My Secret Spot is Gone!!!

by **John Harper** » September 22nd, 2011, 9:35 am

I grew up in Fillmore, CA in the 1960's and 1970's. We used to hike up to the waterfall and above in the Hopper Creek drainage. Wild trout were plentiful and sizable. Since few people knew the area, or had access, this was our "secret" spot for wild trout fishing. I have dreamed about a return trip for years.

Every pool had dozens of fish, I last visited it in 1976, and was hoping to make a return trip (finally) this next spring. I was already in contact with someone who could get me "past the gate." Imagine my surprise (and great disappointment) to have found this recent study.

Apparently, my little friends have been wiped out by fire and flooding. See pages 5 for background, page 16 for current survey (ZERO trout observed), pages 18 and 19 for some historical information on the trout (12'-16" and BIGGER, believe me, in the past), and sadly, page 33 where the recommendations say nothing about re-establishing a wild trout population. I have been so bummed out since seeing this!

http://coastalwatersheds.ca.gov/portals ... t_2008.pdf

Part of my childhood has died.

John

by **RichardCullip** » September 22nd, 2011, 9:52 am

How sad

by **lucfish** » September 22nd, 2011, 10:03 am

It's always hard to find out your slice of heaven is gone, it happened to me in the San Jacinto mountains.

by **flybob** » September 22nd, 2011, 10:05 am

John, you are not alone, nor is Hopper Creek!
Unfortunately it is the cycle of life!
I too have seen some creeks wither and die.
The good news is, it is nothing that few generations of time and deluges cannot fix, provided that the land stays protected/un-developed, sans the oil seepage, that was pretty sad, but that too is part of S. Cal.

Relish your memories, be thankful that you at least had the opportunity to experience the creek in its day!

by **Fishfreak911** » September 22nd, 2011, 10:44 am

Bummer. I know the feeling. My crawdad hole in Idaho is non existant. I used to play there every chance I got.
sorry about that.

by **Lee-B** » September 22nd, 2011, 11:39 am

Sorry to hear that, I hiked that area as a kid.

I had a great carp spot, no secret but you had to do some figure'n to find it. Well one day while looking at a copy of Western Outdoor News, what do I see but a picture of some dope with a carp on the end of his arrow proclaiming this spot as a "great place to harpoon carp".

One of the best things about being a fly fisherman and knowing fly fishermen is, we don't kill fish for fun. This tool was blatantly touting killing fish for fun.

by **Bernardito** » September 22nd, 2011, 12:21 pm

That's a bummer. But like Bob said, Mother Nature is relentless and everything will be brought into balance sooner or later.

Personally, I'm kind of a doubting Thomas when it comes to public reports proclaiming the non-existence of trout - I usually need to see it to believe it. (especially in places where trout used to exist and the temperature, O2 saturation and dissolved solids are all at the right levels.)

I think this stems from having been told hundreds of times in the last 10 years that there are no trout streams in Southern California. I heard it so often that I started to believe it, and I waited 10 years before finally mustering up the energy to see for myself.

Now, maybe the conventional wisdom serves to deter the masses from destroying fragile waters. That's fine with me. But that only works for those who believe the conventional wisdom and would rather not verify it themselves. (Not to say that all conventional wisdom needs to be verified - I will comfortably accept that ingesting lead paint is harmful, having high cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease, and going after car keys dropped into a river of molten hot lava is not a good idea.)

But as far as trout streams go, I usually remain skeptical until I've seen for myself.

Maybe we can head on up to Hopper this spring and see if we can't prove this report wrong. :bananadance:

by **Swanee** » September 22nd, 2011, 12:36 pm

man I know how you feel. In 1984 the Kern was getting raped by the general public, so 4 guys got together and asked the question, "How can we make this fishery better?". After 6 years of studies and work the Kern became classified as "wild & scenic" thus preventing further decline by development, started a restoration of a native specie, and started a special regulation area that promotes catch and release. A 2.5 million dollar trust fund was established by Edison Co. will all profits to be used for the improvement of the Kern basin fishery. Funds have already been awarded to drill wells for a water source to establish a native brood stock. DFG made over 80 arrests and cleaned up "grows" that were polluting our back country.
Each stream needs people to speak up to get the attention fisheries deserve for all the agencies that can help.
If no one speaks up, the fisheries will die one at a time.

by **1mocast** » September 22nd, 2011, 1:40 pm

John,
I would still do a recon there. Like Bob said, you would be surprise how resilient trout can be...

by **rayfound** » September 23rd, 2011, 8:59 am

1mocast wrote:John,
I would still do a recon there. Like Bob said, you would be surprise how resilient trout can be...

I completely agree. It doesn't need many to survive to repopulate within a few (3-5 likely) years. I haven't heard of many fish populations being eliminated from too much water. Not saying its impossible, but I suspect some troots live.

by **John Harper** » September 23rd, 2011, 10:06 am

They also had severe floods on the canyon last year, too. I'm afraid the debris flows and siltation and ashes may make it impossible to have survived. I'm still optimistic some may have made it, but that's a lot to endure in such a short period of time.

John

by **silverlaker** » September 23rd, 2011, 12:11 pm

Bummer john. My childhood waters were wiped out a few years back from a thousand year flood in the Nashville area. The whole river is completely different. Still fish - but the "spots" and places I knew are gone. Hopefully you will be able to see your spot come back again.
Tom

by **Trootfisher** » September 24th, 2011, 11:57 am

Isn't Hopper Creek closed to fishing per the regulations?

by **John Harper** » September 24th, 2011, 12:49 pm

What regulations? That's news to me.

I believe you're thinking of the lower Sespe, used to fish there too. I guess it's possible they could consider it potential steelhead habitat, but there is no plan to repopulate with any salmonids whatsoever from what I read.

John

by **Trootfisher** » September 27th, 2011, 6:52 pm

edited: I cited the sections in the regs that refer to Hopper being an anadromous water closed to fishing, but I re-read your original post and see you mention a "waterfall and above" If you're above a barrier to anadromy, it could be open.

that being said, the report you linked to surveyed the river up to a 40 ft. waterfall, but not above.