Jewels of the East Fork
San Gabriel River - East Fork
April, 2004
Let me explain,
before you start laughing. Yes, the East-Fork of the San Gabriel
River often resembles a dumping ground. Thanks to the inconsiderate
hordes that frequent the area during the summer. I had nearly given
up on the place, until I discovered the Jewels of the East Fork. The
Jewels? Well, sit back and I'll spin my yarn.
On hearing
reports that native trout (and a few occasional stockers) could be found
on the East Fork, beyond where the inconsiderate hordes frequent, I got
out my maps and magnifying glass. Yes, indeed, the river does
continue where the road ends. And a trail (or two) lead into the
canyon from there. By hiking a mile (or more) you'll begin spotting
the Jewels. In this case, the Jewels are fishable bodies of water
containing playful trout.
It
was an overcast Thursday morning, when I decided to ditch the office and
drive up to the East Fork. From the town of Azusa, take Hwy 39
north. At the head of the San Gabriel Reservoir you'll turn right on 'East
Fork Road'. Continue on 'East Fork Road' until you reach the
trailhead parking area, at the end of the road. And begin your hike
upriver from there.
Looking up the
canyon, from the trailhead, it doesn't look entirely promising. But then
again, that may be the very reason the Jewels exist. Besides, the
key here is to go beyond the point where the inconsiderate hordes would
venture. Basically, beyond the point that many would carry an ice
chest and grill.
After about a
1/4 mile, you'll come across a quaint little picnic area. No tables,
grills or water. But it does have a vault toilet, dumpster and
grassy shaded spots for a picnic. Continue through the picnic area
to find a trail post with a box to record your catch for the day when
leaving. Having to record your catch, and/or C&Rs, leads me to
believe that someone is monitoring area. And, perhaps it does get a
limited stocking on occasion.
Continuing
up the trail, you'll come upon the remains of a structure. Not
exactly sure what purpose it served in the past, but it is
interesting. At this point I'm thinking, 'Fish or not, this is a
cool hike'.
The trail
crisscrosses the river several times. So don't be alarmed when you
discover that the trail leads into the river. But, do be prepared to
do a some wading and river crossing. At some crossings you can
expect ankle deep water, at others it's at or above the knees. Too,
it all depends upon the current flow and levels. I would imagine
that on a warm sunny day, these crossings would be somewhat refreshing.
After
a few crossings, things begin to look very interesting and
promising. And your excitement and anticipation grow higher than the
water saturation level on your shorts (or in some cases, waders). By
now you're, most likely, somewhere near 1 mile up the trail. At this
point, you could begin playing the waters for natives., or continue hiking
deeper into the canyon. Eager to test the waters, I elected to start
fly tossing.
The body of
water pictured here, on the left, produced two 7-8" natives.
Amazed that I had only left the house 2hrs ago, I was ecstatic! I
C&R'd the natives and continued up river some more., fully aware
(sensing) that the fun was just beginning.
I
found several extremely small pools, while poking my
head in between the reeds and growth along the river.
I continued searching thus, until I spotted a Big 10-12' wide pool at the
base of a 4-5' fall. This pool was completely hid from view, with a
canyon wall one side and thick vegetation on the other. Trembling at
the sight of this promising gem, I tied on an egg pattern for my first
toss.
Within 5
seconds of hitting the water, something large was on and running down
river fast. This caught me totally off guard, causing me to go for a
swim in the deep water above the falls. Laughing and cussing at the
same time, I managed to get to my feet (in water well above the knees) and
stop his dash to the pacific ocean. I knew, for sure, I was going to
lose this one. Caught off guard, I was in total disarray.
Nevertheless, I reeled like a madman at the pumps to save a sinking
ship.
It took much
longer to land than it took to hook up. But that only added to the
joy of it all. Even out of the water, this fighter of a fish just
kept on fighting. Finally coming to a rest, a nice 12"
rainbow. He didn't look anything like the natives. In fact,
I'd swear he was a stocker from years gone by. I could see right off
that the hook was too deep to recover easily. And so, I decided to
call this one 'dinner'.
Leaving
'dinner' on a chain, I rushed out of the thicket to scout a little further
up river. Knowing all too well, that because of 'dinner', I wouldn't
be able to spend too much more time fishing before hiking us out of there.
I
fished several wide bodies of moderately flowing water. Some were as
wide as 20'., with 16' of it running only 12" deep and the remaining
4' running much much deeper along a canyon wall. It seemed the
natives were everywhere. Little fighters 6-8" and eager to
play.
Five C&R'd
natives later, I decided to pack-up 'dinner' and begin the return
hike. My only regret was not being able to hike further back, into
the canyon. It's my understanding, and I now firmly believe, that
even bigger finds and fun are to be had further up river. With a
fresh supply of barb less flies...
We'll
be back
