TR: Owens (Long & rambling)

I meant to post this report the week after Thanksgiving, but I somehow
allowed "stuff" to get in the way. Sometimes that just happens before I
realize exactly what hit me. Anyhow, it was a great weekend and I felt the
urge to share...

After a wonderful belly-busting Thanksgiving day spent with friends, I
hopped in the car and headed up 395, my right foot getting heavier the
farther north I traveled. A few hours later and after a quick check-in at
my Bishop hotel, I was river bound. Approaching the Owens, I was horrified
to see cars, cars and more cars...I opted for the little-used west road that
runs along a bluff above the water. Good God! Half of Los Angeles seemed to
be on the river, and almost every stretch of water was alive with flailing
rods. But then, as the sun's rays grew longer, the crowd started to leave. I
didn't understand, but didn't complain either and quickly scrambled down the
brushy slope to the river. I hadn't fished here for a couple of months, and
it felt good to be standing in flowing water again. The next couple of
hours found me trying to match a maddeningly tiny midge that was hatching (I
think). A few taps here and there, a brief tussle and subsequent LDR, and
it was dark. No fish, but a fun evening all the same. Back in town I
placed a call to a gentleman and his wife with whom I'd been hoping to fish
for some time. With the next day's plans made, I ate dinner and called it a
night.

I spent the first hour or so of the next morning showing a nice collection
of midge imitations to a pod of skeptical trout. In the end they decided
that my wares didn't suit their needs, and we went our separate ways. About
this time a little RAV4 came rolling toward me across the field, and out
stepped Danl and Cindy. We live less than an hour from each other but had
to drive 350 miles to finally meet. Introductions were made, greetings
exchanged, and we stepped down to the river to look at some fish. Without
detailing every cast and mend, I'll simply say that it was a pleasure to
share the water with this easy-going and patient guy. I'm still fairly new
to this game, and throughout the day Danl graciously gave me much of the
prime water. He still caught 3 or 4 fish to each one of mine, but I learned
a great deal and had a fine time just talking and casting. It was a slow
day for most of the anglers along the river, and that eased the sting just
enough. I found Cindy to be a great person; funny, full of energy and
interested in just about any subject. These two are as fine a couple as one
could want to meet. But I digress...we were fishing.

Late afternoon found us casting to a few risers at a big bend in the river.
I had a few strikes and misses while Danl had strikes and catches. Ah well.
I was about to have my moment. Around the time that were ready to leave, I
cast a small parachute adams to a rising fish. It drifted slowly on the
sluggish current...slowly...WHOOSH! In what I honestly remember as a
graceful, arcing leap, the fish completely cleared the water and took the
fly. It was a scene from the cover of a 1932 Field & Stream. Perfect. A
fight ensued, and while I could tell that the fish had some size, it
struggled almost lazily. A few moments later when I had it to the edge of
the reeds, it rolled on its back to reveal the trumpet mouth of a sucker.
Doh! We reeled in and spent a few minutes chatting on the bank, then said
"adios" and headed down the road. Not a lot of fish (for me), but a truly
excellent weekend. Nice people, a few fish, beautiful scenery and a chance
to depressurize. Yep. An excellent weekend. A couple of pictures can be
seen at: http://users.adelphia.net/~wmason/owens.htm

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Mason wrote:
I meant to post this report the week after Thanksgiving, but I somehow
allowed "stuff" to get in the way. Sometimes that just happens before I
realize exactly what hit me. Anyhow, it was a great weekend and I felt the
urge to share...


Good report and pictures.

Sounds like it was crowded. From the looks of the stream, it doesn't
look like it could handle that kind of pressure.

willi

Nice report Bill. Danl and Cindy are the greatest.

I have also had the experience of watching Danl catch a bunch of fish - in
three states! He really slays them here in NM though. We're renaming
several prominent spots on the San Juan in Dan'ls honor.

bruce h

"Bill Mason" wrote in message
...
I meant to post this report the week after Thanksgiving, but I somehow
allowed "stuff" to get in the way. Sometimes that just happens before I
realize exactly what hit me. Anyhow, it was a great weekend and I felt the
urge to share...
snip

Very nice report and photos, Bill. Thanks.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

"Bill Mason" wrote in message
...
I meant to post this report the week after Thanksgiving, but I somehow
allowed "stuff" to get in the way. Sometimes that just happens before I
realize exactly what hit me. Anyhow, it was a great weekend and I felt the
urge to share...

Hi Bill,
Nice trip report and pics. I do like the first pic . . .gives a unique
aspect to the pic, with the color.
The place could resemble a few places I have sometimes fished here.
Thanks for sharing the memory.
BestWishes,
DaveMohnsen
Denver

"bruiser" wrote in message
...
Nice report Bill. Danl and Cindy are the greatest.

I have also had the experience of watching Danl catch a bunch of fish - in
three states! He really slays them here in NM though. We're renaming
several prominent spots on the San Juan in Dan'ls honor.

bruce h


Thanks, Bruce. I'm nowhere near being able to "slay" them a la yourself,
Willi, rw, and most of the other folks, but I'm getting better.

As for Bill, you can't and won't find a better partner with which to spend
the day afield and astream. He's way over modest about his skills and
knowledge of the water and fish. Good fishermen, good hiker, good company.
I'm trying to pry him out of San Diego County to join us at a clave sometime
soon.

Danl

"Willi" wrote in message
...

Sounds like it was crowded. From the looks of the stream, it doesn't
look like it could handle that kind of pressure.


Because of its proximity to southern California, this river simply gets
hammered, especially in the wild trout section. On many weekends there will
be a car parked at every bend in the river, and these are quickly replaced
by others when they drive off. I don't know how the river takes the
pressure, but the last time I heard of a shock survey being done there were
stretches that held almost 5000 fish per mile. If a person is willing to
walk a little or explore water outside of the most popular sections, it's
still possible to fish in "relative" solitude.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Mason wrote:

"Willi" wrote in message
...

Sounds like it was crowded. From the looks of the stream, it doesn't
look like it could handle that kind of pressure.



Because of its proximity to southern California, this river simply gets
hammered, especially in the wild trout section. On many weekends there will
be a car parked at every bend in the river, and these are quickly replaced
by others when they drive off. I don't know how the river takes the
pressure, but the last time I heard of a shock survey being done there were
stretches that held almost 5000 fish per mile. If a person is willing to
walk a little or explore water outside of the most popular sections, it's
still possible to fish in "relative" solitude.



It's amazing to me how much angling pressure a trout population in a
fertile environment can handle. The C&Ring does beat up some of the fish
but the populations can be amazing in terms of numbers and size.

Willi

"Willi" wrote


It's amazing to me how much angling pressure a trout population in a
fertile environment can handle. The C&Ring does beat up some of the fish
but the populations can be amazing in terms of numbers and size.


I'm several hours of phone calls and web surfing into my efforts to get a
better idea of what fishing pressure might do to the overall ecology, with
little concrete results. It seems that fish counts are about all that have
actually been studied. Studies on how creatures further down, and up, the
food chain are affected by crowds of fishermen don't seem to have been done.
At least not done and published in easy to find places.

But, the encouraging news is that "we" don't seem to have as much negative
impact as might seem likely. That is, if the trout is considered and
indicator, i.e. his numbers seen as a reflection of overall health. And
that is probably reasonable, since if wading crowds were decimating the
invertebrates, the trout population would follow.

MY "guess" and it's strictly a guess, although I'm continuing to look for
facts to make that guess better informed is that C&R is NOT "no kill" and
that the C&R mortality is the single biggest effect of fishing pressure on
C&R waters. Playing them quickly, not touching them more than you must, not
taking them out into the air long periods for photos ( 30 seconds is proven
a "long" period that reduces survival ), reviving them completely, and
stopping fishing before you " C and R" large numbers ( since a small
percentage mortality of a large number is still a large number ) would seem
the most vital part of "treading lightly."

Here is nearly the only mention of fishing pressure being a reason for
science I've found so far, outside of C&R mortality studies. It's from a
Yellowstone annual fisheries report

"In response to concerns related to perceived
excessive angler use and potential riparian
damage, the fisheries staff initiated a multi-year
population assessment of Yellowstone cutthroat
trout in Slough Creek. In the mid-1990s, annual
angler use occasionally exceeded 25,000 hours
but has since returned to levels observed ten
years earlier. Concurrently, hourly catch rates
declined to below one fish per hour. With this
information as background, some of the more
heavily used portions of Slough Creek were
sampled in 2001 and 2002. Preliminary results
indicate that the Yellowstone cutthroat trout
population has changed little since the stream
was last sampled in 1989 Despite high levels of
angler use in this catch and release fishery, we
estimate that there are several hundred adult
cutthroat trout (longer than 330 mm) per
kilometer in Slough Creek. "


Implied, is that the Yellowstone biologists think the fish a good
"indicator" of overall riparian health.

My search will continue, it's and interesting topic. NONE, of my letters to
prominent people in FF industry or conservation organizations, has been
answered, thus far. I have talked to two fisheries biologists on the
phone, and was given good advice on what journals and such might have
information published. Neither knew of any studies beyond fish counts, on
fishing pressure on C&R waters.