Carrie
11-12-2007, 07:11 PM
Well I wasn’t originally going to post this report, but I thought twice about it. I have some pictures I am going to put on here but more of it will be in words. In case one does not know all my pics on here have been taken with my camera phone. I have gotten really tired of taking sooo many pics plus I now have a ton of pics of the sierras…lol. Also, this may be a bit technical so bare with….hahaha.
Okay so this is now the end of the fishing season up here. I thought I would go fish for three days in a row. Saturday, the 10th, I went fishing in the Owens River right under the bridge by Laws off Hwy 6. I got there right around 7am or so and of course it was busy. I bought some new stuff for this. I tried using panther martins with, of course, a smell added to it. I used a brand called gravy and it was corn for trout. It looks pink and is sparkly. Smells awful!!! But it works. Within about 15 mins I had a brownie on my line that was about 12 inches.
Here are a few pics:
Me fishing with my waders on in the Owens:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110070938.jpg
Nice view:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110071105.jpg
One of my fishes:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110071115.jpg
About 10 mins later I landed another 12 incher and then maybe 30-45 mins later I landed a nice brownie again. This one was about 18 inches long and a nice size. Unfortunately, as I said not many pics. I really didn’t want to take anymore…lol. I c&rd most of them. After that I wasn’t catching much. I kept getting bites, and I farmed a few of them. Then I got out of the water and went further down stream and tried down there. Several bites but didn’t catch anything. Then I started doing something that I am not used to. I have done quite a bit of fishing with a spinning outfit in the lakes of So Cal using baits. Well I started trying to read the water. Since I was throwing lures and stream fishing I was trying to acquire a new skill. I even tried putting gulp dough around a hook in the center with salmon eggs around the edges and added some gravy/corn smell to it. They were biting on that. I kept trying to figure out where the fish would hide in relation to the water but felt like I didn’t have much practice here so I was struggling. I ran into several fishermen who were friendly and helped in explaining some things to me about stream fishing. The rest of the day I moved up by the gate where the Owens runs next to Pleasant Valley Reservoir. I tried reading the water again with my panther martins, corn and new creative bait ideas. Bites but again didn’t catch much.
The next day, Sunday the 11th, I went fly fishing. Except I had a lesson with Brock’s Fly Fishing. I had a personal instruction class with Gary, the owner, to teach me all the basics to fly fishing. I don’t have any pics of this cuz I was too focused trying to learn…haha! We started in the park in Bishop. Gary demonstrated to me the roll cast, the aerial roll cast, changing directions cast, how to dry off your fly casts, and then I got to practice all of them with him. I personally thought they looked beautiful like an art. Plus, I just loved doing it!!! Then he explained to me why you would use a particular cast for a certain place. Talk about a real skill and very time consuming….plus I just loved the challenge! Then he explained the line, rod, reel to me. The next thing to do was to go to the Owens by Pleasant Valley and explain a few things to me. Gary took out this big bag of bugs to show me. It was time to go over entomology. He actually collected bugs from the Owens and showed them to me. I saw the mayfly, the caddis-fly and the stonefly. Then he explained to me that there are dry flies but we were going to be using nymphs. It was really cloudy, cold and started raining…..blah!! We walked over to our spot in the Owens River and he explained to me how to read the water. What I was already trying to figure out….so it was interesting! He explained how to figure out what bugs to use depending on where u r fishing. So He got out my 9 ft rod and showed me some different knots he uses for fly fishing. We put on a nymph and added some lead a short way up along with a strike indicator. Nymphing is good to do if u can’t see the fish in the water other wise dry flies work too. Anyways, I awkwardly casted with this new pole and line and mended my line to get it to ride the current. After several casts I caught a nice 12 inch rainbow. At that point it was raining, and I tried a few more and caught one more small rainbow. Then it was time to run for Gary’s truck and go cuz it was rainy and windy and my hand was frozen to the pole….haha! I had a blast fly fishing. I would love to buy my own gear and play around with it. I think every good trout fisherman should try it at least once.
Today, the 12th, I was originally going to stick around Sheperd’s creek and fish there. I realized after getting a call from Gary this morning that I forgot to give him his specialty fishing jacket back so I made my trek all the way back to Brock’s Fly fishing in Bishop to drop it off. Afterwards I decided to go find these petroglyphs I had been after for the past few weeks trying to figure out where they were. I drove up hwy 6 and past the Owens River and up a long dirt road and here are some of them:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1112071147.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1112071133.jpg
I was excited just to find some of them. Being the archaeologist that I am I just had to go see them! I did a small amount of hiking and then went back to the car. Since I had driven all the way up I decided to come back down and fish the Owens River again except in a different spot. I tried some dry flies and a bubble with my spinning outfit. I tried to do what Gary told me and read the water and figure out what bugs they were eating. I tried a mayfly and a few others but got nothing. Then I tried some colorful panther martins, a kastmaster, etc. I got several bites, and one I tried to reel in got off the line. So I was skunked!! Blah! No fish caught today. I spent more time trying to read the water and play with my lures and bait. I was more interested in trying new stuff and trying to figure out the fishe’s environment than in getting any real number of fish caught.
Needless to say this weekend was a blast!! I definitely have acquired new fishing skills from living up here and learning new things! Fishing up here is not only a hobby….it is a lifestyle!
Okay so this is now the end of the fishing season up here. I thought I would go fish for three days in a row. Saturday, the 10th, I went fishing in the Owens River right under the bridge by Laws off Hwy 6. I got there right around 7am or so and of course it was busy. I bought some new stuff for this. I tried using panther martins with, of course, a smell added to it. I used a brand called gravy and it was corn for trout. It looks pink and is sparkly. Smells awful!!! But it works. Within about 15 mins I had a brownie on my line that was about 12 inches.
Here are a few pics:
Me fishing with my waders on in the Owens:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110070938.jpg
Nice view:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110071105.jpg
One of my fishes:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1110071115.jpg
About 10 mins later I landed another 12 incher and then maybe 30-45 mins later I landed a nice brownie again. This one was about 18 inches long and a nice size. Unfortunately, as I said not many pics. I really didn’t want to take anymore…lol. I c&rd most of them. After that I wasn’t catching much. I kept getting bites, and I farmed a few of them. Then I got out of the water and went further down stream and tried down there. Several bites but didn’t catch anything. Then I started doing something that I am not used to. I have done quite a bit of fishing with a spinning outfit in the lakes of So Cal using baits. Well I started trying to read the water. Since I was throwing lures and stream fishing I was trying to acquire a new skill. I even tried putting gulp dough around a hook in the center with salmon eggs around the edges and added some gravy/corn smell to it. They were biting on that. I kept trying to figure out where the fish would hide in relation to the water but felt like I didn’t have much practice here so I was struggling. I ran into several fishermen who were friendly and helped in explaining some things to me about stream fishing. The rest of the day I moved up by the gate where the Owens runs next to Pleasant Valley Reservoir. I tried reading the water again with my panther martins, corn and new creative bait ideas. Bites but again didn’t catch much.
The next day, Sunday the 11th, I went fly fishing. Except I had a lesson with Brock’s Fly Fishing. I had a personal instruction class with Gary, the owner, to teach me all the basics to fly fishing. I don’t have any pics of this cuz I was too focused trying to learn…haha! We started in the park in Bishop. Gary demonstrated to me the roll cast, the aerial roll cast, changing directions cast, how to dry off your fly casts, and then I got to practice all of them with him. I personally thought they looked beautiful like an art. Plus, I just loved doing it!!! Then he explained to me why you would use a particular cast for a certain place. Talk about a real skill and very time consuming….plus I just loved the challenge! Then he explained the line, rod, reel to me. The next thing to do was to go to the Owens by Pleasant Valley and explain a few things to me. Gary took out this big bag of bugs to show me. It was time to go over entomology. He actually collected bugs from the Owens and showed them to me. I saw the mayfly, the caddis-fly and the stonefly. Then he explained to me that there are dry flies but we were going to be using nymphs. It was really cloudy, cold and started raining…..blah!! We walked over to our spot in the Owens River and he explained to me how to read the water. What I was already trying to figure out….so it was interesting! He explained how to figure out what bugs to use depending on where u r fishing. So He got out my 9 ft rod and showed me some different knots he uses for fly fishing. We put on a nymph and added some lead a short way up along with a strike indicator. Nymphing is good to do if u can’t see the fish in the water other wise dry flies work too. Anyways, I awkwardly casted with this new pole and line and mended my line to get it to ride the current. After several casts I caught a nice 12 inch rainbow. At that point it was raining, and I tried a few more and caught one more small rainbow. Then it was time to run for Gary’s truck and go cuz it was rainy and windy and my hand was frozen to the pole….haha! I had a blast fly fishing. I would love to buy my own gear and play around with it. I think every good trout fisherman should try it at least once.
Today, the 12th, I was originally going to stick around Sheperd’s creek and fish there. I realized after getting a call from Gary this morning that I forgot to give him his specialty fishing jacket back so I made my trek all the way back to Brock’s Fly fishing in Bishop to drop it off. Afterwards I decided to go find these petroglyphs I had been after for the past few weeks trying to figure out where they were. I drove up hwy 6 and past the Owens River and up a long dirt road and here are some of them:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1112071147.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/1112071133.jpg
I was excited just to find some of them. Being the archaeologist that I am I just had to go see them! I did a small amount of hiking and then went back to the car. Since I had driven all the way up I decided to come back down and fish the Owens River again except in a different spot. I tried some dry flies and a bubble with my spinning outfit. I tried to do what Gary told me and read the water and figure out what bugs they were eating. I tried a mayfly and a few others but got nothing. Then I tried some colorful panther martins, a kastmaster, etc. I got several bites, and one I tried to reel in got off the line. So I was skunked!! Blah! No fish caught today. I spent more time trying to read the water and play with my lures and bait. I was more interested in trying new stuff and trying to figure out the fishe’s environment than in getting any real number of fish caught.
Needless to say this weekend was a blast!! I definitely have acquired new fishing skills from living up here and learning new things! Fishing up here is not only a hobby….it is a lifestyle!