf Course, “The best Prime Rib north of the Bowling Alley in Bishop is at the Golf Course Restaurant in Weaverville”, said Jack.

On the last night Jess and Dave offered to set up a BBQ for us so we could “cook at home” and we gladly took them up on it.  That’s the type of people they are.

FYI: Upstream of the old bridge fishing is closed during spawning season so we were not able to fish right in front of the hotel.  But we fished just downstream a few hundred feet from the hotel; just behind the old bridge where it was legal.  It’s great water there too for about ½ mile.  We saw steelhead; we just couldn’t fool them.

Unfortunately, we did run into poachers on this trip sightseeing up stream of the bridge.  It was a shame.

 

Our view from the rooms at the Old Lewiston Hotel

My Favorite Moment

Well, my favorite story of this trip was definitely how Jack landed a huge steelhead after losing one right at the net just an hour earlier…after fishing hard the day prior without landing any.

Why do we remember the fish we lost more than the fish we catch?  For me, my 2nd favorite moment was a big wild steelhead I snapped off and lost.  It went down like this: I had only caught a ½ pounder on the first day and it was slow.  We approached a rapid and Luke (the guide) said something like, “stick it in that soft water on the left at the edge under the bushes”.  It was only a ten foot long drift in fairly fast water so kind of a tough cast with a ten foot dropper under the indicator.  But, sure enough I got it in there and my line tightened, I set, and the big fish flashed.  I set again.  It jumped.  it was huge.  Well, I was in the back of the boat (Jack in Front) and now I was dragging the fish through the rapids behind me and it was taking a ton of line.  In the rapids Luke couldn’t slow the boat (God only knows he was trying) and anchoring was out of the question we were going so fast.  I was well into the backing when I saw a rock in the middle of the river on my right (facing backwards).  I manage to pull the fish out and around that rock back into the current.  But, my reel was still screaming as the fish was really not into taking a ride down the rapids.

It’s hard to look at the this beautiful fish with the author being so handsome

To make it worse, out of the corner of my eye on the right I could see another rock coming fast and it was bigger and taller.  The reel was screaming and two things occurred to me quickly: 1. I could spool this fish and 2. Maybe I could flip the line over the rock.  But we were now around 150 feet downstream from that steelhead and going fast through the rapid.  There was no way to flip the line.  So I pulled hard again and snap!  I broke him off.  A 10 pound fish on 6 pound flouro.  I smiled because the battle was fun.  I was not bummed because luck is a huge part of steelheading and I just happened to hook a good one in a bad place. I said, “I lost him.”  Luke looked back at me and I could see the heartbreak in his face because he couldn’t help with chasing that fish with the boat.

‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

A wild steelhead like this will change your life and make you obsessed.

Summary

There are tons of different types of fly fishing in thousands of waters that are just great for beginners.  Steelheading is not for beginners.  You really need to be a skilled fly fisher to get a shot.  The guides both told us that over and over.  And when you do get a shot at the “fish of 5,000 casts”, those shots are long shots because the steelhead is hard to hook and even harder to land.  I have heard it a thousand times, “Why would you fish all day long to only get one chance of hooking a fish on a barbless hook…only to let it go?”  Add to that, most of the times you are setting on a fish that is downstream from you making your odds even worse.   Add to that if you are lucky enough to land them it’s typically hundreds of feet, if not yards up or down stream from where you hooked them with herculean head shaking jumps that frequently shake a barbless hook.  that means either chasing them on foot or in a boat.  Who would do that?  I would.  We would.  I can’t wait to do it again.

Palapas Ventana – Fly Fishing from Pangas near La Paz

October 4-9, 2021

Hey that’s me with a huge jack crevalle! Mike in the background cerebrating.

Who knew you could have so much fun with a 10 wt TFO fly rod?! That is the line I used when I did the “Old-guy Instagram” thing from the Palapas Ventana resort in Ventana, Baja, Mexico.

On October 4-9, 2021 the SDFF club assaulted the Palapas Ventana Resort near La Paz with more salt water flies, flouro, and fly rods than God.  This is an annual trip that the club has been doing for a few years lead by fearless leader, John Ashley.  For years these guys have been telling me, “If there is anyone who would enjoy this trip, it’s you, Huckaby.”  They were right.  I had a ton of success; some real bucket listers.  But, I paid my dues in mistakes for sure.  I learned a lot on this trip.  I can’t wait to get back there next October with the club.  I’m actually trying to figure out how to get there in the late Spring it was so fun.

Steven with a big ass rooster

The Fishing

I’m an old trout guy with very little ocean experience (fly or conventional).  This was my first time doing the fly fishing thing from a Panga.  In the myriad of guidance and preparation communications before we left my takeaways was: “It’s two people in a panga; one in back and one in front.  What a learning experience it was for me!  And man did I make mistakes for the first couple days before I got it dialed in.

Fearless Leader John Ashely with a nice dorado

What the captain (by all means not a guide) does is make bait with impressive throws of a bait net; sometimes in total darkness.  I was wearing polarized lenses and many times I could not see the bait balls the captain was throwing that net at in broad daylight….without wearing glasses….so impressive.  So, typically you start early as the sun comes up.  Then, with the live bait in the bait tank you zoom out to where the game fish are (dorado, roosters, jack trevalles, and even trevally….along with 25+ other species).  Cerralvo Island is a fairly short run across the sea of cortez and that is where most of the boats go.  The captain starts winging the live bait into the water with a cut out Clorox bottle.  The gamefish come up to the surface and go crazy in a fish feed.  You throw your fly into the chaos hoping to fool one of them.  When you catch them, you have the option to let them go, bring them back to the restaurant to compliment the night’s gourmet meal, give it to the captain to enjoy with his family, or have the Palapas Ventana resort vacuum seal, freeze and pack your fish to take home.

So many species to catch with the fly rod. That’s Jim Castelluzzo, the SDFF club president with a pompano

Let me try to define a panga.  A panga is a skiff; a modest-sized, open, outboard-powered, fishing boat common throughout much of the developed world.  The panga is not one of those super nice boats they use in the Bahamas where the fly fisher in front and in back have plenty of room on a casting platform to ensure a long cast.   The bow (front) of the panga has plenty of room for a fly caster and relatively nothing up there to grab a fly line.  But, it’s not a casting platform; it’s the bow of the boat.  The stern (back) is a challenge….at least it was for me.  If you cast from the deck in the back, you must heave a heavy weighted saltwater fly over the boat’s sides or the engine or the captain.  I’m a pretty good cast and I even hit the captain once.  Guess what?  “Oww!” is the same word in Spanish as it is in English.  Ultimately, I ended up just climbing on top of the rails in the back of the boat to get some height and balanced myself there; sometimes actually standing in the bait tank with the live sardinas.  That allowed me to double haul from a height advantage….or seeming advantage…more on that later.  And when the seas got rough, I had to lean against the engine itself.  So, when the captain turned the boat my ass turned with it.  It’s a miracle I didn’t fall into the water.  But, I am pretty agile for an old guy.   Being perched high meant I could double haul a cast 60-80 feet….which I learned after a couple days of struggling is not really an advantage.  Also, every panga seems to be different.  Some are newer and slightly modern.  Some have years of stories behind them with some impressive “Magiver-ing” of a bait tank.

Notice mike battling behind me. Double Hookups were common on this trip

As mentioned, I was told before the trip is “The captain throws live bait in the water and that makes the fish come up and go crazy.  Then it’s a simple 20 foot cast into the madness.”  That is kind of true.  Just like in trout fishing where there are great guides, good guides, and average guides.  The same thing goes for the captains here: some are awesome, some are not.  None speak fluent English.  Each captain and boat is different and fishes differently in terms of where…and sometimes even how.  Mike Hillygus (Montana Lodge owner where we do the annual SDFF trip, and friend of the SDFF club) and I fished 4 days with 4 separate captains and boats.  I love that Tim from the Palapas Ventana resort each night at the restaurant does a blind draw on which captain you get each day.  One day Mike and I stayed within a mile of the resort near the shore all day.  one day we did 10-1 more moving around than fishing; moving from fishing buoy to buoy.  There are a number of fishing buoys that have been strategically placed throughout the area that hold fish.  two days we ran over to Acervo Island and pretty much fished in the same location all day.  Mike and I traded getting the bow each day.  Mike out-fished me every day.  And it wasn’t until well through the 3rd day that I figured out why.

You don’t have to fly fish; a few of the group fished conventionally and did well…including a couple marlin.  This is Mike Rundlett with this big rooster.  but, look closely at the captain’s hat – making a bold prediction of the braves making the world series in early october is uncanny…

The School of Hard Knocks

I really don’t know why it took me two days to figure this thing out.  It may be so obvious to you Saltwater guys and gals with this type of experience. But, it was not to me.  I wasn’t without success.  In fact, I had a lot of success.  my mission was to catch a big rooster on a fly.  I ended up catching a lot of big roosters on the fly.  One of the roosters I landed was too big for me to hold to take a trophy shot with it.  I had the captain hold it for me.  But, now that I know (and now you know), I will be so much more successful on next year’s trip.  So, hopefully my malfunctions will serve as guidance for the trout anglers that want to do this type of fly fishing:

  1. The Double hauling 60-80 feet I was doing over and over is just a wasted workout and burn of calories. When I finally did look over at what mike was doing; he was not doing what I was doing. And having a lot more success. I was basically “hero casting” blind and he was targeting and being efficient about it.  I got the guidance from John and Kai before we left, “a simple 20 foot cast is all you need.”  For some reason I did not think that through.  While I was literally huffing and puffing double hauling casts over and over 60+ feet into the abyss, Mike was waiting for the right moment to cast a 30 footer right into the fish he was targeting.  Duh…  I was dragging the fly through the bait and feeding predators too late.  This was a sobering blow for me when we got back to the resort and in the bar I heard all the success my buddies were having…who simply could not cast (or chose not to cast) over 30 feet.
  2. The fly really does matter – How many times in trout fishing do we say something like, “the fly really doesn’t matter. Your placement and the drift matter a lot more.”  Well, in this type of fly fishing the fly really does matter.   Even the color matters.  The size really matters too.  But, what matters the most is that the fly rides correctly in the water imitating a baitfish as best as possible.  If you half-ass drunken fly tying in your man cave and your fly spins you don’t get takes.  My first two days I was fishing big heavy clousers with big beaded eyes.  Not only are they are they a tough cast but, the jigging thing those eyes produced were not producing as many strikes as mike.  Mike was fishing smaller deceivers (and similars) unweighted flies and killing.  He was in the right part of the water column; I was not.
  3. Knots Matter – This is the most painful lesson for me. I have been trout fishing so long.  I tie 5 different knots 95% of the time and 95% of the time in 3x and 5x. I can tie them all blind folded.  I haven’t failed a knot in years.  Well, I had no idea how differently 5x knots up than it does with 30lb flouro.  I had no idea that you have to wear gloves and yank those knots as tightly as your strength can handle… no idea.  I had no idea that you have to inspect your saltwater knots closely because the heavy flouro doesn’t just slip into place and knot-up like the light stuff does.  I learned that the hard way.  I lost a big dorado on a rapala knot that simply failed because it was not pulled tight enough.  I didn’t even look at the knot after tying it.  but, you can sure as hell tell a knot has failed when looking at the flouro after losing the fish.  and miraculously I also lost a big rooster on a perfection loop knot I tied for the flouro leader.    That is a first.  Some huge rooster swam away with my entire leader hanging out of his face… simply because I didn’t pull the knot tight enough.  Uggghhh…  30+ years of fly fishing and I am failing knots. I suck.  Don’t worry about me; a number of margaritas later that night at the bar fixed everything.
  4. Needlefish – I knew about these slimy creatures going in. if you see a needlefish following your fly you simply stop stripping and they will stop the chase.  But, if you are hero casting beyond what you can see you inevitably catch them.  And you can’t really do a damn thing about it.  and the poor captain has to figure out how to release them without getting bit by razor sharp fangs.  I’m a conservation guy and feel slightly guilty about when mike and I giggled watching one of our guides twisting the neck of the needle fish killing them so he could safely remove the fly.

Tom and Doug Rundlett with another fly fishing double. notice the PInchi Patos in the background

  1. Pelicans – “pinchi patos” I laughed out loud when our captain yelled that as I caught my first pelican. I speak decent Spanish and that loosely translates to “f-ing duck”.  Pelicano is a beautiful word in Spanish.  The captains don’t use that word.  they call them “pinchi patos”.  Btw, there is competition and hilarious chatter on the radio between the captains.  At one point, laughing, I said in Spanish, smiling, to our captain, “you do realize I understand what you guys are saying, right?.” He laughed …because there was a comment about one of my buddies in a different boat not having enough manhood to fight the fish he hooked.  I’d write what he said in Spanish here, but common decorum precludes me from doing it here (god, I hope someone gets that animal house reference.)  But, my god the pelicans.  On the day that our captain stayed on shore within a mile of the resort the pelicans followed us the entire time.  It was fairly frustrating.  Those birds have become accustomed to the captains throwing bait in the water and intercepting that bait.  which means they have unnaturally flourished in population because of it.  at points I had to pinpoint cast a 2 foot window through the gauntlet (50 or more) of pelicans with no way to strip the fly back without the pelicans taking it.  if you see a pelican take your fly you learn quickly to stop stripping.  They spit your fly out if you wait; which is excruciating if the fish are going nuts.  But, if you strip too quickly after that you risk them grabbing it again.  and then there is the good chance of simply leg hooking them as you strip your fly back; many times with a fish chasing.  On that day I caught ~15 pelicans.  Let’s just say the captains don’t really dig pulling a barbed fly out of a pelican’s mouth or leg.  Pinchi patos.

The Palapas Ventana Resort

I am no stranger to fly fishing lodges; I have been lucky.  Let me just start by saying the Palapas Ventana resort is a fraction of the cost of the high-end lodges in Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.  Remember that I was joined by a Montana Lodge owner, Mike Hillygus from the Stillwater River Outpost Lodge and the Clark Fork Outpost Lodge.  Mike was surprised at what a deal it was. It’s Mexico.

For the SDFF club trip we had two people in each Palapa; Mike was my roommate.  These are not really palapas at the resort; they are so much better. A traditional palapa is an open sided cheap building with the thatched roof.  These palapas are stand alone buildings with a large bedroom and separate large bathroom…. With air conditioning; key for this part of the world.

Right?!

“They have a bar.”  That is the line I usually start with when describing this place.  I love bars and I’m not shy about it.  they also have a complimentary restaurant that goes with the bar.  But, this isnt’ just any Mexican restaurant.  Each night we were served a gourmet quality meal.  One night we had a Japanese themed sushi and sashimi set of dishes that riveled anything I have had in the states…. Or in the Japan for that matter.  You don’t go back skinnier on this trip; the food is that good.

Within steps of the bar is an Endless Pool where you can stare at the ocean.  Imagine fishing for 8 hours and battling big fish on your 10 weight to come back, grab a beer, walk into the pool and just stare at the ocean while saying things like, “this is the good life”.

I love this picture that Mike Rundett took.  That’s Tom Rundlett on my left and Stan on my right….. after a long day of battling big fish.”

They focus on service – Tim and his partner have trained his seemingly enormous staff well.  From the groundskeepers to the servers to the bartenders to the financial manager.  They are friendly and attentive.  On the first night he introduces his generals to the entire group.  It’s a classy move.  When you leave you end up hugging these people they are so awesome.

I should mention that Palapas Ventana is not soley a fly fishing lodge.  In fact, Ventana is more famous for it’s wind surfing and scuba diving.  Both those are options at the resort.  Also the resort provides snorkling equipment for free while you are there.  It’s a tropical fish and coral paradise in front of the lodge.  It just so happens that if you are tropical fish you have to always be on the lookout for that patrolling roosterfish.  Yea, it’s conceivable to DIY the roosters right from the shore like you see on those fly fishing shows.

Every night Tim from Palapas Ventana arranged some type of fun event for us. This was from “hot dog train” night.  Just imagine this train blowing through the tiny town of Ventana with everyone aboard holding a beer hooting and hollering.

Getting there: I believe the cross border exchange (CBX) is the best kept travel secret in the united states.  It consistently shocks me that even San Diegans still don’t know about it.  in their description it is “A faster, more comfortable, one-of-a-kind way to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, exclusively for passengers of the Tijuana International Airport.”  Basically, you drive to the border in otay mesa, park in a huge parking lot. show a passport and plane tickets in a completely uncrowded modern building.  then walk across the border on a 200 meter air conditioned covered bridge that drops you right into the Tijuana Airport.  It’s $35 and worth every penny.  They even have a bag drop.  You don’t even need to check in with the airline at the airport. This allows you to fly from TIJ on a number of Mexican airlines for a fraction of the cost of flying from San Diego.  My round trip flight to La Paz was around $100…not kidding.  In La Paz the drivers from the resort are waiting for you with a sign to make the hour drive to the resort.  Simple and painless.

It wasn’t like it was not fun watching Mike Hillygus catching all those fish…

Summary

I know my way around a trout stream…that is for sure.  You learn a bit when you do it for 35 years.  What the many experts in the SDFF club have taught me…and continue to teach me, is the fly fishing saltwater game.  Let me tell you it’s compelling. I watch all the fly fishing shows on TV and it is frequently mentioned that catching a large roosterfish on the fly is in the top ten of fly-fishing bucket listers.  I caught a bunch of big Roosters and from what I wrote above you can tell I barely knew what the hell I was doing.  In the bar after that first day of fishing I told my fly fishing compadres, “I had no idea how fast those dorado swim.”  When you hook up with a Dorado you watch the entire thing… they are so colorful and beautiful.  It’s almost surreal how quickly it happens when they take your fly.

Complimenting this awesome fly fishing is simply an awesome resort at Palapas Ventana.  It’s run so well with awesome food and service.  They make you feel like family when you are there.  Did I tell you they have a bar?  I am definitely going back to Palapas Ventana.

I think this is Aaron. I do know that is a big rooster with a fly hanging out of it’s face

Upper Kern River: Backpacking up river from the Johnsondale Bridge

Dates: 4-16-2021 to 4-18-2021

River Flow:

  • Friday: 380 CFS
  • Saturday: 370 CFS
  • Sunday: 360 CFS

Solunar:

  • Friday: 13%, poor
  • Saturday: 13%, poor

Hatches: SalmonFly and a variety of caddis, mayflies and midges

I am obsessed with the Upper Kern River.  I love it.  I call it my “home waters”.  If you read on this site, you know that.  I literally check the flow of the Upper Kern River above Fairview Dam (the very first dam the water sees) every day of the year.  The flow rate is a great indicator of how well it fishes.  Above Fairview Dam, The Upper Kern River fishes really well below 250 CFS, Good to 400, and then above 500 CFS it gets dicey.  And it gets dangerous.  When the river is above 350 CFS it is not crossable safely, let alone without swimming.

Well, as you’d imagine with Spring runoff coming, I have been watching the Upper kern river flow like a hawk.  I fished it right as the pandemic got bad last year at the end of April.  There is no Covid in the wilderness of the Sierras.  I read the article I wrote a year ago here and got excited about doing it again.  In the beginning of the week the river started rising significantly surely signifying the runoff had started and wouldn’t back down until June. I resigned myself to the fact that I just would miss the spring window to get in there and have to wait for the runoff to end to get in there in the summer.

Check out the red racing strip on that KR Rainbow…with my salmonfly imitation hanging out of his face

This, coupled with the the fact that Forks of the Kern Trail (and most of the area that the Western Divide Forest District Manages) will be closed until Spring of 2022 made me really bummed.  All that forest is closed as a result of last year fires.

But….  Tuesday the river started falling and continued to fall for 3 days.  On Thursday morning, April 15th the river was below 400cfs.  that is pretty much ideal for end of April.  So, I made the executive call to play hooky from work on Friday and do a 3-nighter with the backpack.  I plowed through LA, drove to the Johnsondale Bridge (JDB) on Thursday night and crashed in my truck.  I hiked in Friday morning.  It was bitter cold.  My plan was to fish hard for a couple days then hike out Sunday morning.

It was so last minute.  I’m at a stage in my life and career where I can do the last-minute thing easily.  But, not everyone has that luxury and although I asked a few of my fly fishing buddies there was no one who could pull it off so last minute so I did it alone.  It’s not the first time I have backpacked alone.  I now have many nights alone in the wilderness under by belt.  Safety wise, it’s not ideal, but I do love an occasional few nights in the wilderness to clear my head.  Yes, I carry a Garmin InReach Satellite Communicator and I pay for a plan that if I get hurt, the cavalry will come get me with a press of a button.  But, I have never used the device other than txting my buddies how awesome the fishing is… oh, and to tell my wife Kelly that I’m safe and having fun.

I was torn on my plan on where to camp / how far to hike. Last year i camped with the boys (Jason and Joey) close to what is affectionately called “teacups”.  It’s an impressive water slide / falls.  That is about 2.5 miles from the bridge.  I’m a planner so not having a specific plan on where I was going to camp is not like me.  Also, I was not that familiar with the primitive sites farther up than 2.5 miles.  I know the 8 miles of river up stream from the confluence of the Little Kern River and the North Fork of the Kern like the back of my hand.  That is where the Forks trail goes.  That confluence of the 2 rivers is ~14 miles upstream from the JDB.  But, I did not know the JDB stretch after 3 miles that well.   I remembered a decent primitive site around 4 miles that I was going to target.  I was going to make my decision based on seeing rises in the river (I did not) and how strong I was and if I could find that perfect site to guarantee seclusion.  I didn’t know it at the time but I could have guaranteed seclusion at the 3 mile mark.

Most day hikers target the teacups at 2.5 miles if not sooner.  Most non fishing hikers hike through to the rincon trail at the 4 mile mark.

Well, when I hit the sign for the Rincon Trail I was feeling really strong.  But, that is where the river trail ends.  In the back of my mind I remembered a primitive site close to the river under a tree from where I had fished last year.  When I got to it, I was not that impressed.  It was exposed in bare sand and close the trail.  Honestly, I should have stopped there and camped.  I’d guess it was about at the 4.25 mile mark.  I didn’t know it at the time, but that is the last primitive site on the river.  I also didn’t know exactly how long you could go. But, I knew there was a finite end soon.

So I pressed on. and it was nuts. I bushwhacked and rock-climbed along the river with 45 lbs on my back another full mile after the trail ended.  To river I had not seen before.

I kept going until I could go no more…solid granite walls going 200 feet high and 10 foot deep water in front of me with no way to cross the river.  There was no primitive site and I was exhausted.  My devices said I had travelled over 5 miles from my truck parked on the JDB bridge. I couldn’t go back for many reasons: it was shear hell with that backpack on just to get upstream where I was.  But, mostly because at one point I had to slide down 10 feet of polished granite saying, “I’ll worry about getting back up that thing with a backpack on in a couple days”.   Then I said to myself, “There cannot be many 59 year old’s who could do this…let alone want to.”

The American Salmonfly – with that orange head and body they are unmistakable

So I had to make a primitive site just a couple hundred feet short of where I could go no farther.  Which will be underwater in a month or so.  While I was clearing brush and willows in the river sand close to the water line where there was just enough room to put my tent up, a salmon fly crawled on my arm….what?!   then I started looking at the willows…there were salmon flies everywhere…then up in the air!   I panicked thinking, “Oh my god do I have any salmonfly patterns with me.”  I had tied a bunch about 10 years ago but I didn’t know if I had them with me.  I was possessed thinking about it while I set up my tent resigned to the fact I wasn’t going to look until I got my tent set up.  Or else I’d get too excited, start fishing, fish until dark and have to deal with setting up camp in the dark.  When I got to looking….Yes!   I had 3 salmonfly patterns.

The Salmonfly is a huge Stonefly. It lives underwater during its early life stages and is extremely sensitive to pollution. If the water has any assemblance of pollution or chemicals, the salmonfly larvae will die.  So, the sight of many salmonfly adults means the Upper Kern River and the ecosystem it supports are healthy and clean.

Once one of these monster salmonflies crawed on my arm i started seeing them everywhere.

After getting the mandatory camp stuff set up, I rigged up with a Salmonfly imitation and started fishing.  Within 5 minutes I had a 14” kern river rainbow rise up and smack it within 100 feet of camp.  I got it to hand quickly, and with a smile, realized it could be a special two days.  It was.

So, after making camp I fished my way back downriver…  I couldn’t go any farther up river.  So, I had waders and I got around the big granite slab I slid down by going in the water.  I looked on both sides not wanting to worry about it for 3 days.  About 200 feet in front of it was enough dirt to scramble above it.  with some bushwhacking about 100 yards there was a way down on the other side.  I’m not saying it was easy.  But, it was a relief knowing it could be done without getting wet.

An Interesting surprise: a brown trout in the upper section of the Kern. I just didn’t have the heart to kill him, but, i know plenty of people who would have.  He fell for a size 12 black huck hopper.

It was 2 days of dry fly fishing.  After the first day my 3 salmonfly imitations were totally chewed up, missing wings and barely floating.  They were still catching fish.  But, at that point I increased my odds and trailed them with size 12 Huck Hoppers in a double dry format. I consistently induced rises even though I only saw a couple natural rises.  For the entire 2 days I fished, there never was a need to nymph.  I pretty much got a take in every run, riffle, tail-out, pocket water and pool I through at. I was supposed to test my new Huck Perdigons and never got to it.  Why would you nymph when you can consistently fish dries?  BTW, I did meet a fly fisherman about 2 miles from where I camped that was nymphing under the bobber and he told me he had a 40 fish day; not a surprise.

This kern river rainbow ignored the chewed up salmonfly imitation with half a wing and grabbed the huck hopper

Of Interest, I even caught a couple brown trout.  They are not native and rare in that river.  I didn’t have the heart to kill them so I let them go.  But, they won’t be rare for long.  Browns always take over a river.  It’s just a matter of time.  If that river is to remain genetically pure they should be removed.

Interestingly enough, no permitting is required in this stretch of river other than a fire permit….and yea I did a camp fire.  And I did it safely.  I put some serious work into building a fire ring that would be safe.  I have never known that area to not be able to do a fire but, I bet there are times.   I was ethically ok with building that fire ring because it was so close to the river it will be completely washed away without a trace in a matter of weeks when the runoff starts.  And because….Awful, bitter cold nights.  The forecast called for 75 degree highs and 45 degree lows with 5% chance of rain….That would have been nice.  That is not what happened. On Friday night it was definitely in the 30s. This was suppsed to be my first and only backpacking trip without a calamity.  On Saturday afternoon it rained…I have a 3 ounce Columbia backpacking rain shell and at the last minute left it home saying, “5%.  There is no way.”  3 ounces… Ugghh… I was shivering wet.  And the temperature was much colder at sun down than the day prior. Thank god for that fire.  In the morning my tent, waders, boots all frozen….

That’s a decent sized Kern River Rainbow with a size 12 black huck hopper stuck in his face

I did lose the fish of a lifetime.  We always remember the ones we lose; not the ones we land… The story goes like this: For variety I casted into super deep slow moving water….i have had some epic battles with huge KR rainbows rising from the depths at the forks to grab a Huck Hopper.  Well, like in the past, up from the depths came a 2 footer.  He whacked it and I set hard.  I pulled his head out of the water with my set.  I got a good look at him and he was pissed off. The battle was on.  He raced to the depths a few times and head shook…but I had a barb on my huck hopper (yes we can do the age old argument on which is better for the fish; barbed or barbless) and I was on 3x so I was not afraid to muscle him back up to the surface each time trying to quickly land him and let him go.  I was 15 feet above the water line on a huge granite rock. As soon as I started worrying about how I was going to scramble down to land him safely by looking away at my path down to the water he shook off in the depths.  Maybe he hit a snag near the bottom.  I don’t know.  I never will.  My “lost fishes of a lifetime list” goes long now.  Sigh… ?

The Upper Kern is a beautiful place. It was in that tail-out down stream where i lost the monster

Like every time I fish the upper kern my land to take ratio was really low.  I was way under 50% of getting the fish I hooked to my hand to let them go.  I have said this a gazillion times, but there is nothing that fights like a Kern River Rainbow.  They are just so hard to land.  They go ballistic. They just don’t give up.

When hiking in, I did meet a totally studly dad and kids, 8 and 10 years old on their way back from a week of backpacking.  Super nice people and I could not get over what great attitudes these kids had.  The 8 year old girl explained the trails they took in vivid detail.  She had long blond hair matted from a week on the trail.  I asked them where the heck they went and the dad said, “the confluence by the forks trail.”  “Wait, what?”  I had no idea you could even hike to the forks up from the JDB…The dad did say the trail disappeared and they basically bushwhacked to the river.

I have started using the Gaia app and software in tandem with my Garmin InReach.  so far i’m pretty impressed. this is my route hiking in.  notice that it took me 2 hours and 41 minutes to go just 4.94 miles.

After getting home, I looked at the maps and most of them don’t show a trail to the confluence.  Only one did.  So, there is not much of a trail there.  But, for a 14 mile hike I’d be curious to see the forks from the other side of the river this summer.  Although technically that is probably illegal.  The rincon trail which starts at the 4 mile mark of the jdb trail goes up the mountain and then northeast way far from the kern…. Which supports their story of no trail and bushwhacking.  Anyways they said the fire damage there was impressive.  They were on the opposite side of the river from the fire where the forks trail comes down at the confluence.  The south side.

My tradition of hiking in a steak for the first night. When fires are prohibited i sous vide them, then sear them in butter on my jetboil.

No one was within 2 miles of where I camped.  There were two other sets of backpackers camping close to the bridge.  I saw one young couple fly fishing way down river on Saturday.  On the hike out I saw a handful of people within 2 miles of the bridge.

The river is now rising.  The experts are saying we’ll only get to 1000 CFS this year.  In the huge years it gets close to 20,000 CFS.  Even in this 60% snowpack year, we are most likely not looking at doing this again until the july to mid November timeframe.  I’ll be dreaming of it every day until then.