First Trout of 2004

Thought I'd be working all weekend but got so much accomplished yesterday
that I was able to sleep in late today. Breakfast was followed by a drive
up the the San Gabriel canyon. It was 83 degrees and sunny below the snow
capped mountains which crown the northeast corner of Los Angeles county.

The San Gabriel River used to be home to wild steelhead but the lower 30
miles of it are basically open sewer now. But up in the mountains, one
can get a glimpse of what it might have been like a century ago, even if
the West Fork of the San Gabriel has a paved road running along side it.
Though the road is closed to public vehicle traffic there seems to be many
well connected "insiders" with keys to the gate. I encountered 6 cars today.

Snowmelt has colored the water a bit and visibility was poor. This was my
first trip to the West Fork in the spring. All my prior trips were during
summer and fall when the fish spend most of their time hiding under rocks.
Today's fish were not bashful at all. I spotted many rising fish as I
cycled uphill and made a mental note of each of those locations and fished
them on the way back down.

The lower mile or so near the parking lot is planted with fish but above
that it is catch and release only for wild trout. A 18 black parachute
caddis and 14 light green Klinkhamer made for no shortage of dry fly
action - and it was plenty of action.

The growth rates in this little stream probably are nothing to brag about.
Most of my victims were 6" or so and still sport parr marks. No matter
what time of the year however, these fish are generally darker in color
than what one usually expects of rainbow trout. I did land one 10" fish
in beautiful spawning colors.

Came home and took a well-deserved Sunday afternoon nap.

Mu,
Thousand Oaks, CA