Later this week I plan to head to the upper portion of the middle fork stanislaus river and camp for a few days, Was curious if anyone has ever fished or camped in that area and if so any campground recomendations, I would like good access to the river, I plan to stay in one of the camps between wagner and kennedy meadows, near dardenelle. i have only stayed at sand bar flat in the past, and caught alot of fish but would like to try a different spot. Oh, and of course, any fly recomendations ??? As always any info. is greatly appreciated.
thecaptain wrote:Later this week I plan to head to the upper portion of the middle fork stanislaus river and camp for a few days, Was curious if anyone has ever fished or camped in that area and if so any campground recomendations.
Hey Capt, I have never fished up there where you are going, but I have driven along up there. If you are going up Hwy 108, then you are in luck. There are several campsites along the Hwy. I would checkout w/ the Local district of the Stanislaus National Forest Division first to see what is available for camping. Also, they might give you some tips on some hotspots. I plan to go up there l8r this year. Hey, bring back a report on what happened up there too.
I have only been fishing this river a couple years, but I really enjoy it. It is not that crowded and really a classic Sierra small stream. It is even better if you can manage to get up during the week.
Am by no means an expert (only fished it a half dozen times), but my experience is that 1) The fish hold in the predictable areas - pretty easy river to read and 2) Generic flies seem to work fine. I have had a lot of luck with gaudy attractors in the tail outs especially.
Good luck and let us know how it is. Been thinking of hitting that stretch myself.
thanx guys, heading outearly tommorrow morning for a four day trip on the middle fork stan, Not gonna be able to head up to the kennedy meadows area, they got a good 6 inches of snow at pinecrest yesterday so probably more up at the meadows, Just don't wanna deal with it, plus only two campgrounds are open up there, Not the ones i wanted. So instead its the prime stretch of river below beardsly lake, This is one of the dfg. wild heritage trout waters, apparently there are no planted trout in this stretch of water. Tried it last november, Probably hooked up with 25 fish, mostly 10 to 12 inches wild bows, and a few small browns, largest fish was a 16 inch brown so i hope to beat that this time. Thunderstorms are forecasted for tommorrow evening, Ohhhhh I just cant wait.