RiverWalker
11-19-2013, 04:55 PM
Hello All. It’s been a while since I posted so I figured I should contribute a little. My buddies and I decided to change up and head to the Western Sierras for our annual fall closer trip this year instead of the normal Easter slope. It was really beautiful up there but the fishing was kind of slow. We saw some nice fishy looking spots but they were either fished out or we just weren’t dialed in. It was cool though. Unlike the Eastern side, everything is so spread out that we took a lot of time to just drive from spot to spot. That part really sucked and cut into our fishing time. It’s not like on the 395N where you could find new water 15 minutes in any direction. Everything is so spread out. The good part was that all of the fish we did catch were really nice. All of the stockers were larger than the normal sized stockers that we’re used to in the East. They all had full fins and good colors too. Basically nice holdovers. AND….I added a new species to my list…..A Kokanee Salmon!! That was badass. I’ve seen them stacked up in upper Robinson creek above Twin lakes and in Taylor creek near Tahoe before but I never actually targeted or caught one until now. All in all, it was just nice to get out and get some tugs.
Here’s some of the places we went…
Huntington Lake:
Water was so low that the closest we got to the water was at the creek inlet where we saw all of those kokanee’s spawning in the channel. We ended up wasting about 3 hours looking for a place to launch our tubes before we gave up and drove back to Shaver Lake without even being able to fish it. We weren’t about to walk about ¼ mile with our tubes. Big disappointment!
Rancheria Creek:
This is the main creek that feeds Huntington Lake through a hydro tunnel. Didn’t really wet out lines here since the water was so low. We were just checking out the hundreds of Kokanee’s stacked up. Many of them were already spawned out and dying. It was definitely a sight to see! Too bad I forgot my camera in the car.
Shaver Lake:
The road to the east side of the lake was closed for the winter so we couldn’t access my favorite side to fish. (roads 1 and 2) We had to fish from the dam side that paralleled the road to the Marina. We were float tubing in between 135 and 35 feet of water which kind of made things hard since my fly rod set up’s consisted of a floating line and one with a full sink type 3 line which is basically a slow sinking line. Not good line to fish deep. Luckily I also brought on board one spinning rod just in case. We metered hundreds of Koks near the dam. I ended catching 1 Kok. James caught 1 decent bow, and DT caught a nice 2 or 2.5 lbs Bow in the 3 or 4 hours we fished. Not very productive but hey….I added a new species to my list.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/SHAVER.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/SHAVER.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK3.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK3.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK-1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK-1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK2.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK2.jpg.html)
Check out this crazy looking bug that attached himself to my leech streamer. Pretty cool.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/CRITTER.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/CRITTER.jpg.html)
Wishon Reservoir:
The next day we made the 1 hour drive past Dinkey creek to Wishon reservoir. Again, super low water made launching our tubes impossible so we drove to the bottom of the dam and checked out the river. That was one dope looking spot. Fishy as hell with NICE pools everywhere! But….after hiking the river and fishing it for a few hours, we learned that it was fools gold. We only saw a few dinks here and there. The river is called Upper North fork Kings river. It would probably be a GREAT spot during the summer when it receives regular stockings.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/wishon.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/wishon.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/wishoncave.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/wishoncave.jpg.html)
Here’s shot of Dinkey creek from the bridge. Not much flowing water but it sure looked nice!
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/DINKEYCREEK.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/DINKEYCREEK.jpg.html)
Courtright Reservoir:
After giving up trying to find a launching spot at Wishon, we made the drive to Courtright. That place was Baddass! We were able to drive all the way down to the shoreline where we found a nice cove. I parked a few feet from the shoreline on a small peninsula in a cove so we were able to fish on the left, front, and right of my car. Had nice drop offs and we all had bent rods. We even had a triple hook up once plus I got double fisted as well. Catching wise, this was the one bright spot of our trip! Nice bows and one brookie. All had full fins, great colors, and were about 14 to 15 inches. We even kept a few to take home and we didn’t even have to bust out our float tubes which was our original intentions. This spot saved our trip.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/COURTRIGHT1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/COURTRIGHT1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/COURTRIGHT.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/COURTRIGHT.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOW.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOW.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD2.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD2.jpg.html)
San Joaquin River (Below Millerton Lake near Fresno):
After checking out of our condo Sunday morning, we drove down the hill and decided to try some of the lower elevation rivers near Fresno. Our first stop was at the San Joaquin river below the Millerton Lake dam. It was kind of hot and was like fishing in the ghetto. Graffiti and empty beer cans everywhere. What a shame! The water looked nice and deep in some spots but the fishing sucked. My friend was the only one that managed to catch 1. Too bad because this place looked Nioce!!! (At least when you were looking at the water and not the trash everywhere!)
Check out this fishy looking water. I was waiting to see salmon jumping over the little waterfalls. Reminded me of something I would see in Alaska.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/SANJOAQUIN.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/SANJOAQUIN.jpg.html)
Lower Kings River (Piedra near Fresno):
After giving up and leaving the San Joaquin ghetto, we drove past Fresno and drove to another ghetto. The Lower Kings river. The put and take general section was low but still had some fishy looking water. Unfortunately we had to mingle with all of the campers playing in the water so we just packed up, pinched down our barbs and headed to the ‘Special regs’ section downstream. Another FISHY looking spot. We fished near the cobble weir which is traditionally a really good spot to C&R trophies. But….we got skunked. Probably due to the time of day (middle of the day and hot) or we just sucked again.
I tried dead drifting barbless Sculpzilla and leech pattern streamers near the run from the cobble weir. Adding a few snap jigs during the swing but no takes. Very fishy looking and nice flows but it was just too hot so we gave up and drove home! Thanks for reading.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KINGSCOBBLEWEIR.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KINGSCOBBLEWEIR.jpg.html)
Here’s some of the places we went…
Huntington Lake:
Water was so low that the closest we got to the water was at the creek inlet where we saw all of those kokanee’s spawning in the channel. We ended up wasting about 3 hours looking for a place to launch our tubes before we gave up and drove back to Shaver Lake without even being able to fish it. We weren’t about to walk about ¼ mile with our tubes. Big disappointment!
Rancheria Creek:
This is the main creek that feeds Huntington Lake through a hydro tunnel. Didn’t really wet out lines here since the water was so low. We were just checking out the hundreds of Kokanee’s stacked up. Many of them were already spawned out and dying. It was definitely a sight to see! Too bad I forgot my camera in the car.
Shaver Lake:
The road to the east side of the lake was closed for the winter so we couldn’t access my favorite side to fish. (roads 1 and 2) We had to fish from the dam side that paralleled the road to the Marina. We were float tubing in between 135 and 35 feet of water which kind of made things hard since my fly rod set up’s consisted of a floating line and one with a full sink type 3 line which is basically a slow sinking line. Not good line to fish deep. Luckily I also brought on board one spinning rod just in case. We metered hundreds of Koks near the dam. I ended catching 1 Kok. James caught 1 decent bow, and DT caught a nice 2 or 2.5 lbs Bow in the 3 or 4 hours we fished. Not very productive but hey….I added a new species to my list.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/SHAVER.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/SHAVER.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK3.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK3.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK-1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK-1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KOK2.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KOK2.jpg.html)
Check out this crazy looking bug that attached himself to my leech streamer. Pretty cool.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/CRITTER.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/CRITTER.jpg.html)
Wishon Reservoir:
The next day we made the 1 hour drive past Dinkey creek to Wishon reservoir. Again, super low water made launching our tubes impossible so we drove to the bottom of the dam and checked out the river. That was one dope looking spot. Fishy as hell with NICE pools everywhere! But….after hiking the river and fishing it for a few hours, we learned that it was fools gold. We only saw a few dinks here and there. The river is called Upper North fork Kings river. It would probably be a GREAT spot during the summer when it receives regular stockings.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/wishon.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/wishon.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/wishoncave.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/wishoncave.jpg.html)
Here’s shot of Dinkey creek from the bridge. Not much flowing water but it sure looked nice!
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/DINKEYCREEK.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/DINKEYCREEK.jpg.html)
Courtright Reservoir:
After giving up trying to find a launching spot at Wishon, we made the drive to Courtright. That place was Baddass! We were able to drive all the way down to the shoreline where we found a nice cove. I parked a few feet from the shoreline on a small peninsula in a cove so we were able to fish on the left, front, and right of my car. Had nice drop offs and we all had bent rods. We even had a triple hook up once plus I got double fisted as well. Catching wise, this was the one bright spot of our trip! Nice bows and one brookie. All had full fins, great colors, and were about 14 to 15 inches. We even kept a few to take home and we didn’t even have to bust out our float tubes which was our original intentions. This spot saved our trip.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/COURTRIGHT1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/COURTRIGHT1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/COURTRIGHT.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/COURTRIGHT.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOW.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOW.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD1.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD1.jpg.html)
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/BOWHEAD2.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/BOWHEAD2.jpg.html)
San Joaquin River (Below Millerton Lake near Fresno):
After checking out of our condo Sunday morning, we drove down the hill and decided to try some of the lower elevation rivers near Fresno. Our first stop was at the San Joaquin river below the Millerton Lake dam. It was kind of hot and was like fishing in the ghetto. Graffiti and empty beer cans everywhere. What a shame! The water looked nice and deep in some spots but the fishing sucked. My friend was the only one that managed to catch 1. Too bad because this place looked Nioce!!! (At least when you were looking at the water and not the trash everywhere!)
Check out this fishy looking water. I was waiting to see salmon jumping over the little waterfalls. Reminded me of something I would see in Alaska.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/SANJOAQUIN.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/SANJOAQUIN.jpg.html)
Lower Kings River (Piedra near Fresno):
After giving up and leaving the San Joaquin ghetto, we drove past Fresno and drove to another ghetto. The Lower Kings river. The put and take general section was low but still had some fishy looking water. Unfortunately we had to mingle with all of the campers playing in the water so we just packed up, pinched down our barbs and headed to the ‘Special regs’ section downstream. Another FISHY looking spot. We fished near the cobble weir which is traditionally a really good spot to C&R trophies. But….we got skunked. Probably due to the time of day (middle of the day and hot) or we just sucked again.
I tried dead drifting barbless Sculpzilla and leech pattern streamers near the run from the cobble weir. Adding a few snap jigs during the swing but no takes. Very fishy looking and nice flows but it was just too hot so we gave up and drove home! Thanks for reading.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/395Riverwalker/KINGSCOBBLEWEIR.jpg (http://s1140.photobucket.com/user/395Riverwalker/media/KINGSCOBBLEWEIR.jpg.html)