Kern River July 15 thru 21

[Joshua]

Finally scheduled an extended vacation on the Kern. Never done 7 days. With work and a daughter in softball, I don't get many consecutive days to do anything.
July 15. While on our way up the 14 just North of Mojave, blew a tire on the trailer (tire just over a year old and almost no miles on it). Put on the spare, which turned out to be too low to drive on.
Pulled spare and ran to Jawbone store to get air. That place is a little scary. Not sure if the guy behind the counter with his visible sidearm made me feel more secure or not. I support open carry and concealed carry.
Finally get rolling again and make Kernville around noon, way later than originally planned. Group decision was to skip the usual activities in town an head upriver once we stopped for groceries. James Market has good selection and fair prices. Plus their beef is awesome
Made it to Limestone and setup camp. Everyone was fried and nerves were touchy. Snuck away for a quick 10 minute session and was rewarded with an 8" Native rainbow. That felt good.
Had invited a buddy and his family to join us on our adventure. He could only do 4 days. Took everyone down to Alligator Rock to show them the beach. Got in some fishing and was rewarded with a few stockers.
We were there too long to remember all the details of your trip. So I will highlight.
Everywhere I fished seemed to produce. Caught a lot of the smaller 8-10" stockers. However, there were a lot of 1lb fish in the mix. Catching these fish in the current made for a nice battle. Also managed to land some of the trophy trout that are raised in the hatchery in Kernville (3 -5 lb). I shared the pleasure of landing these fish with my daughter and both sons. Spectators were shocked when they saw the size of the fish. So was I. Admittedly, I kept 3 fish over the week for dinner. When I released one of the larger fish, the people were asking why I didn't keep it. I looked at a 10 year old boy in the eye and said, " If I kept it, that means you don't have a chance to catch it" He smiled and said, " that's cool ". As he ran of,f I could hear him yelling at his dad to get his fishing pole. Hopefully, that lesson will take root and teach him about proper C&R.

I fished in and around Limestone campground, Brush Creek and Fairview campground. Fishing was excellent in most of the spots. Quality was way better not normal. I have become accustomed to the 8-10" fish, but the majority of the fish we caught were better, in some cases, way better.
I primarily used salmon eggs. Did mix in a gold kastmaster.

Now for the bad. I had won an inflatable kayak at a church auction the week before our trip. It was made by West Marine and was durable. Seemed like an ocean kayak. This kayak was legit and cool. I would have never bought this, but scored it cheap at the auction. Someone stole it from the beach at the campground. I know the group of white trash speed freaks that took it. I made the mistake of telling them that they could use my stuff because I was running to town to get a replacement tire for the trailer, which takes a few hours. I hope to run across them again.

More bad: Ended up getting a flat on the suburban on Tuesday. That required another trip to Kernville to order tires for the truck.
The people at Kernville Automotive are good people. Prices were cheaper than Orange County. No Mountain Price upcharge.

Made a day trip up Brush Creek to see the slides/ waterfall. Haven't been up there in years. With the low water, the slides/waterfall weren't as impressive. But my daughter (16), said, " this is the coolest place, ever". It was worth the hike in. My wife wasn't thrilled with the trail. Had to hold the lil guys while we rock hopped and slid down dirt slopes. Not the best place for non athletic people.


Overall the fishing was great.
Weather : Hot but that is to be expected (mid 90s)
People: Sucked
Would gladly do it again. The guy from work loved it and wants to be included in future plans.
Cost: Ouch.

[JAG107]

Great report, thanks for sharing your experiences! Very sorry to hear about the yak, it really makes us lose faith in humanity when that crap happens.

[John Harper]

Hopefully they drifted down the Kern in your yak, and met an untimely death.

John