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from lariverflyfishing.com. Depressing to read and hoping for better days ahead.
Some stats from the article: "Based on 1,261 CDFW Angler Surveys over the past 15 years, anglers reported catching 10,901 fish. However, during the past five years only 777 fish have been caught, with only 11 being caught in the past two years."
https://lariverflyfishing.com/2018/0...-anglers-gone/
Yeah, been emailing and calling DFW/DFG (when they where still called that) to inform them of illegal mining and poaching that occurs on this stretch for almost a decade, which is a pretty apparent cause of this dwindling.
It got so bad that BBC (yes, the British Broadcast Corporation, and not the Bucket Brigade Crew) did an expose on this issue.
How bad is it that a foreign entity like the BBC does an expose on something so local to us!!!! http://www.bbc.com/earth/gallery/201...ifornias-hills
Once I get a response from DFW/DFG, I'll be glad to post it. Although I don't expect it to happen anytime soon. They're too busy dumping Xmas trees in lakes and stocking broodstocks in rivers as they've done before and calling that progress.
I can give you the contacts that I've been trying to reach so perhaps you may get responses, because I sure haven't.
Good luck.
Interesting read DS, much more focused on the miners than on the river or the fish. I was taught how to fish for trout on the East Fork by a high school agriculture teacher. Barney, rest his soul, showed us how to catch the fish, then he took us to his "secret" claim and showed us how to pull a few flecks of gold from the sand and gravel. It was May of 1979, just a few weeks after major flooding washed and cleaned everything out and, we hoped, rooted up a gold nugget or two.
My brother, our friends and I spent a lot of time in the East Fork canyon over the following few years and caught more than our share of trout. None of us ever took more than his limit (and usually only enough for dinner), but we caught and released a lot of fish. DFG fish were a little bit bigger back then.
We shared the water and washes with a lot of people from gold miners to weekend paintball warriors. Day campers washing their hair in the river were sure to mean the day would not be a productive fishing day.
Friends and my brother moved on and moved away and it soon meant that a trip to fish "the river" meant going alone. As the years went by I noticed a few more miners and a few more machines, and I could almost be assured of catching a diaper or condom on a Saturday evening jaunt. Both, by the way, offer an amazing fight on ultra light tackle in moving water.
Over time we explored the three forks of the San Gabriel River and a couple of its tributaries. All held wild trout back then and, while challenging, they were catchable when properly enticed and put on a great show when hooked. We understood and never kept the wild ones.
I stopped fishing the canyons shortly after the Adventure Pass was introduced and have been back only once, about six years ago. Camp Williams, where it all started for me, was still (barely) there, Follows Camp was not except for the picked out rock hull of the bar and grill that once drew in bikers, campers and fishermen for cheeseburgers and a cold beer. There was guard poised nearby in a Jeep, presumable armed, ready for anyone who happened to trespass. There were miners and day campers, and more than a couple of tents back in the scrub. The parking lot and trail head at the end of the road was strewn with garbage. Made myself carsick coming down the mountain that day, and was the last time I visited.
Good read Marley and so true , its a ghost town now.Attachment 50876 Attachment 50877
Hey, good link! I'll post it on my blog and on the YouTube video I did about the East Fork a few years back. 2014 was my last trip to fish the East Fork, see the abysmal results here:Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkShadow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-AmmasFK9I
and... a special focus on mining:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJvZzQ9SEzY
I'll admit - I do enjoy panning for gold on occasion. But, the level folks take it to on creeks like the East Fork is a 1-man-industrial-operation.
In 2012/2013, I had a couple of fun trips to East Fork. Loads of small fish. Since then, nothing. Just that one little Arroyo Chub I caught in the first video.
Perhaps it's a tradeoff---if all the folks that trash and disrespect the environment stick the East Fork and avoid some of my other *ahem* favorite waters, I can live with that. But I don't think that's the case.