Notes and Musings of an Angling Curmudgeon...

This is a rewrite of something I first posted on another bulletin board called "Cynical Observations From An Old Curmudgeon"

"Well I won't pretend to know much about humpback whales but let's see if we can't focus more attention and more money--money the state of California doesn't have-- on a problem that maybe didn't need a solution after all?

Actually I don’t know anything about Humpbacks... I guess I want to know why any creature supposedly as smart as whales are --would go up the Sacramento Delta given the conditions there lately? Are our oceans going downhill as well--or is it the kind of morbid curiosity that has rubberneckers gawking at a grisly auto accident? Charles Darwin apparently did not include rubbernecking Humpbacks in his "survival of the fittest" scenario... Maybe just maybe these whales can kinda figure it out on their own--and we should just leave them be--or are these people—the desk jockeys that issue memos all day instead of dealing with the sorry state of California’s wildlife--admitting the Delta is that screwed up?

We collectively are sometimes so easily manipulated by the press and the "powers that be". Individually there are a few people that still know to read between the dotted lines and look at the fine print... For the rest--it’s the "cute and cuddly syndrome" or something like that. It's that "Aw shucks moment" that sells thousands of Hallmark cards, bumper stickers and wins at least 2/3 of every election--a vote getter if I ever saw one! Here come the platitudes and maudlin sentimentality. Once you start tugging at the heart strings, a lot of folks just roll over. Sheeet...if you could convince them buying a Hummer would end the struggles in the Sudan and save starvin' babies, some folks would rush right out and do so--even if gas hits $4.25 a gallon.We are in deep doo doo with state and federal budget deficits. I bring this up because the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is going to take it in the shorts. You think ANYBODY is going to take serious steps to address that deficit? Nah...we will get more "rosy projections" from the governor--and more draconian budget cuts—but somehow they have money to rescue dumb whales that didn’t need rescuing after all. Anyways, I get the feeling someone is—or should be --asking what all that extra Coast Guard (and others) time is costing us? Meanwhile we can't give Fish and Game wardens a decent wage? Go figure.

Didn't I say or post something about just leaving the whales ALONE and letting Nature do what it does best--earlier? So the whales have found their way out of the delta…on their own and under the cover of nightfall. Is there a message in there for us and our somewhat feeble “rescue efforts”?

I never did get whale watching anyways??? Now submarine races-- theres a real spectator sport for the folks that are dissatisfied with Gameboy or Wii. ;-) I think the real problem is that peoples lives have both become so sterile and so empty. It’s” plastic mall land”, neon lit and garish-- and divorced from anything “real”. The commute grind grinds away at our collective souls, a situation made worse when we are compelled to live in a tract, in a neighborhood that didn’t exist 10 years ago… A whale, something so far removed from our day to day reality becomes a welcome diversion.

So...I went fishing--on a holiday weekend. Actually I got there--Thursday-- before most of the crowds, hooked a bunch of fish (which means the fishing was pretty good) thereby insuring that the people who showed up late on Saturday were, at best, getting leftovers and sulking fish. I should be sitting here kind of happily contented, maybe a little smug. Instead I'm scratching my head. The first thing I saw—the first bummer-- was a bonafide moron--or group of morons--who packed up early AND LEFT THEIR CAMPFIRE BURNING!!! Oh yeah--they cleared out--weren't coming back-- and flames were licking at the top of the fire pit when I came by. Darwin--where were you when these folks parents were toying with the idea of reproducing??? I was boiling over, seeing this kind of stupidity up close and personal and well, I guess it was a good thing I don't know who those folks were 'cause I would be saying things that might escalate the situation!!! How careless--how thoughtless was this? Well…it’s been exceptionally dry this year—tinder dry in places-- AND the wind had been kicking up every afternoon! I stomped out what I could--felts are cheap compared to losing one of California's premier fisheries--and asked a group of young fellows in the next camp if they could throw some water on it just to be doubly sure... This hits too close to home: Numerous California watersheds and the beautiful streams that flow though them have been damaged by wildfires. The Fountain fire burned 88,000 acres, destroying at least one lesser known stream and it threatened Hat Creek. The Blue Lake fire did an incredible amount of damage and came close to destroying one very secret and very pristine spring creek.

Young folks are just that--young--and they seemed nice enough-- but umm… second bummer of the weekend: I'm not driving slow because I'm a geriatric case. You should see me on my motorcycle--unless you plan on pulling me over! At 65 mph I feel like I’m in a school zone… I drive slow because I'm thinking about the other campers--and folks on the dirt road behind me. Oh yeah-- it also improves fuel economy. Anyways these "speed demons" were kicking up clouds of dust that were choking the other campers! Next time think about the "other folks"--and slow it down a little. I mean I was impressed your gas guzzling SUVs can handle dirt roads at those kinds of speeds (not) but did you notice the Dogwood and Rhododendron in full bloom? Slow it down, cut the dust and enjoy the view. You can work on your ulcers and stress elsewhere...

All in all a beautiful weekend to be out inspite of a few thoughtless people. More snakes than I've ever seen and a few bigger than usual snakes. One rattler gave me fair warning so I steered clear of it and the snake steered clear of me! That's maybe another reason to slow it down just a little: You might want to be real sure where you are putting your feet and hands in snake country...

You can generally ignore a lot of "fish reports" as a rule: The bite that was wide open earlier in the month has "changed". Translation: "You should have been here yesterday..." Seriously, the sun was out in earnest and that had fish going deeper earlier in the day! Earlier posted fish reports had every conceivable fly pattern working--especially dry fly patterns. That is an early season phenomena and it is apparently already over! I suppose more experienced anglers figured that out (the connection between the depth we fish at and temperature and light intensity) a long long time ago but I saw more than one person (who should have known better) not fishing nearly deep enough! Speaking of that, if you do use a big dry fly as a dropper, plan on going through a mile of tippet as you adjust how deep your bottom flies are--unless of course you aren't really serious about "catching". The river bottom is so different from spot to spot so how can someone just tie on a dropper AND NEVER THINK ABOUT CHANGING THE DEPTH OF THOSE FLIES AS THEY MOVE FROM SPOT TO SPOT??? (it happens) I'm getting to be a lazy old fart when it comes to fishing and if I HAVE to fish an indicator, it sure makes sense to use something that I can cast AND adjust (easily) for changing depth! Of course there are those people who do have a knack for finding about the worst spot to fish and then they park themselves there for what seems like a day and a half so they don't ever need to worry about changing anything other than flies in the desperate hope that somehow things will "improve".

I still haven't mentioned where I was fishing but there have been little clues here and there. Keep it to yourself if you do figure it out. Most of our rivers don't need MORE angling pressure... Meanwhile this thing about indicators: I personally don't care for them. It's not that any one technique is "superior" regardless of what the pundits are saying in print (it does seem that we have become a nation of instant experts to be quoted on talk radio and in countless sound bites) Oh yeah let's have more hype about Czech nymphing... I mean I always thought that was the way "high sticking" was supposed to be done--and I recall reading somewhere about the Celts and Scots fishing a brace of flies and using the various flies to create skittering and other "action" or movement. So much for obsessing about the perfect dead drift. Anyways it seems like technique-- any technique--is like vocabulary or an arsenal and the more "tools" you have in your arsenal, the more effective you will be as an angler or in the case of "vocabulary" the more effective you will be in sharing ideas. I guess if there is a key to this flyfishing thing, it's knowing when to use a particular technique or tool...

I digress. I don't care for indicators because I think the dry fly cast, the line unfettered by lead and fluff and other contrivances, the rod unloading and the line folding gracefully over itself is pure poetry. Aside from the poetry, there is something to seeing --TO SEEING--a fish boil up under a fly and sip it inhale it. I see this shape materialize out of nowhere--and almost always when I least expect it (you'd assume I would be reading the water better?) My heart skips a beat everytime and early season I am constantly yanking the fly away from the fish. It's an adrenalin rush that I personally just don't get when staring at an indicator that looks more like a troll doll. That's just a personal thing--and I don't always get what I want so I fish the technique that either is going to be the most effective or if I am feeling especially lazy, the most enjoyable.
Short version--and another clue: In the pocket water we were fishing, indicators were about as useless as an opinion poll about healthy eating taken in a fast food chain. Again just my opinion but I do enjoy a certain amount of indicator-free nymphing. I do love the way it hones a persons reflexes and forces them to look at the water and to follow the line. I play with the depth at which I'm fishing and sometimes I try to impart the tiniest bit of life to a fly. Think of it as a subtle variation on the "Liesering Lift". What a thrill it is--okay maybe just more of a challenge--to figure where every rock and every snag in a run is, and to scrape the algae off those rocks without every hanging up. Of course if you really did make mental notes about the water, you saw the current speed was just right and the depth "just so" and accordingly every-- well almost every-- rock hid a fish... "

The key this weekend and maybe every weekend was to look for water that is deep enough to offer cover to a fish and yet is "overlooked" by other anglers. That included some pretty aggressive wading (near death experiences) but it had me on fish the entire weekend--regardless of how many other people came and went. The better the "cover"--the bigger the fish it held! Anyways, water "color" is almost always your best clue as to how deep a particular slot is! Do pay attention to what you are walking on: It seemed like some trout were still in spawning mode and the rocks were covered with cased caddis that were in no hurry to get out of the way!

Daytime hatches are now (or at least that weekend) pretty thin. It's starting to get too warm but the fish will still take a well presented nymph assuming--as noted above--that you are fishing it deep enough! The evening rises are spectacular right now--even though the river is not noted for rising fish. I think most people fear for their lives trying to wade in that water in failing light or scramble their way up the cliffs and back down the trail so they are off the water far too early. There are however a few spots that can be waded safely right up to the last legal light and allow you to get back to camp--safely!

Lots and lots of stoneflies including both Golden Stones and Salmonflies--and Little Brown Stones and Little Black Stones. If you do get up there in the next week or two, look for some of these stoneflies to finally be returning to the water to lay their eggs. Anything that looked like a stonefly nymph was going to catch fish--unless someone had been there before you. In that case you had to fish very small patterns with near perfect technique--and the fish were being a lot more selective. The evening rise was dominated by the Pale Evening Duns. Keep in mind this bug is about a hook size larger than the Pale Morning Dun and a slightly paler color. It's a fast water bug so your fishing is probably going to be concentrated at the heads of the pools and the best slots.

We ate and drank like royalty --with far too much red meat (numerous Tri-tips)and hearty red wine. One of the group is a prize winning home winemaker so he positively spoiled us. Deli ham (from Angelos up here in wine country) for lunch on a whole grain bread with a well aged New Zealand cheddar. Good company and some lively conversations. You can't ask for much more!