You know, the river with Royal ties!

[Artin]

Hi all,
Wanted to get some info about the above mentioned body of water, for those of you who have fished it lots, I assume you will get it.
Well, you see, I am going to head out that way probably mid week (not decided what day, but I figured Wed.)
This will be my first time on the ocean side of the Sierras and I wanted to find out what areas to concentrate on. I am looking mostly for wild fish so please pm me instead of posting openly. What flies etc.
I read that there are March browns in that them thar hills... so I will tie some soft hackles for it. But any advice on what flies, size and color is greatly appreciated.
As far as the fishing.
I will probably be alone so if anyone wants to join and fish for one day lets do it!


Thanks,

Artin

[castaway]

IF your thinking about the Upper river... may as well wait till lower flows. But if your talking about the lower... well there is a small stream born population of wild bows, but thats not why we fish it. I fish it for the meanest, biggest, strongest planters in California.

If you do hook one, expect to see your backing, expect to get broke off, expect to see em tail walk, jump, porpose, etc...They are pretty selective fish and its a hard river to get dialed in. but they are just stockers so may as well stay home.

As far as flies... hmmm.. I will let the locals give you all the dirty info on flies and spots.

[castaway]

aww yes... the "sippers" I know them well..... but I thought they were planters that have just been in the river a long time... they are about as hard to fool as any trout you will come across.

think 20 foot leaders, and 6x down to size 22 hackleless bwo's.

Wade out.. and stand and wait 20 minutes till they get un-spooked.


Are the famous 20" sippers river born? or just fish who have been in the river for a few season?

I thought they were stockers gone wild... so thus, not true wild.. either way it doesnt matter... they are the ultimate challenge for the fly rodder.. you will get skunked... targeting the sippers.

[darrin terry]

I talked to the biologist with the KRCD recently. He told me that he recently had samples from 19 different trout, from which he got, I think, 17 viable samples. Those tests turned up 3 triploid fish if I recall correctly. The fish from the incubators are triploids (although a statistical portion would not be) and therefore the majority of the fish sampled were river born. That said, yes there are or seem to be, many holdovers from the last couple years plantings.

As for advice for you, Artin, I am sorry but I have only fished the river once in about two months now. Hopefully someone could chime in who has fished it with some success recently. Your window on the lower is closing though. Flows should be ramping up into the 1000s of CFS in the very near future. Usually between now and this time next month.

I would also offer to join you, but my back went out yesterday and I doubt I'll be seeing any water time for several weeks at least. Besides, I get to work M-F. Meaning it's generally weekend fishing for me.

[castaway]

Craig.... I could really care less where the fish came from... They may as well have flown out of my butt - bottom line - the sippers are truly a challenge, they are big, and they are fun... the rest of the bull.. I will let you worry about.

Artin... get up there and have some fun with some big fish!

Peace-out
Bill

[briansII]

Though there might be some holdovers that are sippers, the majority of the sippers I believe are wild. That river grows some nice sized wild fish! I haven't personally tried for the sippers much, but I've seen David pick a couple off in the short time we were there and they were both wild fish. The fish I caught just upstream from the famous slack water that most people fish for the sippers was definitely a wild fish as well. The only time that area gets stocked is when a few big fish get put in in the winter. Most of the big fish get put in the general regs section though.

The person on this forum that could answer this question best would probably be Randy.

Curious. How were you able to tell that the fish David caught were wild? As for the pigs, they do plant quite a few in the special regs section. Maybe not quite as many as the other area, but they definitely put a slug of fish in there special regs section too. I'm not positive about the "regular" sized planters. I don't think they put those in the special regs section.

briansII

[castaway]

Craig.... Let it go!!!!!! I think Darrin answered my question jsut fine... and its really not that important.


Artin... again, enjoy your time on the river,

Sorry - it appears as though your not getting much help.

I will PM you, might be better.

[castaway]

Let it go man... just let it go... the question has been answered. Darrin, Brian II answered my question just fine..

maybe Pm's would work well.. So we could let Artin get the help he asked for?

Just a thought.

[ashtree1]

Artin will be out there all wednesday and possibly going to head out tomorrow so if you want to meet up will be happy to share some water with you, probably be out tomorrow morning 6am-11am and wednesday 6am til 3pm. been a while since I been out a week or two Darrin shoot me your address and will send a half dozen of the mayflys I tied up, waiting for some more wings to come in so I can shoot some kyle fly's way too, going to try them out tomorrow. Have a cool one guys.

[Pete]

So we could let Artin get the help he asked for?

Sounds like we are getting ready to send Artin to rehab instead of fishing

Pete

[Artin]

WHOA!!! I guess I opened up a "Royal" can of worms(or flies)
Ok, ok, so the sippers are not wild but they are wildley sipping which is a challenge to the fly rodder.... hmmm
I apologize for this boys. I didn't mean to start up a wild/non wild debate. I take full responsibility for this. I plead no contest.
Legally this cannot be used against me in a court of law. lol.
But I must say that all of these replies helped a lot. Weather they are planters or not one enjoys catching them then so be it no harm no foul.
The worst thing is that I will not be able to go today... obviously. Work came up and I am here trying to get this project. Estimating will hold me back a few days. I hope I get the job (crossing my fingers) there isn't that many construction projects starting now a days so I must stay and get this done. Looks like next week for me. (hopefully)

Bill,
If the fish have been there for a while they do develop "wild" survival insticts. So I guess that they do become smi-wild. And if they start to spawn the fry that survive will in turn be wild. 20'-0" leaders.... I would tangle anything over 15'-0" haha....The tiny flies I do tie. Up to 24's and 26's on a regular basis...It's an anomaly (you have to see my fingers )

Craig,
Actually, I did some more online research and you are right with the population thing. I will pm you.

Darrin,
That's ok... maybe next trip... That would be pretty cool...Ah yes the back pain.... I hope you get better soon. I just recently got over a scenario... I was completely immobile for about 3 weeks where the only thing that helped was laying down. It's a painful experience and I hope you get better soon. Do some stretches starting gently... That's what I did. Get well soon my friend.

ashtree1,
It looks like I'm stuck.... Can't make it up.... GRRRRRR I can't stand it when this happens.... I guess I can't complain though. I mean it's work and I gotta do it. Kinda sucks I was very excited, whent to the Fishermen's Spot and got tippet material and cleaned my vest and packed my rods... GRRRRR!!!! I appreciate the offer it wold be cool to have fished with you guys. I will most definitely let you guys know as soon as I have an opening(hopefully mid-week) and If your schedule matches mine I will be more than delighted...

So we could let Artin get the help he asked for?

Sounds like we are getting ready to sell Artin to rehab instead of fishing

Pete

Pete.... My final planing forms.....They have been put on hold for a couple of weeks until my friends dad get's better so that I can use his CNC machine.... Looks like anything fishing this month has been put on hols...
And the re-hab... I got kicked out of Fly Fishing re-hab like 10 times.... I think it's more genetic than mental....

Thank you all for your input. I learned a lot about the water actually.
(thank God for spell check) lol

Artin

[MattyD]

A lot of interesting points of views here. Bill you are right about the pigs. Craig you are right about the wild ones. I do believe that with time spent on the river and lots of fish caught you will start to see that there is something special going on and I don't care to discuss it because there would only be points of views which are like certain things that everyone has one of. With that being said Artin you will have a good time fishing for one or the other or both. I hope you do well. I like the fact that this board doesn't get personal because if it did I would probably be banned sooner than later. This river is special to me and I am thankful for all the time people have put into it and Artin pm me if you want the low down on some flies and methods. Thanks guys