Urban Fly Fishing: Santa Ana River Video and Report

[carpanglerdude]

Fished the Santa Ana River in it's urban stretch past Riverside. I took my fly rod with me and wanted to practice casting. The water was very muddy and moving pretty quickly. Still spotted several carp, including one very large one that was leaping near the brush. I am still learning to properly cast with the fly fishing gear but it was a lot of fun.:Smile:

Video: http://youtu.be/OjtxCXyfaTs:Envious:

Ran into another angler and also into a large catfish (at the end of the video). Didn't know there was that many catfish in the Santa Ana River, this guy was about 2ft long. Plenty of water to explore on this stretch, but finding nicer spots was tough. Still, it was a fun trip and there was plenty of room to cast a fly.:Wink:

Has anyone else fished this area on the Santa Ana River? I'm still interested in fishing the spot just below the Prado Dam, I've seen anglers there recently but can't seem to find public/legal access. :Idea:

[GhettoBasster]

Fished the Santa Ana River in it's urban stretch past Riverside. I took my fly rod with me and wanted to practice casting. The water was very muddy and moving pretty quickly. Still spotted several carp, including one very large one that was leaping near the brush. I am still learning to properly cast with the fly fishing gear but it was a lot of fun.:Smile:

Video: http://youtu.be/OjtxCXyfaTs:Envious:

Ran into another angler and also into a large catfish (at the end of the video). Didn't know there was that many catfish in the Santa Ana River, this guy was about 2ft long. Plenty of water to explore on this stretch, but finding nicer spots was tough. Still, it was a fun trip and there was plenty of room to cast a fly.:Wink:

Has anyone else fished this area on the Santa Ana River? I'm still interested in fishing the spot just below the Prado Dam, I've seen anglers there recently but can't seem to find public/legal access. :Idea:

Nice vid. I used to ride home from Santa Ana to downtown Riverside along the river trail when I worked out in the OC. I used to see huge carp when I crossed that wooden bridge in the Anaheim Hills area. As far as the area below Prado, maybe we could ride there from Chino Hills Park?

[carpanglerdude]

Let's do it! Will need to fix my bike hah! I've heard there is clear public access from Chino Hills State Park but have yet to confirm

[Ifishtoolittle]

Throw some glowbug flies for them carp! Surprised that you're picking up the fly game. lol your forearm and shoulder gets a little stiff at the end of the day.

[Tubbytuba]

ive fished that section about six times, every time the carp stump me. ive heard globugs work but.... i think they are just too smart for me haha. there is public access to the river below Prado, go just past yorba linda regional park, there is a dirt lot there that is free to park in. PM me if you want to try it out some time, might be nice to skunk with someone lol.

Good Hunting

[Viejo]

Nice video. Very skinny water. You will enjoy fly fishing. There are several fly fishing clubs in the San Bernardino area that offer free fly casting clinics several times a year. Taking a lesson or two will improve your casting immensely and shorten the learning curve.

[bendopolo2004]

You can park many places off Green River drive and walk the 1 mile up to the spillway off to the side of the railroad tracks. Down river you can park on the North side of Weir Canyon and walk down to the weir ponds. Three kinds of carp, bullheads, channels and green sunfish. There are bass but small and few and far between. Too bad.