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New to California and Where I Come From

Here's where new(er) members can check in for how to's, tips, etiquette, etc. Feel free to ask questions as 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure..'

New to California and Where I Come From

Postby philosofisher » January 2nd, 2013, 12:51 pm

Hi all,

I am new to the board and new to California. I've been fly fishing for just over a year and a half now. I moved here from Missouri, which had some good trout and fly fishing opportunities. While it doesn't have the big mountains and mountain streams, it is one of the richest in natural cold water springs, some of them pump out millions of gallons of water a day. Trout were introduced into these waters near the turn of the 20th Century, and within the past year I'd make trips with my best friend to the North Fork of the White River, the Eleven Point, and Crane Creek. One interesting fact about Missouri fly fishing is that you almost never fish with dry flies. We just don't have hatches, certainly not prolific ones, so you end up using a lot of streamers and nymphing.

We also have numerous "trout parks" but those places depress the * out of me. They spawn trout at an incredible rate and a bunch of hillbillies with stringers and treble hooks come and wrench the fish out of the water at an alarming rate, standing no more than 3 feet away from the next guy, before taking their catch back to their concrete slabs and barbecue pits to cook, usually throwing the guts in the stream.

My favorite stream, Crane Creek, has a special affinity with California. For one, it is purportedly one of the few streams left in the world with a pure strain of McCloud trout. Just how "pure" that strain is up for debate. But the creek is also very small, usually taking 1-5 steps to get across at points, and never over waste deep, but usually only knee deep. The fish are generally small: 7-11 inches. Though there is one 20" hog in one hole that I believe I managed to hook once but brook off (others have documented on this fish on sites like FFA). It reminds me a lot of some of the mountains streams people post pictures of in SoCal, only, as you'll see below, there is a lot of greenery and fewer rocks.

This is where I come from:

Crane Creek in late winter

Image
DSC_0881 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0882 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0887 by arotator, on Flickr

The North Fork of the White

Image
DSC_0013 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0026 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0050 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0113 by arotator, on Flickr

Image
DSC_0142 by arotator, on Flickr

Funny story regarding that last picture. This was our first trip to the NFoW and my friend and I had been fishing for almost 10 hours over the course of two days without catching anything. It's a tough river to fish. Anyway, that was the first fish we had ever caught on a fly rod and after all that time we were really excited to finally get one. My friend started running down the river and nearly broke his ankle just to see it. It's still one of the bigger trout I've caught, almost 16 inches.

Thanks for reading.
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby PVFlyGuy » January 2nd, 2013, 1:28 pm

Philosofisher - Welcome to California. Coincidentally, I spend some time in SW Missouri for work purposes, and I've scoped out two of those waters you mentioned. I haven't had an opportunity to fish either, but would like to in the future. I may reach-out to you for some insights.

-JeffW
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby darrin terry » January 2nd, 2013, 1:38 pm

Welcome! Those are some nice looking waters IMO. That is also a nice trout in that last pic! Nice healthy looking fins and tail and good color too. :cool:
How do you tie the fly to your hooks without killing them with the thread? I keep cutting them in half.
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby fly addict » January 2nd, 2013, 2:34 pm

Welcome,from the best bunch of guys who wave around a fly rod. So where are you hanging your waders now?
Mark
Make Fly Fishing Great Again!
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby philosofisher » January 2nd, 2013, 2:46 pm

PVFlyGuy wrote:Philosofisher - Welcome to California. Coincidentally, I spend some time in SW Missouri for work purposes, and I've scoped out two of those waters you mentioned. I haven't had an opportunity to fish either, but would like to in the future. I may reach-out to you for some insights.

-JeffW


I'd love to share any help I can. Keep in mind that I'm a relative novice and still have my share of tough days, so perhaps any thing I say should be taken with a grain of salt ;).
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby philosofisher » January 2nd, 2013, 2:48 pm

fly addict wrote:Welcome,from the best bunch of guys who wave around a fly rod. So where are you hanging your waders now?
Mark


Unfortunately, they're sitting in my closet, which is where they've been since September when I moved here. I made a trip up to Yosemite and stopped by Hot Creek when we first moved here. The water around Yosemite was really low, and while I managed to catch some trout, they were all pretty small. I've been too consumed with school to get out (the reason we moved out here).
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby Fishfreak911 » January 22nd, 2013, 8:56 pm

philosofisher wrote:The North Fork of the White

Image
DSC_0013 by arotator, on Flickr




Welcome! I have to let you know up front that we Californian flyfishers wear waders most of the time. Painting your toe nails camouflage green is not really necessary here. :P

Seriously, that was a grand intro my friend. I enjoyed the stories you told and the pics which accompanied them. Like Darrin Terry said, that was one nice specimen of a trout! Hang around here long enough, and you'll be fishing trout on dries just a short drive away from your place in no time.

Glad you have joined the group.
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Re: New to California and Where I Come From

Postby WadeK » January 23rd, 2013, 2:15 pm

My grandparents had a place very near the 11Point outside of Dalton, AR. Down that low you don't find any trout. It's more Smally country.
I fish for my sanity. If I catch it, should I still practice catch and release?
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