Historically, my typical rig for the Upper Kern River is a 3x leader with a size 4 tan Huck-Hopper on top, followed by ~3 feet of 4X tippet then a size 8 black Beldar stonefly nymph imitation followed by another 18 inches of 5x tippet and a size 16 Huck Green Caddis Nymph Cripple.

But, the Weakness of that rig is that you really have to be an expert to cast it.  That Beldar Stonefly Nymph is huge and heavy.  Sitting in between the Huck Hopper and the Huck Green Caddis Nymph Cripple makes the rig unbalanced.  It’s literally impossible to roll cast without the eventual tangles or wind knots.

When i started tying Perdigons it immediately became obvious i could put together another effective combo with a size 14 Perdigon dropped below the huge huck hopper then followed by a size 16 Perdigon…. making it just as wildly effective because those perdigons get down in a hurry…yet, much easier to cast (overhand and roll) because the perdigons are small; yet heavy.

Learn about the benefits of Perdigon style flies on this site here.

If you are an experienced fly fisher and familiar with the wild conditions at the Upper Kern (or Kings) Rivers, you may be saying to yourself: “Throwing 3 flies is crazy and asking for disaster.”  Yes, it is.  and to redo the entire rig is 5 knots. Overhead casting a 3 fly rig is difficult; roll casting even harder.  Also, note that in a few states like Montana you are not allowed to throw more than 2 flies.

I typically lose flies on a 3 fly rig in two ways: hung up on the bottom or when the wind blows me off course mid cast.  I lose flies, but I do catch a lot of fish on the upper Kern and Kings.  I’m an expert there.  I take the risk because I think it’s worth it.  I respect people that don’t take the risk of losing flies.  They cost money.  And it takes time to re-rig with 5 knots involved.  I can tie up a new rig quickly upon losing the entire thing.  Yes, that is frustrating.  But, IMHO you have to take risks if you want the big rewards.  Yes, a long 3 fly rig like the one I do is not only difficult to cast, but also risky to losing flies.  Yes, it’s deadly the entire season.

The “Huck-bow Warrior Perdigon is my “go to” fly for non clear water conditions in fast deep current.  It fishes well all year long in many conditions. Along with the Huck Midge cripple and it’s Perdigon brother this is a great winter fly. I recommend size 16.

This fly is built on a barbless competition style jig hook.  It’s wide gap provides a dramatically better hook set than a traditional hook.  You’ll find your land to hook ratio will be much better than in a traditional nymph hook.  I tie these with an oversized tungsten slotted bead.   Then I stuff the slot gap with lead.  Combined with it’s sleek epoxied body, this fly gets down in a hurry.  the tail is made of UV coated coq de leon feathers.  you can read all about the benefits of perdigon style flies in my article here.

This is my goto fly and i frequently combine it with it’s crippled brother that i originally developed.  in a traditional two nymph set up it can be fished dry/dropper or hopper/dropper.  That means it can be effectively and typically fished with a “tag” fly, size 14 above and a trailing fly, size 16 below like is done in traditional euro nymphing.  In reality this fly provides all the effectiveness of raking the river by Euro Nymphing, but, unlike in euro-nymphing (or tenkara) you sill get to cast…and cast beyond the ~20 foot limitations of euro nymphing.

This is a “must have” fly in the fast runs of the Upper Kern River where the big kern river rainbows cannot resist the flash in crystal clear water.  It fishes well all year long in many conditions because it is an attractor, yet looks like a green rock worm, which is a caddis nymph.

This fly is built on a barbless competition style jig hook.  It’s wide gap provides a dramatically better hook set than a traditional hook.  You’ll find your land to hook ratio will be much better than in a traditional nymph hook.  I tie these with an oversized tungsten slotted bead.   Then I stuff the slot gap with lead.  Combined with it’s sleek epoxied body, this fly gets down in a hurry.  the tail is made of UV coated coq de leon feathers.  you can read all about the benefits of perdigon style flies in my article here.

1. Guided Backpacking “Over-nighters” (1-2 People 1-nighter $1,500. Each Additional night $750)
2. Traditional Guided wading days (1-2 People $700 / day)
3. Fly Fishing with me ($350 / day)

All 3 ways are physical and require hiking.  

Using me as your fly fishing guide is for the adventurous who want a shot big / nasty or beautiful wild native trout that don’t see a lot of artificials or even people for that matter. and have a heck of a lot of fun doing it. Nothing fights like a wild native pure strained Kern River Rainbow.  Pound for pound the more difficult fish to net that i have experienced.  And i have experienced a lot.  

Guided Backpacking Over-nighters

This is the modality where i do everything.  including cooking for you, cleaning up, making firewood, etc.  we fish all day and when we don’t you relax.

I have fished all over the world and I will tell you that nothing is more fun than backpacking to areas of the Golden Trout Wilderness that are just not heavily fished.

It was almost 25 years ago when my backpacking mentor, Rudi Van Der Walt, told me, “Tim, if you want to experience one of the few places in the world that has big wild native trout, we’ll have to backpack it.” He taught me a lot about how to thrive backpacking, the wilderness and survival. I have been “hooked” ever since.I use backpacking as a means to an end. I don’t hike for the sake of hiking. I hike to get to get to the good fly fishing.

I have lost count of how many nights i have spent in a backpacking tent. I have shared the experience with many. I’d like to share it with you. There is only one way to get to the great fly fishing spots of the Sierras: by backpacking. Overnighting it provides so much more in terms of fishing and the wilderness experience. I will tailor the trip for your hiking wants and ability. we can go as far or as short as the wilderness will give us and that ~40 pounds on your back will give you. We can move camp every day or day trip it from one site we camp at for a number of nights.

I don’t care if you are a beginner or expert to backpacking or fly fishing or both. All are welcome. if you are a beginner to backpacking I’ll get you savvy on this trip so you can DIY it the next time and beyond. I’ll also teach you how to do the backpacking thing cost effectively. Trust me the gear adds up…just like fly fishing gear does. Whether you are a beginner to fly fishing or an expert you’ll learn a lot. No matter what, we’ll do a lot of planning. Especially if you are a beginner to backpacking. If you are up for it I’ll also teach you about the flora, fauna and geology of the area.

How long we fish each day depends on you. I’m easy and flexible that way. I’m that guy that has to be dragged off the river. if you want to fish all waking hours then throw mice in total darkness, I’m your guy. if you want to hike 2 hours up river to fish 2 hours, I’m your guy. if you want to take two hour breaks between fishing sessions I’m your guy. No matter what we’ll have fun.

backpacking / fly fishing trips include:

• all flies, leaders, tippet, etc.
• loaner rods if you don’t own them
• all food and drink; the majority of which is made and dehydrated by me – depending on the length of the trip I may ask you to share the load
• gear guidance and planning for success

1-2 People 1-nighter $1,500. Each Additional night $750
Additional non fly-fishing guided Person(s) + $250.00 / night

1-2 People $700 / day

Traditional Guided wading days

This is the modality where i simply guide you on the Upper Kern River in the Wild Section of the Golden Trout Wilderness.  you are responsible for your food and everything that comes with backpacking.  or you day hike in and out from the Forks Trailhead.  we’d meet at a pre-determined location.  We may hike in together or I may already have hiked in and meet you in the canyon.

includes:

• all flies, leaders, tippet, etc.
• loaner rods if you don’t own them
• gear guidance and planning for success

Fly Fishing with me

If you are an experience fly fisher and simply want to fish with me, and learn some of the advanced techniques, Great!  I love to fish the wild section of the Upper Kern and i know the first 10 miles of the river above the confluence of the Little Kern River like and back of my hand. You’d only depend on me to figure out what they are eating and how we’d fish them.  I would not do any of the things that come with traditional guided days like teaching you how to cast or pulling your flies out of a tree or tying your flies on, etc.

1-2 People $350 / day

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Youth Groups, Vets, Cancer Survivors, and other charity groups – No Charge.  Love to do it with a little planning.

Special configurations no problem.

Contact me to start the planning process.

My typical rig for the Upper Kern River is a 3x leader with a size 4 tan Huck-Hopper on top, followed by 3 feet of 4X tippet then a size 8 black Beldar stonefly nymph imitation followed by another 18 inches of 5x tippet and a size 16 Huck Green Caddis Nymph Cripple.

If you are an experienced fly fisher and familiar with the wild conditions at the Upper Kern River, you may be saying to yourself: “that is crazy and asking for disaster.”  Yes, it is.  Overhead casting that rig is difficult; roll casting even harder.  The 3 tungsten beads in the beldar stone don’t make it any easier.  Without wind it’s manageable for a good cast.  I typically lose flies two ways: hung up on the bottom or when the wind blows me off course mid cast.  I lose flies, but I do catch a lot of fish on the upper Kern.  I’m an expert there.  I take the risk because I think it’s worth it.  I respect people that don’t take the risk of losing flies.  They cost money.  And it takes time to re-rig with 5 knots involved.  I can tie up a new rig quickly upon losing the entire thing.  Yes, that is frustrating.  But, IMHO you have to take risks if you want the big rewards.  Yes, a long 3 fly rig like the one I do is not only difficult to cast, but also risky to losing flies.  Yes, it’s deadly the entire season.

The “Huck-bow Warrior is my “go to” fly for non clear water conditions. It fishes well all year long in many conditions. Along with the Huck Midge cripple this is a great winter fly. I recommend size 16.

The “Huck-bow Warrior is one of my must-have flies for the Upper Kern River in the Sierras.

The story behind this fly goes back about a decade. and if you write me an email I’ll tell ya’ the story…

The story behind this fly goes back about 20 years. i purposely took a speaking gig at a small msft user group  in meeting billings, MT. no one else wanted to do it. because, i had never fished the bighorn. in the audience was a fly fisherman named Brad Pascoe. i mentioned to the Montana audience that i had ulterior motives and that i planned to fly fish the big horn the next morning. Brad introduced himself after my tech presentation and offered to take me.  We hit the river to his favorite wading spot.  He was killing; i was not. he said, “let me switch you to this fly”. it was this green wired nymph and then I started killing with it too. but, this is long before i had studied water born bugs so for years i called it the “Pascoe Montana Midge”. It wasn’t until years later that i said to myself, “wait a minute…that’s not a midge…it’s a caddis nymph imitation.

Over the years i have developed a variation with it to include a holographic wing case and i also tie it will holographic stunted wings to imitate a cripple. it has UV dubbing in it too. it basically glows under water and under sunny skies the fish just don’t miss it going by.

I am privileged to know that first stretch of 10 miles of river like the back of my hand. After decades of backpacking the Forks of the Kern Trail to get to the hallowed waters of the Upper Kern River.  After 10s of thousands of fly fishing casts in the Upper Kern.  After testing hundreds of flies.  I have developed extensive and detailed guidance (backpacking and fly fishing) and directions on how to successfully do the Forks with the sole intention of helping people out.

I have blogged about many of the experiences i have had at the Forks.  And that ultimately meant I was getting overwhelmed with email, txting and phone calls for support.  So, this is an efficient way to take care of everyone that needs the guidance and directions.

Also included is my most recent backpacking list for the Forks of the Kern.  For the fly fisherman that backpacks forgetting something can be crushing.

All proceeds I collect from selling this $5 guidance document is donated to CalTrout, a great organization that does great things for the trout habitat of California.