Typical Weekend Madness
Upper Kern River
July, 2004
This trip to the Kern was primarily
devoted towards introducing the river to a couple of friends, and teaching
them how to fish a river. With that in mind, I fully expected to be
focused on them catching fish., rather than myself. I decided a day
and half on the river would be sufficient for the introduction.
We departed Los Angeles at 4:30am
Saturday and arrived near Limestone around 9am. Even at that hour,
the temp was at 80 degrees. That was no surprise. As the day wore
on, the temperature would knowingly climb to above 100 degrees.
A spot near Limestone was selected to
afford my guests with the ability to sample a variety of river conditions
and fishing techniques, without having to earn a hiking merit badge. The
area itself was a recipe for crowded banks and madness. This is to
be expected when fishing a 'convenient' local on a July weekend.
Better defined as a spot whereby one can easily tote an ice chest from
their vehicle to the rivers' edge.
Although I expected the crowd, I was
completely thrown off guard by the discovery of a multi-vehicle family
group of at least 12 people. With 6-8 rods in holders (24hrs a
day). They had been there for a few days and were going to be there
for another week. It was as if they were content to wait between
deliveries of fish from the hatchery. While their river harvesting
crew minded the 6-8 rods on holders, small patrols would venture up and
down river to periodically harvest the obvious pools.
Shortly
we were joined by the 'drive-by' anglers who drive up and down the river
hitting the 'convenient' spots. Immediately, I thought for certain that
the area couldn't support that kind of pressure. Nevertheless, I was
confident that few knew of my 'secret' spots in the area., so I didn't let
the crowding bother me.
Taking one of my guest to one of my
secret spots, and showing her how to fish it, I was genuinely pleased that
she caught her first trout (ever) within 3 minutes. While she
continued to work that run, I threw my offering just outside of the
current and let it flow down to the nearest falls. As luck and a
little skill would have it, I too landed a healthy trout just after her
first. Before long, she had another ... and then the action died
off. I was content with the results of this first lesson.
Hiking up river to another 'secret'
spot, we bumped into a father and son team sitting on it. I could
see that their technique and approach was wrong ... so I sat and waited
for them to give up, while I endured their dirty looks. People can
be so funny, sometimes. They made me feel like a 'claim jumper'
during the gold rush. It was evident that they weren't going to quit
their claim while an eager claim jumper was nearby., so I shrugged it off
and went back down river a bit. The ploy worked and they gave up
their claim. So I went back and got the trout I knew would be
there. And could be caught if fished just so.
With the heat in the valley rising, we
retired to the RV for lunch followed with an air conditioned nap. We
awoke and resumed fishing as the temp receded, in the afternoon.
We hiked down river a quarter mile and
waited for someone to give up their claim, as every spot was taken.
Then hiked down to the river to see if anything was left. One couple
had left a spot and we fished it for an hour with no results.
Another couple left a spot just up river and so we moved to it. The
first couple returned to the previous spot and gave us dirty looks,
thinking (I suppose) that we had taken their fish in their absence.
As we started catching fish, a member of the first couple decided to
venture closer to our spot. All the while, giving us those 'claim
jumper' stares ... seemingly angry at us for our good fortune. Which
only confirmed my beliefs that people can be so ridiculous.
After our band of three had caught four
healthy trout averaging 12", I decided to retire and leave the two
and return to the RV with the other guest who was more interested in
playing with his dog than fishing.
The
next day, before departing at noon, I rose early to visit one of my
favorite spots. As always, I caught the one trout I knew would be
there waiting., and then tested the water for any friends he might have
had. He had none, but I was satisfied with (again) being able to
catch a fish in my 'secret' spot, and called it a day. While waiting
for the other two to reel it in, I joined the other guest with his dog for
an enjoyable 'bathing of the feet' in the shade.
As I reflected on the weekend, brief as
it was, I was reminded of the rivers' ability to amaze me. Even with
the pressure put upon her, fish were there for the knowing few. Fishing
aside, as is usual in late July, the flow was perfect and the clarity was
at its best. Click the image to get a closer view of it.
We'll be back
