Santa Ana River 5/25

[CALFISHER4EVR]

I fished the Santa Ana River yesterday. We arrived at the river about 8 a.m. and began the hike down to the river. The flow was decent compared to last year. The water was a little stained from the winter run off.
It had a brownish color. Looked like tea. Not the usual for that area.
http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o470/Hook-Set/DSC01818.jpg
I used an elk hair caddis for the first try but I could not get any fish to rise. I did not see many fish moving around very much in the water. There was a good amount of people up steam and I was wondering if the area had been fish already because the fish where spooky. I pulled up a twig from the bottom to see what kind of insects the river had in it and found an olive color caddis larvae. I retied and put something similar and use a 1lbs leader and got this….. http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o470/Hook-Set/DSC01815.jpg We also got a few bigger browns The remaining part of the day.
In all it was a good day. It was overcast most of the day and stayed cool. My only regret was the hike back to the truck. We did not see anyone else until we got over to the stocked section. There was people fishing and swimming in the creek in that one small area. Glad I found a quiet spot for the holiday.

[tacklejunkie]

The people fishing and swimming in the creek was likely the reason for the cloudy water.
Fish don't tend to stay out and play in those conditions unless the cloudy water is from runoff. Somehow, they know the difference.

Nice brownie. :Wink:

[HeavyHitter]

I was just up there today around noon with my gilrfriend. That looks just like the spot where we caught 4 trout. I did see one guy with a fly rod that was probably you. I really didnt expect to catch anything considering the crowded holiday, but we did manage to catch 4 in the couple hours we were there.

[Skyler]

Nice fish. Like TJ said, the people swimming in the pools is the main reason for the stained water. Also, there were a few folks gold panning up there this weekend too, not to mention all of the fisherman wading. Usually I'll drink the water from the creek there, but I refused to touch it this time, lol. As for the caddis dry, here is a trick that slays up there. Don't fish it on the surface film, sink it and fish it wet! Upstream and across, and mend the hell out of your line. Or just pinch a tiny shot about 6" up the line, and use the wet fly swing technique. They eat 'em up! BTW, I noticed a lot of stoneflies up there this weekend too, wink wink. Tight lines.